bowenbuilt Posted November 24, 2013 Share Posted November 24, 2013 I have not seen anyone do a comparison between these 2 powders here. I spent several hours comparing yesterday so I though I would let you know the results. The gun is a clunker Taurus OSS/DS with a 5.25 barrel, temperature was 70 F, clear and sunny. Mixed range brass with Winchester LPP and loaded to an OAL of 1.220. Clays at 4,2 grains averaged 751 FPS and grouped 2" at 25 yards. We all know how soft Clays is. e3 took 4.4 grains to average 755 FPS and grouped 1.75" at 25 yards. e3 is just as soft, slightly more accurate in this gun and shoots cleaner than Clays. Clays ED averaged about 30 FPS e3 averaged in the teens. I will try these in my STI and my Gann Custom next week as time and weather allows if anyone is interested. Based on this experience it's a toss up, depending on what is available in your area it would be hard for me to pick between the 2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowrider Posted November 24, 2013 Share Posted November 24, 2013 I've been researching e3 too and I'm picking some up this week to try out. It sounds like the perfect replacement for my beloved WST. Going to be so nice to not have to worry about temp sensitivity. I'll be awhile in getting chrono data to compare but I've got data on Clays and WST neither of which are very available in my area. I haven't seen any Clays in about a year so I'm hoping e3 is good because at the moment it's out there. I've got plenty of WST, but Clays like you said, we all know how well it works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EEH Posted November 24, 2013 Share Posted November 24, 2013 What is --e3 ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwx40x40 Posted November 24, 2013 Share Posted November 24, 2013 What is --e3 ? Eddie it's a shotgun powder made by Alliant. It's close in performance to Reddot. I tried some in 38 spl, 9mm cast loads and some 40. It's soft shooting , but I went back to S1000 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave33 Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 I will try these in my STI and my Gann Custom next week as time and weather allows if anyone is interested. Based on this experience it's a toss up, depending on what is available in your area it would be hard for me to pick between the 2. Im interested. I learned about E3 here and picked up some to try in 9mm and 45. In a very brief and unscientific experiment last week I tested 4 different powders with a couple different charge weights each in my 5" RIA 1911 .45 and E3 was the most accurate of the bunch. I dont have my notes handy and cant remember the exact loads but with 200gr LSWC the best accuracy I had was with E3, followed by Solo 1000, 231, and SR7625. E3 and SR7625 are easy for me to get my hands on right now but E3 is much cheaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyT Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 I have only experimented with E3 with 185 gr. LSWC. 3.4 gr. with WLP gave me 750 fps with excellent accuracy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowenbuilt Posted December 6, 2013 Author Share Posted December 6, 2013 There is really nothing not to like with e3 once you get over people telling you how fast it is. I have found the burn rate to be somewhat slower than WST and so far I have reached power factor with it easily in all calibers way before any kind of pressure signs. Low smoke, clean, meters well, temperature stabile and very predictable. What more could you want? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZackJones Posted December 6, 2013 Share Posted December 6, 2013 Given there's no published load data for using e3 with a .45 ACP cartridge on Alliant's web site what would you guys recommend as a starting load for 230g Bayou bullet? mwx40x40 - Why did you go back to solo 1000 after trying e3? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowenbuilt Posted December 6, 2013 Author Share Posted December 6, 2013 I started at 3.9 and worked my way up with the plated bullets. With the coated Bayou's you might want to start a little lower as 3.9 usually makes Major with Bayous. Maybe 3.5 would be the best with coated lead to start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2MoreChains Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 I worked up a load using eE3 with 200 gr moly-coated SWCs (similar to Bayous). 1.265" OAL, mixed brass, CCI LPP, 5" STI Trojan: 4.3 gr of e3: Av 830 fps, 166 PF 4.5 gr of e3: Av 851 fps, 170 PF 4.7 gr of e3: Av 897 fps, 179 PF Recoil felt very similar to my load using 4.3 gr of Hodgdon Clays. Soft, clean, and minimal smoke (not enough to notice unless shooting directly into the sun). e3 is interesting stuff for sure. Given that Clays is hard to find right now, e3 may be a good substitute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZackJones Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 After spending time with my chronograph yesterday and finding out that Trail Boss won't make major PF with Bayou 230g bullet looks like I'll be joining the e3 crowd as well. My problem with Trail Boss is even though I was loading at the published maximum of 4.5g I wasn't coming close to making major in my 625 JM. I also ran some rounds through a 5" 1911 and it didn't make major. I'll be working up major loads in .40 S&W and .45 ACP. Once I get the powder and have a chance to do some testing I'll post my results here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v1911 Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 Isn't Alliant's Claydot the knockoff of Clays? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowenbuilt Posted January 22, 2014 Author Share Posted January 22, 2014 Yes, Claydot is a near identical copy of Clays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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