9 Minor with Clays

[inkballedtarget]

I have a bunch of H Clays sitting on the shelf and was curious what the consensus is on using it for a 9 minor load with 125 gn coated bullets?  I know some guys use it, and some advise against it, but I haven't seen anything posted recently. Has anything changed?

 

It would be used in a G34.

 

Thanks 

[Rnlinebacker]

I have a bunch of H Clays sitting on the shelf and was curious what the consensus is on using it for a 9 minor load with 125 gn coated bullets?  I know some guys use it, and some advise against it, but I haven't seen anything posted recently. Has anything changed?
 
It would be used in a G34.
 
Thanks 

LCN= lead conical nose

there max load data has the bullet making 124pf @ 993fps but that's out if a 4 inch barrel. you could load longer and place another tenth of powder to get to 130pf probably

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[inkballedtarget]

Thanks for the info. Is that on the edge of being safe? Considering bulk reloading inaccuracies do you think there .2  margin up or down? 

[Rnlinebacker]

Thanks for the info. Is that on the edge of being safe? Considering bulk reloading inaccuracies do you think there .2  margin up or down? 

so if I were loading Clay's I'd load as long as my barrel plunks hopefully around 1.160 and load 3.5 then chrono. maybe even the 3.3 makes minor comfortably out of your barrel. Make a batch of 3.3, 3.4, 3.5 and chrono to be certain

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[Steve RA]

I use Clays (Australian) in 9mm  with 125gr coated or 130gr LSWC with 3.2 grs and in .45 ACP with 4.2grs and 200gr LSWC or coated.  Those make minor in 9mm and major in .45.  Use SRMP with these and have no pressure signs.

 

[Stickman301]

I load 3.0gr Clays with Blue Bullet 147gr FN at 1.145”. 131PF out of my X5. Soft and clean.

[inkballedtarget]

On 10/4/2019 at 2:10 PM, Rnlinebacker said:

so if I were loading Clay's I'd load as long as my barrel plunks hopefully around 1.160 and load 3.5 then chrono. maybe even the 3.3 makes minor comfortably out of your barrel. Make a batch of 3.3, 3.4, 3.5 and chrono to be certain

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Thanks for this info. In a G34 is the barrel or magazine the limiting factor on length? 

[Rnlinebacker]

Thanks for this info. In a G34 is the barrel or magazine the limiting factor on length? 

definitely magazine first and then the barrel

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[inkballedtarget]

On 10/4/2019 at 2:13 PM, Steve RA said:

I use Clays (Australian) in 9mm  with 125gr coated or 130gr LSWC with 3.2 grs and in .45 ACP with 4.2grs and 200gr LSWC or coated.  Those make minor in 9mm and major in .45.  Use SRMP with these and have no pressure signs.

 

Thanks for the feed back. What gun are you running the 9mm out of, and what OAL are using?  

 

On 10/6/2019 at 1:18 PM, Stickman301 said:

I load 3.0gr Clays with Blue Bullet 147gr FN at 1.145”. 131PF out of my X5. Soft and clean.

Thanks for the information. I have debated between the 125 and the 147 gn. Do you have a specific preference to the FN v. RN, or is that just how the 147 Blue comes? I think they make a 125 gn TC and RN, not sure about the 147. 

[inkballedtarget]

4 minutes ago, Rnlinebacker said:

definitely magazine first and then the barrel

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Do you know what the max OAL you can get in a G17/34 mag? And if it clears the feed lip at the top are you good, or can you experience issues in the mag body even if it clears the feed lip?

[zzt]

ink, the deal with H Clays is it is seriously spikey when near max.  Since you have a lot of it, load low pressure and see if you like it.  Use it for practice loads.  A very similar powder, a touch slower with none of the spikey characteristics of Clays is e3.  It also has no temp sensitivity.  If you load 45 ACP, I'd save the Clays for that and use something else for 9mm.

