Hodgdon CLAYS

[slickracer]

Very nice trophies Ed! Sounds like you're shooting 1 1/8 loads...I'm shooting Clays with 1 oz loads. When I need to go to 1 1/8 for handicap, I'm Green Dot all the way.

 

[ChuckS1]

From your original post, what you want is Bullseye.

 

[Wee Hooker]

Tell me about Hodgdon CLAYS. I've read the hype... please share your real world experiences.

Is it basically Hodgdon's version of Red Dot?

I'm interested in target to factory equivalent loads for the 45 ACP, 40 S&W, 9mm Parabelium, .357 Magnum, and .38 S&W Special.

Can it safely launch a 200 grain H&G #68 hard cast semi-wadcutter bullet 900-950 fps from a 5" 45 ACP? How about a 230 grain hard cast round nose to 850-875 fps?

I'm a fan of clays and have used/tried it for most of my target velocity(!)/do all cast lead handgun loads at one time or another. It works extremely well and is still my "go too" powder in 45 ( 185-230gr) and 38 (148-158gr). Not the choice best for 9mm and 40 but I've developed loads that work acceptably for range use in my M&Ps. The problem I've found in the 9/40 high pressure cartridges is that you need to load clays near/at max loads to get reliable cycling. There are better choices in these cals. It's burn speed/pressure curve would be a poor/dangerous choice for 357mag loadings and have never attempted it. BTW, it burns cleaner and more complete than red dot in my experience.

Bottom line, yes Clays will work for those 45 loads. However you should accept that there are a few versatile fast burning powders like Clays, W231 and Unique that can be stretched to meet multiple target velocity needs in multiple hand gun loadings but your going to have to be thinking more along the lines of acceptable accuracy and reliability vs specific performance goals. Eventually, you'll want/need different powders if you want to reload for all these calibers.

 

[S&W HE]

Clays is AWESOME when you don't push it beyond max in 45, it's my go to powder for USPSA major 45 loads. It's also great in bunny fart 38SPL loads. The only time I didn't hit max and cratered primers was in 38 super. Why? I have no idea, could be a number of things.

What is your .45 ACP Clays load that makes USPSA Major?

 

[dla]

dia, as part of my research I noted the 45 ACP data listed on the Clays container showing 45 ACP load at over 1000 fps for a 155 grain 45 bullet. That information lead me to ask for more information on heavier 45 caliber bullet loads.

Another question dia... what have I done to cause you to be so negative toward me and/or my quest for more real world CLAYS information?

Look, you obviously have a "puter", so why not take advantage of the available online data?

Go to http://data.hodgdon.com/main_menu.asp and make your way down to 200gr data for the 45acp and Clays. You'll see that Hodgdon's load tops out at 888fps (and we can only guess that it is from a 5" barrel).

Since every gun is unique, you need to work up a load for your gun. If you don't want to abide by published data, then you need a chronograph and a fair amount of knowledge of what to watch out for. Yes, the 45acp can be loaded way above Hodgdon's 17K CUP limit, but Clay's is a tricky powder to push.

Now as you gain experience reloading, you'll learn to choose the correct propellant for the application. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having more than one propellant on hand. This is not 1964 - there are lots of very excellent powders available. IMHO, it is absolutely foolish to try to do everything with one powder nowadays.

As has been said a zillion times in this thread, Clays is NOT the powder to use if you want to go fast. You should take that as a subtle hint that CLAYS IS THE WRONG CHOICE FOR MOVING A 200gr PILL @950fps IN 45ACP.

Now I know you're stubborn and you've got a lot of Clays on hand, so go ahead and do your experimenting. Who knows, maybe you'll hit upon a great load in your pistol with Clays. But having been there and done that I think you're just going to lead up a barrel from flame cutting.

I've burned a lot of Clays in 45acp and I also use it for making plinker loads in rifles. I like it much better than TiteGroup because TG is super dense, the color of soot, and hides in a large case - recipe for disaster IMO. I can easily spot a double-charge of Clay's big funky green flakes - not so with TG.

When I want to go fast in 45acp I use AA#5 or Silhouette. I use Power Pistol and HS6 when I want to go fast and make pretty fireballs doing it.

 

[handgunner356]

I use 4.2grs Clays under a 200gr LSWC that makes major (840fps).

 

[FishingPilot]

My wife and daughter hate the recoil of pistols and Clays provides a great low pressure charge for my 9mm reloads. These "light" loads work great for me. I haven't measured the speed yet, next item to purchase, but they are pretty accurate at 12yds. The load I use for 9mm Luger is : 3.5 gr of Clays, CCI primer, Berrys 124gr FP DS, and the overall length is 1.07.

So far so good.

 

[PERAZZI]

I use 3.4 gr ClayDot for .45 acp 185 and 200 LSWC target loads.

 

[BlueOvalBandit]

What is your .45 ACP Clays load that makes USPSA Major?

For my 5" 625 and 1911 3.8gr of clays under a 230gr bayou lrn at 1.250 oal gave me 170-172pf. YMMV of course but that should be there or very close. I go up to 3.9gr if using fmj for security, you don't need to exceed max loads to make major and the recoil impulse feels pretty soft.

I use federal 150 primers due to the 625. Very clean buring, never have to worry about powder flakes under the ejector star tying my gun up.

 

[jtcarm]

I'll challenge that notion. In my Browning O/U's Clays patterns more evenly than Red Dot. Red Dot has more center concentration in the pattern. I also think Red Dot has sharper recoil than Clays.

My all-purpose skeet/SC/upland game is 7/8 oz driven by clays, but Green Dot is the undisputed champ for even patterns.

Not to beat a dead horse, but target/plinking is going to be Clays velocity limit in a handgun.