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Decided to try using Hodgdon's clays as it is supposed to be clean burning.

I was reloading .45 ACP with 230gr FMJ as practice ammo. Broke out the trusty Sierra reloading manual and found a listing for "Univ. Clays". Hodgdon makes Universal, and Hodgdon makes Clays. Both powders are shotgun/handgun powders and this was my first time using either one. I figured "what the heck, but powders must use the same data". So I loaded up a box with 5.7 grains of Clays. The fact that it was listed as "Univ. Clays" had been nagging at the back of my mind, so I decided to check the Hodgdon web site just to make sure before I went to the range to check out this load.

Guess what... Hodgdon recommends a maximum of 4 grains for clays. Time to break out the old bullet puller.

This just illustrates why it is a good idea to check out a couple of sources for reloading data.. um... before you load :)

No doubt you do not want to fire a 230 gr bullet that's over 5.7 gr of Clays. Pistol and fingers could be in several pieces after the first round. You are not the first person to confuse the Clay's line that Hodgdon produces.
Don't let this turn you off of Hodgdon's Clays (the one in the container with the green lettering). It is a great powder for target shooting. One of the most popular loads for this powder is 3.8 to 4.0 Clays with a 200gr LSWC bullet.

Good catch jrosto

Fortunately the only thing you lost with this mistake is time.
Allways listen to that inner voice.

Dan

Good catch - you can't take anything for granted.

Some years back, a friend of mine bought a .270 and was loading it with what he assumed was a maximum, but safe, load of 4831 powder. (Uh oh . . . STARTING at the published maximum is NOT a good idea!)

Now, his loading manual - Speer #8 - only identified the powder by the number, as only Hogdon was producing 4831 when the manual was printed.

But HE bought a can of then-new DuPont IMR4831 and used it. (Why some IDIOT at DuPont decided to produce a powder with the same number as an existing powder, but a rather different burning rate, is unknown.)

The first shot produced enough pressure so it took both of us to open the bolt on his M700.

Then he fired a second round!!

Rifle held together, no change in headspace . . . but pushing the rifle's inherent safety margin like this is an approach that you definitely don't want to take in load development.

[quote="jrosto"So I loaded up a box with 5.7 grains of Clays. The fact that it was listed as "Univ. Clays"[/quote]

Y'know, you should develop the .45 Extra Super gun before you start fine tuning the load. It makes testing much easier.

KD5NRH wrote:[quote="jrosto"So I loaded up a box with 5.7 grains of Clays. The fact that it was listed as "Univ. Clays"

Y'know, you should develop the .45 Extra Super gun before you start fine tuning the load. It makes testing much easier. [/quote]

Is that the one that fires the .45 ACP +++++++P?