Thoughts on Clay's

[jbsmwd]

Just reloaded my first batch of 45 acp with 3.7 grains of Clay's, 230 grain Hornaday's XTP, Remington #2 1/2 LP primers with a O.A.L of 1.249''. They all went bang but it seemed like the load was a bit on the lite side. Is Clay's a always low recoil powder or was the a 3.7 grains to lite? Hodgdon website say's 3.7 grain to 4.0 grains for that weight bullet and powder. Any thought's?


This load was shot through a bone stock XD 45acp 4''

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I have loaded Clays in .38 Special and .45 Auto rounds. I find it to be a very accurate powder but, it doesn't meter well so I'm sticking with W231. As for that charge, according to Hodgdon that's the starting charge for that caliber/bullet combination. They also use a OAL of 1.200" so your will loose a little pressure there too. If you jump the charge to 4.0gr Clays and leave everything else the same I'm sure you will like that load better.

BTW, Clays is a very fast powder so be careful not to overcharge with it. The pressures will spike quickly if you're not careful.

Welcome to the forum...

 

[Jim Watson]

Clays is a fast burning powder. It will get you up to IPSC Major power factor but maybe not up to full charge hardball velocity. If it functions the gun and shoots accurately, don't worry abou it.

By the way, the Hodgdon data is based on the Hornady truncated cone bullet; do not try to seat a conventional roundnose that short.
I don't know why they picked that oddball bullet. If they had a deal with Hornady, they could have used Hornady's conventional roundnose and the data been more generally applicable.

 

[woodchuck315]

Clays was designed for clay sports, as I'm sure you knew. That said, it was meant to be soft shooting in shotguns and is probably the same in handguns. I dont know, I shoot Titegroup in .45acp. Its about $4 cheaper/lb around me.

Id leave it if its shooting reliably and accurately. I did that with my 4.5gr titegroup under a 200gr LSWC. Its actually under hodgdon's starting point, but it functions my gun just fine. Shoots accurate when I do my part.

I tend to leave loads along when they do what they are supposed to

 

[Remo-99]

+1

Clays is a fast powder for that bullet weight, but if it cycles the action without issues, then you have a light recoiling plinking load.(you can use up 4.0grs it get your gun to cycle otherwise).

But don't exceed 4.0grs with 230 grainers, as it reaches peak pressure fast, pushing heavy bullets.
If you want hardball type rounds, a slower powder is needed. As others have mentioned.

 

[evan price]

I've heard from Hodgdon that they pick the bullet that gave the highest pressure in a given weight to publish the data for. This is so that any other bullet will perform better/safer with the published loads.

As far as Clays goes, it's $100 for an 8# jug around here, it's a very low volume powder, and pretty economical. That said I prefer Titegroup because it meters better.

 

[Walkalong]

Clays is a good powder. I like WST better in .45 myself, but it is a close call.

I do like Clays in light .38 Spl and downloaded .357 brass.

ArchAngelCD is right, it does not meter as well as some, but not that bad either. It shoots great and is less position sensitive in that application than some others.

700X is the same way, doesn't meter all that great, but shoots great.

 

[D. Manley]

Clays is very fast and therefore, pretty soft shooting. My favorite range load is 3.9 grains under anything 230 grains. For range work, this is a great load...if you are looking for top end velocities you'll need to switch to a slower powder.

 

[jbsmwd]

It was all they had and I didn't know any better. Nwe at reloading and first time reloading pistol. A buddy of mine picked some Universal (sp?) and I thought I would try some thing different.

Is Clay's tempature sensitve like some powders are?

 

[ArchAngelCD]

My favorite range load is 3.9 grains under anything 230 grains.

D. Manley,
What is the OAL of your round if you are loading a FMJ RN bullet?

 

[wankerjake]

Yes, I have found that clays is a very low recoil powder in the calibers 9mm, 38spl, and .45 ACP. Other powders I use are titegroup, bullseye, and unique. Clays has noticibly lighter recoil than all of those, with titegroup being next I would say.

 

[Steve C]

Good powder for light target loads. Too fast for top velocity. Relatively clean and produces pretty accurate ammo. Has large flakes and may not meter well in some powder measures.

 

[bluetopper]

None better for typical range use and target shooting. Very accurate and light recoiling. I've been wanting to buy some Alliant Clay Dot. It's supposed to be identical to Clays, but USA made and cheaper. I still have quite a bit of Clays on hand though.