I have a substantial amount of "Clays". I've had good success using it in .40 and .45. Not so much in 9mm. It's a clean burning powder, delivers good velocity, and single digit SDs with all bullet weights I've tried, 115/124/125/147. The bullets have all been cast or powder coated. Accuracy has been nonexistent in pistols with twist rates from 1-9" to 1-16". I've played with charge weights, OAL, and crimp and have not attained acceptable accuracy with any combination I've tried. I'm talking patterns here, 7"-8" at 20 yds. Some combinations even worse. Unacceptable for me. That's enough to miss the "A" on the long shots. I also have a good supply of "Promo" (Red Dot). Using the same bullets, brass, and primers, all my 9mms will shoot into 4" or less at the same range. I should say, I'm loading for a 130-135 power factor, and want to stay in that range. Haven't tried plated or jacketed bullets, as cast has worked well for me and much cheaper at the volume I shoot. I'm kinda at impasse here, anyone seeing something I'm missing here? Any insight appreciated! Thanks!
With powder supply the way it is all I've been able to land in quantity is Hodgdon HP-38 and Berry's/Zero plated bullets 115/124gr . CZ-75 & BHP sing with 124gr loads. Sorry to hear about the Clay's and cast loads, try the HP-38 or Win231.
Thanks for the reply Colt45. I'm fortunate to have had decent success with the Promo, just wanted to use the Clays with the 9mm. I also have a decent supply of Unique and Bullseye that I could use, but I'm wanting to save that for now. All out of W 231, but you can bet if I find that or the HP-38 I'll stock up on that as well. Thanks! Edit: My best accuracy has come with the 124/125 gn bullets as well.
I've never had luck w/ shotgun powder for handguns. It just does not react the way I want. I just loaded up a bunch of 124gr cast lead w/ Unique. I usually use 231, but was already loading .44-40 w/ unique so I kept on going.
I've never had luck w/ shotgun powder for handguns. Just the opposite for me. Most powders suitable for shotgun work well in pistol loads. Clays even works ok in .40, and is a great load in .45acp. Just haven't been able to work out an acceptable load for 9mm using Clays. I'm about ready to forget using it in 9, and just use what I have in .45. Of course that would mean I'd have to shoot single stack for a while-----------naw.
I've never had luck w/ shotgun powder for handguns. Just the opposite for me. Most powders suitable for shotgun work well in pistol loads. Clays even works ok in .40, and is a great load in .45acp. Just haven't been able to work out an acceptable load for 9mm using Clays. I'm about ready to forget using it in 9, and just use what I have in .45. Of course that would mean I'd have to shoot single stack for a while-----------naw.
I always heard that Clays was a bit fast for 9mm, as in, it could over pressure very easily. Where, with lower pressure stuff like .45, it was fine. But I've never tried it. A guy at this site did http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=128657 "I've been using Clays for a while now and like it quite a bit. It's cheap, calls for low powder loads, clean burning and soft shooting, what's there not to like? Gun- 2008 CZ SP-01 Shadow (factory, not Custom or anything, I did some work on it myself thou). Bullet - Berry's 124gr RNDS. OAL- 1.12". You can load longer with non-CZ gun/s. Powder- Clays, 3.6gr. PF 129. Primer- Federal SPP. It get's flattened but if you use CCI - no flattening." Wait...are we allowed to post recipes here?
I use Blue Dot for my 9mm loads and Red Dot for my 45ACP. Both powders have been easy to find around here and perform well.
Never tried Blue Dot in 9mm. It's an excellent powder in 10mm for sure. I'm trying a few different things in 9mm currently. Powder coating bullets and sizing to .357 has improved accuracy some in my CZ, haven't tried it in my other 9mms as of yet. I'm back using Promo (Red Dot) in 9mm for now, works much better in 9mm. At least I can hold the "A" at 25 yds if I do my part. The saga continues---------.
