Need Clay Dot Balistics

[Rootin Tootin]

I am looking for a table on Clay Dot for 38 special 130 grain lead. Anyone out there have one..........??

[Garrison Joe, SASS #60708]

You are looking for loading data for 38 special, using 130 grain lead bullet and clay dot powder, right? Most folks' idea of "ballistics data" and "loading data" are not really the same thing.

 

Well, Alliant does not publish a lot of data for Clay Dot for use in cartridges, since they developed Clay Dot primarily to be a shotgun powder that worked almost exactly like the same weight of Hodgdon's Clays powder in shotshells. But we can get real close to a safe load of Clay Dot in cartridges (like the 38 special) by using Hodgdon's cartridge data for Clays.

 

Hodgdon's loading data that is on-line is convenient to use. Go to this web site

http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/

 

and look up "pistol loads, .38 special, 130 grain MEI cast bullet load, using Clays." You will find a starting load and a maximum load for Clays. From my own experience, that starting load weight of Clays will be a great place to start from loading Clay Dot powder. It will give you about 825 FPS. It's a nice, consistent load, using either that starting weight of (Hodgdon) Clays powder, or the exact same weight of (Alliant) Clay Dot powder.

 

I've found weight-by-weight, that Clays and Clay Dot interchange and work well in Cowboy loads for both .38 special and .45 Colt. That's the limit of my "compatibility" testing with Clay Dot.

 

Good luck, GJ