Has anyone used Clays powder in a .38 S&W. I have an Enfield and a Webley pistol and I would like to load a 158gn lead bullet.

I normally use 3.5-4 grains of Unique, but no reason Clays wouldn't work. Faster powders are better in the .38 S&W. But I don't have any Clays loads for .38 S&W. I'd guess charges lighter than 3 grains would be satisfactory in your revolvers. I'd probably start with 2.5 grains and work up from there using a chronograph until I got a MV around 700 ft/sec.

Sure you can use Clays. According to my Lyman manuals fast burning
powders are best and they show loads with Nitro 100, Bullseye, 700X
and Titegroup with a 158 gr RN right at 700 fps at only 11,000-12,000
CUP. Charges are light however, under 2.5 grs. You really need a
chronograph to work up a new load. I would just start at 1.8 grs and
go up .1 at a time until you get 700 fps and stop.

I am using 3 grains of bullseye in a 38 simi auto 38 special. I tried 3 grains of Clays years ago & the brass throw was longer. It grouped good but no better. I feel that is is a little too spikey for me. It does shoot good. Putting a powder charge in manually one at a time is the only way I would use it.

Thanks for the info. I have used Clays in .45 Colt and .44-40, so I wanted to see if it would work in my .38 S&W.

I've used it with decent results under a 158 gr LRN. PM me if you want specifics. That said, I found that Unique, W 231 and TrailBoss gave me better accuracy.

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Dave

I used it in .38 Special with good result. Very soft shooting and accurate. Velocity, not so much. Pretty slow.

Without checking my paperwork, I also found it to be soft shooting & slow. But it was most likely with a 45 ACP. I wasn't all that impressed at the time (considering I wrote "yuck" in the notes). I'll try it with different calibers later.....maybe. I'm probably not being fair. I can only assume that it works well with different load combinations.

Hodgdon Clays is known for delivering super-soft recoil, but the flake size and shape is sub-par for small charges. I honestly think you'd have better luck with something a little finer.

There is absolutely no apparent reason Clays couldn't be used in .38 S&W to get 700 ft/sec. Clays is in the same relative quickness range as 700-X and Bullseye, and as you state, my Lyman lead bullet manual shows safe loads with a 158 grain lead bullet going well beyond 700 ft/sec using those two propellants, in the 2.6 to 2.8 grain range maximum. I originally said I would start at about 2.5 grains of Clays, and the Lyman reloading manual data without question support that statement.

I really thought I could contribute something positive here, but ADI's data that I have only goes as fast as Int'l Clays for that cartridge. If others have good data, listen up.