Any difference between Hodgdon Clays and Alliant Clay Dot?

Trying a new 45 load in my wad gun using Clays. I am switching from Bullseye to see if Clays is cleaner. I read somewhere the Clay Dot is a "clone" of clays. Before I invest in 8+ pounds of powder, I'd like to know if I can use either.

3.8 gr Clays
Star 185 gr Lead SWCHP
Winchester Primer
No specific Casing
Done on a Dillon 1050.

Loaded 10 rounds, then shot 7x, 2 10's and a 9 in Timed fire. Then I loaded 1000.

At the Alliant Powder website here's what they say:

"Designed to duplicate the performance of Hodgdon® Clays™ at an economical price."

I've had very good luck getting responses to my questions from Alliant. I've expressly asked them about loads for e3 and American Select. Let us know how Clay Dot works out.

Here's the response from Alliant:

Alliant Clay Dot and Hodgdon Clays are similar, but they are not exactly
the same. What bullet are you shooting in your 45 auto?

Ben Amonette
Technical Service Manager
Alliant Powder Company

I responded and hopefully they will respond to me.

Here's the reply from Hodgdon:
Clay Dot is a copy of Clays. Because Alliant was losing a significant percentage of shotgun shooters to Hodgdon modern products, they tried bringing out a copy of the best selling shotgun powder in the world which is our Clays powder. They even made the name sound the same and it appears they copied our data. I don't know if they did actually copy our data, but our data was our for a number of years prior to their data and most, if not all of the data matches exactly.

That's what I know: It sounds the same, their data looks the same and the name sounds the same.

How well did they do copying our Clays powder, it looks pretty similar but I cannot say it is identical or interchangeable.

Mike Daly
Customer Service Manager
Hodgdon Family of Fine Propellants


BTW - I am using a ZERO 185 gr LSWCHP, 3.8 gr Hodgdon Clays, Winchester primer, no particular brass but all the same. Loaded 10 rounds on a Dillon 1050, shot a 99-7 in timed fire mode (I called the 9), then reloaded 1k rounds. I am 2-3 hundred in to the 1k and my gun is noticeably cleaner than bullseye powder.

BTW2- An 8lb Alliant Clay Dot is $19.25 cheaper than the same size Hodgdon Clays, on powdervalley.com, hence my research.

As Bullseye shooters we try and through money (lots) on new guns, grips, sights and anything else that might bring us more points! If Clays works why would you even consider change for a $20 bill!

Its the same with every hobby, i was big into Harley's for 30 years, i had friends that didnt bat a eye paying 20k for a bike only to spend hours searching for the cheapest oil and walmart filters to service it with. If you cheap out, the proof of your savings will show up in your scores at some point. If you think Brain Zins won all his national matches on skill alone your living in fantasy land, he had access to the utmost premium guns and ammo available at any cost and that coupled with his great skill made a winning combo. Buy the best working items you can afford if advancing in this sport is your goal. This is just my personal opinion.

Do I hear it suggested that because the Alliant powder is less expensive than the Hodgedon counterpart, that it is somehow inferior? I haven't seen any loads tested yet.

Bill Blankenship stated in an article in "The Pistol Shooter's Treasury" that he won matches shooting a gun that wasn't as accurate as that of a fellow competitor. He concluded that equipment wasn't the biggest factor in a bullseye shooter's "arsenal".

No not suggesting anything except, IMO performance not price should influence a purchase sometimes the cheaper item performs as good but sometimes there is a reason its cheaper. As far as Blankenship goes, he might have not had as good a gun, but what he did have was way more talent than those he beat, and dont count out luck, some have way more of that than others.

I see no reason NOT to test various powders.


Decades ago, I tried Bullseye™ in my .45s. After all, ALL
the bullseye shooters used Bullseye™. Guess what? My guns hated it.


They loved Green Dot™, 452AA™, and AA2.


Currently, my bullseye loads are all AA2, but that doesn’t
keep me from having fun and looking at other powders.


N310™ has not worked out and is, truly, expensive.


Clays™ has not worked out as well as AA2 and TiteGroup™ is a
total loss. Clay Dot™ may be a winner. It may be, like 231 and HP38, the SAME
powder.


The point being, part of the fun should be experimenting and
learning.





I found out decades ago that changing you oil filter was
much more important than changing your oil. I found out that the inexpensive
oil filters did as good a job in my cars as the more expensive filters. I found
out that oil last a LONG time in an engine, with frequent filter changes. You
see, I worked for an oil analysis company and conducted bi-monthly analysis of
all my cars and motorcycles.

I have also done experimentation--but not too much. I tried a couple of powders, and have come right back to the recommendation of the gunsmith who built my pistols: 3.9 of Clays under the 200 gr. HG68 LSWC. I cast these myself, fro Lee six cavity molds, and size them at .452. I run them through a Star/Magma lubrisizer with Javelina Alox, though I will be switching to Rooster Red as soon as I run out of Javelina. For practice with the Service Pistol, I use the same bullet on 4.5 of HP38.

I have found that the most important thing in shooting Bullseye is strict attention to the basics of shooting. Equipment can play a part--but you can win matches by attention to the basics. Repeatability is the key--doing the same thing the same way.

My first gun that I used for competition--that I went to Camp Perry with in 1999--was a Colt Enhanced 1911. It was accurate enough for me at the time, and from a rest is an honest 4" gun at 50 yards. I did well enough for a beginner--you see, Camp Perry '99 was my very FIRST Bullseye match. I posted a score of 2104, enough to get me into Marksman. Was it the gun's fault? No. The next time (Perry 2001) I took a gun that was built for speed--a steel gun that I bought second hand. Wasn't accurized at all--but that one and a Ruger Mark II took me to 2410--in the middle of Sharpshooter.

The gun I first used at Perry is now my primary duty sidearm--and it will still put them into the ten ring at 50 yards. (At least, MOST of the time... )

I've had good success with 3.4 gr ClayDot using both the 185gr and 200 gr Dardas hard cast lead bullets.

Anyone have any .45 acp , either 185 or 200 LSWC or 185 JHP data using  E3? It is quite fast and also bulky, so it will fill more of the empty space in the case. Anyone? If I must, I will guess by weight the similar to  Clays, minus safety tolerance, but hoped someone else has already cross this risk bridge.