Clays vs. Red Dot

I think all of the fast powders work well enough. Other than price, the things that matter to me are the number of loads I can find for the powders and the fit (crimp) that results from the load I want to use. I usually shoot 2-3/4 DE for 1-1/8 oz loads.

The other things that may matter are the ability of the reloading machine to throw safe loads and clean burning. I gave up on 700X a long time ago, largely because I couldn't get my MEC to throw the charge I wanted within a small error range. It is nice to see a clean barrel, but it doesn't matter at all, if you are shooting to break the targets and not to admire the inside of the fired barrel.

Right now, I shoot Solo 1000 the most, but load some Clays and some Red Dot. I like the Solo because it has a high energy density (meaning that the charge volume is low), so it happens to give me nice crimps. I require Red Dot for handguns (love it for some .38 and .357 M loads), so I use it when I can't find good data for Solo 1000. I have shot many kegs of Clays and only moved away from it because I discovered that the Solo 1000 fit better in AA hulls.

claysman said:

that's interesting about the 700X not dropping consistent loads....never thought of that. so, clays and solo 1000 drop more consistent loads with the mec single stage loader? so are these powders more pellet than flake?

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I was loading 700X back in the 60s and 70s. At the time, I became uncomfortable that I could not keep the charge below the point given in the reloading manuals, unless I backed off from the stated charge by a good bit. I measured a lot of loads and simply found too much + and - on the scale (with my machine). Today I might not be as concerned over it. I don't know for sure, since I gave up on 700X so long ago. It was a clean burning powder and I was probably a bit too scared of it.

Clays and Solo 1000 are both flake and look about the same (size) as 700X. Solo is considerably more dense. I used to load Winchester Super Light when I wanted a dense powder. It was a ball powder and had the highest energy density of any fast powder I have seen. Then, as you probably know, they quit making it. Right now, I find that Tightwad has a rather high energy density and is very fast.