 

BTW, you cannot just go by the burn speed of a powder.  For instance, Bullseye is a fast powder that works well in 9mm, with no kabooms.  It's the burn characteristics you have to worry about.

[Stickman301]

7 hours ago, inkballedtarget said:

Thanks for the feed back. What gun are you running the 9mm out of, and what OAL are using?  

 

Thanks for the information. I have debated between the 125 and the 147 gn. Do you have a specific preference to the FN v. RN, or is that just how the 147 Blue comes? I think they make a 125 gn TC and RN, not sure about the 147. 

 

Flat nose are what I first bought and they worked great so I stuck with them. Easy to measure with calipers. Stay stacked in bullet feeder tube. I run the 125gr TC in Major and they  stack weird in the bullet feeder tube and sometimes get stuck or hung up.

[MemphisMechanic]

8 hours ago, inkballedtarget said:

Thanks for this info. In a G34 is the barrel or magazine the limiting factor on length? 

 

Gen 3-4... or Gen 5?

 

In a 3rd or 4th gen, anything that will fit in the magazine (which typically  limited you to 1.150-1.160”) would fall into the chamber with room to spare.

 

5th generation guns are much much less generous.

 

Edited October 8, 2019 by MemphisMechanic

[inkballedtarget]

On 10/7/2019 at 10:46 PM, MemphisMechanic said:

 

Gen 3-4... or Gen 5?

 

In a 3rd or 4th gen, anything that will fit in the magazine (which typically  limited you to 1.150-1.160”) would fall into the chamber with room to spare.

 

5th generation guns are much much less generous.

 

These would be for a Gen 4 G34. I think my current load load is 1.13 OAL.

[Yondering]

Clays works great for 125gr and lighter 9mm. It's a bit fast burning for heavier bullets, but does a great job with the lighter stuff, especially with lead bullets. It does a great job of filling the case too, so overcharges are immediately obvious unlike some other common powders like Titegroup.

 

The load data posted above is not even at +P levels; it's perfectly safe in a Glock. I load tons of this stuff and have done a lot of experimenting with pushing the limits; what you're wanting to do is well within the limits and wouldn't concern me in the slightest. Load up some ammo and rock on. 

[4n2t0]

4 hours ago, Yondering said:

The load data posted above is not even at +P levels; it's perfectly safe in a Glock. I load tons of this stuff and have done a lot of experimenting with pushing the limits; what you're wanting to do is well within the limits and wouldn't concern me in the slightest. Load up some ammo and rock on. 

 

This, exactly.

 

@inkballedtarget: Don't overthink the whole OAL thing, use whatever works for that barrel/magazine/bullet combo. In my Shadow that means an OAL of 1.09 but my M&P, Glock, SR9 etc. can accept 1.15ish. So why do I load everything to 1.09? Because that's the length that works in all my pistols, regardless of the powder I'm using. Remember to always work up and test any new load and you'll be just fine.

Edited October 9, 2019 by 4n2t0

[inkballedtarget]

20 hours ago, Yondering said:

Clays works great for 125gr and lighter 9mm. It's a bit fast burning for heavier bullets, but does a great job with the lighter stuff, especially with lead bullets. It does a great job of filling the case too, so overcharges are immediately obvious unlike some other common powders like Titegroup.

 

The load data posted above is not even at +P levels; it's perfectly safe in a Glock. I load tons of this stuff and have done a lot of experimenting with pushing the limits; what you're wanting to do is well within the limits and wouldn't concern me in the slightest. Load up some ammo and rock on. 

Thanks for the info and vote of confidence. I have loaded a couple of thousand and it shows no pressure signs, and they felt good. What are you seeing as far as temp sensitivity? If i load 131 PF at 80-90 degrees (which is 3/4 of the weather we have in West Tx) will I have issues at lower temps?

[Yondering]

I haven't seen any very significant temp sensitivity, but our temps here are pretty mild compared to what you get. Most of my load development is around 50-60 degrees, and we rarely see more than 30 degrees change in either direction, which hasn't been enough to matter for me.