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sheepdog69

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On 6/17/2017 at 9:53 AM, R1_Demon said:

 

Ohhhhhh...one of "those" powders, huh?  The elusive unicorn powder?  Only have been seen once every 100 years or so?  LOL! 

 

Should be available everywhere where you are. I'm in Ohio and if I wanted to, I could buy 100lbs tomorrow if I wanted. Cabelas has the stuff as well as my local place in 14oz bottles, 4lb jugs, and 8lb jugs.

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On 6/17/2017 at 9:53 AM, R1_Demon said:

 

Ohhhhhh...one of "those" powders, huh?  The elusive unicorn powder?  Only have been seen once every 100 years or so?  LOL! 

 

My local Bass Pro has had Clay's in stock for a while now...at Bass Pro price though!

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Look at the bottom of the label and see where it was manufactured.  It's probably the "new" Canadian Clays which - by all the reports I've seen - isn't quite the same as the Australian Clays.

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WSF - Cheap, available, and versatile.

 

9mm 147gr FMJ, 3.9gr WSF, 1.135.

 

Sometimes I think too much is made about burn rate, specifically in regards to 9mm minor. I run a very unscientific experiment. I pit the aforementioned load against a Titegroup load (3.3gr) and tell shooters at my range to pick the fast powder load after firing 10 rounds of each. Most agree that if any perceivable difference is felt it is at best negligible.

 

Don't get me wrong, I understand how the fast powder/heavey bullet thing works but most times in the hand it's pretty hard to tell the difference.

Edited by 4n2t0
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Cheap as in?

With WSF you need 3.9 grains to make factor, with a  fast powder a lot less. With a  fast powder I only need 3.2 grains, about 400 rounds more per pound.

 

That said, powder cost for 9mm minor is negligible anyways. 

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5 hours ago, xrayfk05 said:

Cheap as in?

With WSF you need 3.9 grains to make factor, with a  fast powder a lot less. With a  fast powder I only need 3.2 grains, about 400 rounds more per pound.

 

That said, powder cost for 9mm minor is negligible anyways

 

You answer your own question at the end of your post.

Edited by 4n2t0
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On 5/30/2017 at 8:26 PM, sheepdog69 said:

9mm and 40? and which do you prefer? I like the 9 but my friend keeps pushing me to shoot 40

 

I used to load 9/38/40/45, plus I had handguns in half a dozen more calibers. Today, every center fire pistol I own is 9mm and I load two loads: 9 Major for Open and 9 minor for Production.

Edited by kneelingatlas
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On 6/18/2017 at 11:18 PM, mikeinctown said:

 

Should be available everywhere where you are. I'm in Ohio and if I wanted to, I could buy 100lbs tomorrow if I wanted. Cabelas has the stuff as well as my local place in 14oz bottles, 4lb jugs, and 8lb jugs.

 

Oh okay.  I thought I was reading on here at some point that Clays was hard to find or unavailable or something?  That's why I said that.  Maybe it was an old thread and I didn't notice the date or something.  I didn't actually look it up anywhere to see if it was available.  The only thing I have thus far or have used is TiteGroup.  I was going to try and see if I can find N320 locally due to people saying it runs cleaner in .40 and doesn't run as hot, but I do know it is more expensive.  However, I figured if I could find some Clays to make the bunny fart loads that was suggested by Jack for the wife to try in .40 and it wasn't expensive, it might be fun to do that and make some very light .40 loads for her to shoot. :) 

Edited by R1_Demon
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On 6/20/2017 at 8:06 AM, TDA said:

 

My local Bass Pro has had Clay's in stock for a while now...at Bass Pro price though!

 

Hollllly crap, you weren't kidding!  I found it online at Cabela's for like $18.99 on sale (reg $20.99) and on Bass Pro it was frickin' $30.99.  What the heck?!  I'm sure even buying it from my local reloading shop it shouldn't be that friggin' much!  LOL!  Dang.  I just about fell out of my chair when I saw that.  LOL!

 

But the point is, I did find it and the starting load is 3.0 gr under a 180gr Hornady XTP HP bullet that I have, so I'm sure that would be a fairly light load.  It shows the OAL at 1.125, but I would try and set it up for 1.135 if I can, so that should be a pretty good bunny fart load for the wife and possibly even the kid to try.  LOL!

