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Canadian Clays disappointment?


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I've run some Canadian Clays before with 230gr Coated, and found the velocity to be a substantial amount below what was expected after loading with AU clays previously...I think I posted on it in a thread a while back....

 

FF to today, shot some 200 BBI LSWC over 4.0 at 1.250, a pretty common load that *should* run about 800-830 and 160-165 PF, but out of a 5" I am only seeing around 730-750.  It was in the 80's today so should not have been any odd temperature swings.

 

Is everyone also finding Canadian Clays slower than the older AU powder?  I'm going to bump up to 4.3 and try again but this is twice now I've come up much slower than expected.  :unsure:   

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Can you even get the Australian Clays any longer or is it only Canadian Clays?  Is it just one of things where you have to find the Australian Clays sitting on a gun store shelf somewhere since it isn't being produced any longer or ?  LOL

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I'm not sure if it is not being produced in Australia since a problem at the plant or if Hodgdon isn't importing it, Hodgdon now offers the one mfg'd in Canada.

You possibly might find some on a shelf or from an individual but I would not recommend starting with it as you very well may not be able to get anymore.

I use the Australian Clays - but I have a lot of it and I don't shoot as much as I once did.

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Steve - That makes sense.  I was only getting some to make some bunny fart loads in .40 for my wife and/or son to shoot is all.  I wasn't actually planning on using it to do my normal loading.  I was just curious if it was truly worth me trying to find an Australian version on the shelf around here or just grab whatever is the first bottle on the shelf.  It was suggested to me to try 3.0 of Clays under a 180gr (.40) for the bunny fart load.  However, they didn't say Australian or Canadian.  I'm sure I couldn't tell the difference anyway because I've never shot either of them.  LOL  Not like I'm trying to make PF with the load.  But I appreciate the info. :) 

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Steve - Good point...especially if it is a little lower on power than the Australian version.  I figure it is more for fun anyway for them, so it would be fun to try a few different loads to see how it goes.  Most have suggested 3.0 under a 180gr, (.40) but I will still look it up in a manual to see.  But I appreciate the input. :) I know this is the .45 forum, so I won't go into specifics.  LOL :) 

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Interesting... could be the issue I'm having. 

Just switched to Clays under 200grn proj as folks appear to think that's the end-all of 45 loads, but am finding it slow.  I assumed it was the chrono I was using, or something I was doing wrong.

 

On ‎7‎/‎26‎/‎2017 at 9:09 AM, zzt said:

Save yourself the trouble an use Alliant e3 for both minor and major loads.  Same recipe as Clays, but without the pressure spikeyness near max.

 

noted..

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 7/26/2017 at 9:09 AM, zzt said:

Save yourself the trouble an use Alliant e3 for both minor and major loads.  Same recipe as Clays, but without the pressure spikeyness near max.

 

Easy to say for someone without 7.5 lbs left of Canadian Clays lol.

 

I have a little less than a lb of Australian Clays left... I am going to horde that for something special :).

 

Tested again with CA Clays bumped up to 4.3, got a bit faster but still below 800...this was with a LabRadar, 90* or so, out of a 5" Dan Wesson, BBI 200 LSWC.  It a usable load, just more powder than I expected to have to use based on previous data is all.  

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Interesting, thanks for posting.  By measurement, he's basically seeing same FPS loss old vs new as I was, factoring in he is shooting plated and I was shooting coated.  The "by Volume" bits were interesting - the numbers definitely jump up with new Clays using volume vs weight and appears new clays is denser than old clays.

 

Prob stick to BE for 200 Coated  LSWC, and WST for 230's... Might try New Clays in 44Mag Range loads under 240 LSWC's.

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Definitely interesting to see him do it by volume and not measuring it out by grains.  I wouldn't have thought to do that because I would have been afraid to blow something up considering one of them could have been much denser and thus it could have been a big overcharge.  However, that is probably my loading inexperience talking there.  LOL

 

But it was still interesting to see the difference of what he was talking about regarding the two and even though they are named the same, but two different factories, that you still have to do load development with that same powder.  Interesting.

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I've done the clays (old Australian) to Clay Dot by volume seems to work better than wgt to wgt.

BUT

Do your due diligence and work your load up like you should to get the PF you want.

CD seems to work well for me in several calibers

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

I just ran some Canadian Clays with Blue Bullets 230 grain round nose. Used a Caldwell Chrono indoors. I really don't see that much difference in velocity from the 1 lb can I had of Aussie Clays. Way too high for major levels and it did have a bit of punch to it, the recoil was pretty sharp, but again, 4 grains is too high. Loaded up some 3.7 grain last night and will give them a try before Nationals.

 

 
 
Contact photo

Created: 09-08-2017 10:58:55 AM
Description:  Blue 230 4.0 clays

Temp: 65 °F
BP: 29.95 inHG
Shots
#     FPS        FT-LBS     PF
5     764        0.00       0.00      
4     798        0.00       0.00      
3     756        0.00       0.00      
2     812        0.00       0.00      
1     777        0.00       0.00
Average: 781.40

 

 

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