blaster113 Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 (edited) Ive loaded many tens of thousands of .40 major but am new to Clays. Ive been carefully working up practice loads with 1x fired brass. Im using a 180 gr BBI, 1.205 oal, Winchester SPP and 3.9 grs of Clays for an awesome feeling 170 pf. This load feels like my 130 pf 9mm 147 gr fmj load. but some cases look like theyre starting to get primer flow. The only case that concerns me is the one in 2nd row, far left. Top row was fired over the chrono. Bottom 3 are Hydrashoks for comparison. Does this load look safe? This load feels so nice but Im still a little leery Edited July 3, 2014 by blaster113 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob01 Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 Hodgdon lists max for 180grn and Clays at 3.5grns so you are a little over max. Just keep an eye on the primers. Those don;t look bad but tough to tell from pic. Could you take a clearer one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blaster113 Posted July 3, 2014 Author Share Posted July 3, 2014 The book loads are at short SAAMI oal, but Im using a longer oal 1.205. I loaded another 50 at 1.210 oal and am going to test those soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 Primers look ok, all still have rounded corner - no flattening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyOne Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 Yeah, those primers look fine...I see no issues...but Clays can get rather spikey, rather quick...be very careful when running the ragged edge with Clays... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blaster113 Posted July 4, 2014 Author Share Posted July 4, 2014 Thanks guys, Clays reputation for case head separations scares me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LikesToShoot Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 (edited) As stated, primers look fine. While Clay's does have a narrow window to work within when shooting major I think some other factors may be to blame for case head separation. A friend of mine had 4 case heads separate, three in his gun (STI) and one in another (XDm), using WST and brass that was bought from a guy that had "cased pro'd" the brass. This same load chrono'd at area 5 at 165.5 PF using new Starline brass, so it wasn't HOT by any means. We mentioned this case head separation condition to our squad mates, father / son team from SnS casting, and were told that it MAY have been from brass that had been "cased pro'd" before. Edited July 4, 2014 by LikesToShoot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blaster113 Posted July 4, 2014 Author Share Posted July 4, 2014 Hmmm all I use is an EGW U-die for resizing. Sticking to 1x fired brass only for my ammo with Clays. Man I hope this load turns out to be safe cause its SO soft shooting. Softer than N320. It definitely feels like cheating using Clays as others have said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the duck of death Posted July 5, 2014 Share Posted July 5, 2014 (edited) OP I see no signs of primer flow in your pictures. I've shot thousands of rounds--4.0 Clays, OAL 1.145, 180 gr out of a G27 w/NO signs of pressure and NO primer flow (Primer edges are always rounded). . Edited July 5, 2014 by the duck of death Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al503 Posted July 5, 2014 Share Posted July 5, 2014 The only thing I'd suggest is loading longer (if you have enough freebore). I tested clays out at 1.245" (Brazos, freebored out to 1.25") and it shot very soft. The only thing I didn't like about clays is that I'd get ~4 or 5 out of 100 that would sound almost like a squib. I weighed out 50 to test and still had a couple that sounded like a very light charge. It made me uncomfortable enough to stop using it. Went to e3, which is 95% as soft as clays (for me) with no issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blaster113 Posted July 7, 2014 Author Share Posted July 7, 2014 Thanks all, Im loading to 1.20 oal and the powder charge is only 3.9 grs. The primers themselves dont show any signs of flattening but the indentation from the firing pin on the primer is what concerns me. If powder werent impossible to get here I wouldn't have considered Clays. My go to powder for moly bullets is Solo 1000 but im running low Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tac_driver Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 according to the Lyman pistol & revolver handbook 3rd edition 4" universal receiver a 175gr LFP at OAL 1.100 WSP primers MAX Clays 4.0 992fps CUP 20,900 and in the photos looks like the edges are still rounded Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gandof Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Primers look ok, all still have rounded corner - no flattening. Yep! What he said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tripod Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 As stated by others, I see no primer flow. Back in the day of 175 PF we loaded 3.9 clays at 1.20 with 200 gr. JFP Zero bullets. To prevent primer flow we had to go to Winchester small rifle primers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 I've been loading 4.0 clays with 180 grain Bayou bullets at 1.170 for years. Gives me a 168 PF, and is very, very soft shooting with no pressure signs (gun is custom built STI). If only I could find clays right now.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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