Edited by R1_Demon
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On 6/20/2017 at 0:16 PM, Steve RA said:

Look at the bottom of the label and see where it was manufactured.  It's probably the "new" Canadian Clays which - by all the reports I've seen - isn't quite the same as the Australian Clays.

 

Steve - How is it different?  Characteristics, I'm guessing?  Good or bad?  Difference between the two? 

 

I would only be doing this (using the Clays) to make bunny fart loads for the wife (and possibly the kid) to try with my .40 because she tried regular factory .40 loads a couple of years ago in my S&W 4006 (all stainless frame) and she freaked out and didn't like it what so ever.  (way too heavy of a recoil)  So, I figured if I could make a fairly light load to have her try .40 again to see what she thought, it might be fun.  Not that she will probably ever consider a .40 as a mainstay, but it would be nice to try anyway.

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I don't know exactly how it is different, several posts on various forums have said it takes a slightly different amount to achieve the same velocities received with the Australian variety.  I've still got an amount of the Australian so I don't want to "Mix" the two.  No - not in same container but in use for loading !

Anything manufactured in different plants, by different companies and half a continent away will vary somewhat.  The new one may very well be wonderful but will also be somewhat different.  I'm sure the new one would be fine for "Bunny Fart" loads in most any pistol caliber.

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3 hours ago, R1_Demon said:

 

Oh okay.  I thought I was reading on here at some point that Clays was hard to find or unavailable or something?  That's why I said that.  Maybe it was an old thread and I didn't notice the date or something.  I didn't actually look it up anywhere to see if it was available.  The only thing I have thus far or have used is TiteGroup.  I was going to try and see if I can find N320 locally due to people saying it runs cleaner in .40 and doesn't run as hot, but I do know it is more expensive.  However, I figured if I could find some Clays to make the bunny fart loads that was suggested by Jack for the wife to try in .40 and it wasn't expensive, it might be fun to do that and make some very light .40 loads for her to shoot. :) 

It was hard to find for me until late last year then suddenly everyone had it in and in every size imaginable. I've been reloading maybe 3 years and until late last year I had never even seen a container of the stuff. Same with a bunch of other powders as well. I'd skip the 320 as it's freaking expensive. It's $40 a pound for me where most everything else is at $20 or so a pound. I'm willing to deal with some soot for that much difference.

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Mike - That's what I was thinking too...basically, how much better can N320 truly be to be double the price of most other powders out there.  Plus, I normally clean my firearms on a regular basis anyway.  So, in reality, that shouldn't be a big deal to me.  I know a bunch of people talk about the "smokiness" of TiteGroup with coated bullets.  I haven't had a chance to buy and coated bullets yet as the first ones I got were Hornady XTP HP's.  I think those are plated, but I know for sure they aren't coated.  LOL!  I haven't even had to shoot those over TG either because I was waiting to load up until I could afford a chrono to test all of my loads anyway.  So, I haven't really had a chance to do much of anything.  Now that I finally got my chrono the other day, I can finally start doing some loads and going to the range to test them out and see what will actually work.  I also know that a bunch of people said that TG runs hot too.  So, again, I'm curious about that as well.  So, that is why I considered the N320 because if I could get something that did run cooler, left less soot and would help reduce barrel wear, then I am all for it, even if it is a bit more expensive.  But if TG really isn't that bad and won't screw up my barrel, then I don't see the point of paying double the price for N320.

 

As for the Clays, I was going to just try that for the light loads for plinking and for the wife/kid to try the .40 again.  I didn't want to try it in .40 major loads because I have read how it gets spiky and isn't advised when it gets close to max pressures and such.  I don't need to be playing around with stuff like that; especially as a new reloader.  But for light loads and such, then I figured it would be worth it. :) 

 

Steve - Thanks for the info on Powder Valley.  I did see them listed in other posts and saved the link.  However, unless I'm buying a bunch of powder, I'm going to try and buy local to save on shipping and especially the hazmat fee.  When I bought my first round of stuff, I got hit with the hazmat fee on my powder and my primers and I just about died.  I think it was $30 or $35 for the hazmat fee alone and then the shipping (but I was already paying shipping for all of my reloading stuff anyway, so that part didn't matter much).  But if I'm only buying powder, then it is pointless to pay that high of a price.  I think one pound of N320, even from Powder Valley would end up being almost $70.  That is nuts.  I'm sure it would be way cheaper locally to just go get it.  LOL  Plus, I don't have to wait for it to be shipped and sign for it due to hazmat. :) 

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