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Jorah, instead of buying all sorts of charge bars and bushings I would recommend you buy one of the "universal" charge bars. I am talking about the adjustable one. The hassle of weighing out several loads and then changing the bushing alone makes the adjustable bar a bargain, and you only have to dial in the exact load you want. It eliminates the need for different bars and bushings. It runs about $25, which you hit rather quickly with charge bars at $8-10 each and bushings at $1-2 each.
The load you have picked out is basically a handicap trap type load. