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Hey! I picked up a can of Clays by mistake last week.I meant to pick up Universal.So,has anyone had any expertise in using Clays in the old 45 colt,38/40 and the 44/40? Or maybe even in the 44 special?The charges recommemded in the manuals sure looks awful small in those big ole cases??I tried some in a few 38/40's but it did not seem to be all that great.

Howdy

Clays is very popular with Cowboy Action Shooters in lots of revolver cartridges. Yes, the charge will look very small in the old revolver cartridges. Don't forget, most of those cartridges: 45 Colt, 44-40, 38-40 etc were designed for Black Powder. Being less powerful than modern Smokeless powders, Black Powder cartridges needed a lot of case volume in order to create a reliable, man stopping load. In cartridges like 45 Colt and 44-40 when shooting with Smokeless I prefer a powder that takes up more space in the big old cartridges, like Unique. But plenty of shooters use Clays in revolver cartridges. Just stick with the manufacturer's recommendations, don't try to add any more.

I won a couple of pounds of Clays in matches and finally got around to using them. Clays is the cleanest burning powder I have used and is perfect for target loads in the .32 S&W Long, the .38 Special, .44 Special and .45 ACP. You get a lot of loads out of a pound of powder and the accuracy is first rate.

It will never win an award for "all around" powder, but used within it's intended parameters, it is stellar.

Dale53

Hi,

No experience w/ "regular" Clays in any handgun cartridges, but it's an excellent 12 ga target powder in case you're loading for the ol' coach gun. Handles loads from 7/8 oz to 1 1/8 oz very nicely, and it's incredibly clean in those apps, too.

Rick C

Clays works well for me in .44 spl and .45 Colt. I did notice some position sensitivity using a light charge of Clays in the .45 Colt with a 200 grain LSWC, but that's to be expected with any powder in a case with that much empty space.

I love Universal and Clays, but Hodgdon's naming system can be confusing and dangerous IMO.

I use 2.5 grs in 38, 4grs in 357 cases & 6.0 grs in 44 ,found it to be clean ,economical ,feeds well thru my Lee auto disc, & the most position insensitive powder I own, oh yeah easy to ignite .

The down side is in the above when ya reah the pressure limit with the powder/bullet combo if ya try to push it faster it spikes qwikly .
It`s a very dense powder ,so double even triple charges are possible .This makes having your technique & checks in place that more important !!

I have 3 powders in bulk & CLAYS is 1 of em !!

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GP100man

The Only Thing That Limits A Man Is His Imagination!!

Clays is my main powder for the .327 Federal with 115 gr. RNFP (3.7 gr.) as well as several others including 44SPL (4.5 gr w /200 RNFP) and 45 Colt (5.5 gr w/ 250 gr RNFP)with lead bullets. I have found that the upper (or at Maximum) loads work the best for me. It burns clean and I get all the accuracy I can muster from my guns with my abilities.

Thanks,
32Magfan

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I have never figured out why Hodgdons has 3 Clays powders. One is just Clays, another is Universal Clays and another is International Clays. It is just inviting a use of the the wrong powder with a similar name.

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