For a light recoiling and somewhat clean powdercoated-lead SWC 45 ACP load do you prefer Alliant Red Dot or Hogdon Clays?
For a light recoiling and somewhat clean powdercoated-lead SWC 45 ACP load do you prefer Alliant Red Dot or Hogdon Clays?
I'm a big Bullseye or Unique guy for .45ACP.
But I've had good luck with Red Dot also.
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Don’t rule out 700X either!!
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I use both of them in my S&W Airweight 325PD and find Clays (the original one) to be slightly softer shooting and a little cleaner.
If you are going to make a hole in something. MAKE IT A BIG ONE!
WST is my powder of choice for most 45ACP loads. Very clean, very accurate, and very soft shooting.
Promo is as cheap as it get gets and cleans up nicely as you approach max charges. Even at lower pressures it doesn't seem too bad. I think lube is more of a culprit than many of the powders we have been blaming for fouling over the years. But, I also think lube may keep fouling softer vs powder coated boolits or jacketed.
Load, shoot, clean, then address problems as they arise. I'd bet most of my Promo/PC loads would go 500 rounds+ with no function issues if I tried.
Red dot/Promo is my favorite target and general critter-gitter load. Very accurate and cheap. Watch the metering in bulk loadings though.
"In God we trust, in all others, check the manual!"
Another vote for Promo/Red Dot. Outstanding performance in .45 ACP (and many other calibers) plus it's cheap and easy to find.
Another Red Dot/Promo fan here.
At the lower ends of the loading both Red Dot and Clays are dirty. IMR Red is a bit cleaner. Vectan A1 is about the cleanest I've found at light loadings.
NRA Benefactor.
Red dot for me to.
I tried Clays when it first hit the market. It's so much cleaner than Red Dot it's like night and day. I kicked Red Dot to the curb and never looked back.
The difference is dramatic in 38 Spl revolvers. No more blackened hands, face and glasses. Same with semi-autos; if I can't get several thousand rounds through my 1911's without a failure, something is drastically wrong.
Just my not-so-humble opinion...
Jerry
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Another clays fan, burns soooooo much cleaner than redot along with it's extremely soft shooting. Reddot has more of a crack to it while clays has a push instead. Excellent for target loads in the 45acp, +/- 4.0gr of clays pushing a 200gr swc.
I burn a lot of clays in the 38spl's, 44spl's, 44mag's & 45acp's.
There is some IMR Red data out there. It's a direct VOLUME replacement for Red Dot. I've found in pistol loads that it's so close in weight to not bother with it.
3.8 gr Red Dot and IMR Red under a 200 gr SWC hit to the same point of aim.
Of course one should always start low and work up.
NRA Benefactor.
I've not used Red Dot but use a lot of Clays for my 45. It does seem very clean and meters easy through a Dillon powder measure.
I have Clays, Red Dot and PROMO in stock will have to try them and see.
Shooting conventionally lubed boolits I figure I have to clean once in a whiled so just because of the lube.
I will say the last long run was working up "Soup Can" loads in the 7mm Mag and then I just dry patched with a rough wool cloth patch every 100 round or so for MANY shots.
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BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |