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Claydot vs. E-3


jstagn

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Though I dont load 40 major, Clay Dot and e3 give me a very similar recoil feel in 9mm and 45acp loads with maybe a slight edge to Clay Dot. If it makes any difference Clay Dot seems to meter much better for me using a lee Pro auto disk in smaller charges. I like e3 but now that I have tried Clay Dot I would gladly trade my e3 for it pound for pound and when its time to buy more I will be going with Clay Dot.

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I shoot both e3 and Clay Dot in my 45. e3 is waaay cleaner and meters better in my SDB press. I'm actually shooting up the Clay Dot, because I bought it for shotshell reloading when I could get nothing else. As soon as I found e3 and some Solo 1000, I went back to them and the CD just sat. I have about 2-3 lbs left which I'll be shooting for practice over the winter. Then it's back to N310 and Solo 1000 for bullseye and competition.

As far as 40 S&W goes, e3 is superb, so I'm hoarding all I have left for that. At 1.126" OAL and 180gr LTCPB bullets, 2.8gr gives me 139PF, 3.1 150PF and 3.6 166PF. When shooting 10 and 20 round strings over the chrono, I have never had an SD in double digits. I'm having trouble finding e3 right now, So I think 'll go back to N340 for major and use the e3 for minor.

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Decided to try some Claydot loads, currently running 3.7 gr E-3 in my 40 200gr blue bullets OAL 1.208 (168pf). What would be the equivalent load in Claydot ?

Edited by jstagn
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I'm at 4.0 grs of Clay Dot with a 175 or 180gr lead coated bullet and getting 169-171 PF out of a 5" Akai limited gun and my 40 SS with a bar-sto barrel gets 2 PF higher,

the Akai has an Infinity (Schuman) hybrid barrel in it, its a little slower than my other 40's

COL 1.200

No signs of over pressure, measured the cases and noting over .0005 expansion and when I reload them they go through the sizer die easier than my titegroup loaded brass does

I've only run about 300 rounds of Clay Dot through the 40 so far.

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I'm at 4.0 grs of Clay Dot with a 175 or 180gr lead coated bullet and getting 169-171 PF out of a 5" Akai limited gun and my 40 SS with a bar-sto barrel gets 2 PF higher,

the Akai has an Infinity (Schuman) hybrid barrel in it, its a little slower than my other 40's

COL 1.200

No signs of over pressure, measured the cases and noting over .0005 expansion and when I reload them they go through the sizer die easier than my titegroup loaded brass does

I've only run about 300 rounds of Clay Dot through the 40 so far.

Thanks for the info. I will definitely try clay dot when it becomes available.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just got an STI Edge and ran some chrono yesterday:

67 degress-light humidity 700 MSL

180 grn Berry's rnfp

3.9/4.0 grn E3

OAL= 1.132

Produced an avg, velocity of 915 over 20 rounds... First run through with this gun, so looks like 4.1 grains otta do it for major PF.

Second the observations noted: E3 doesn't consistently meter through a Dillon 650 :eatdrink:

Edited by kalaikanui
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9mm 3.1 gr E3 pushing same bullet in 147 gr for an avg 135 pf can probably go 2.9 on the 9mm

2.8 or 2.9 will work but 2.8 is cutting it close. I normally go with 2.9 or 3.0 just have a little extra cushion. My hands can't tell the difference between 2.8 and 3.0 so I'd rather be safe than go sub minor.

Second the observations noted: E3 doesn't consistently meter through a Dillon 650 :eatdrink:

Polish the inside of the powder drop funnel. Take it apart and then polish the inside with Flitz or any other metal polish until it's nice and shiny. I did that on my 550 and it meters e3 very consistently. I polished mine one night while catching up on TV shows that had been recorded on the DVR. Also keeping the powder hopper full helps.

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  • 1 month later...

Polish the inside of the funnel, are you talking about taking off the plastic powder holder and polish the funnel that it attached to? What about the insert that goes in the die that the powder drops thru??? Thanks..

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Polish the inside of the funnel, are you talking about taking off the plastic powder holder and polish the funnel that it attached to? What about the insert that goes in the die that the powder drops thru??? Thanks..

Yes. Remove the plastic housing and polish everything inside. I didn't polish anything else.

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I polish all of mine like a mirror on the inside and the inside of the insert, I polish the powder bar too but do not take the black anodizing off, it will make the bar wear quicker. The inside of the powder drop funnel can also use some polishing. All of my Dillon measures drop e3 with no inconsistency problems at all. It also makes other hard to meter powders more consistent. The difference is amazing.

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The lower part of the powder measure was polished inside with a Dremel and a bullet shaped fob, the rest was done by hand using wooden handled q-tips, I used the Dremel for the top inside of the powder drop funnel and a long brass screw with the head cut off coated in valve grinding compound first to remove all the machine marks down the drilled hole followed with Flitz for the final finish. The powder bar is done with a cotton cloth and light hand pressure. I used Flitz to do mine with but any good metal polish will work. Just take your time and try to get to anything that would offer resistance to those large fluffy flakes.

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I just polished the drop funnel tonight. started with medium sand paper then like 2500 grit. Then metal compound then flitz. Also the outside of the funnel with sand paper and finished with flitz. I also did a light polish to the powder bar. Everything is smoother and easier. I set the powder for 4 gr and I was 3.9-4.1 on Dillon electric scale.

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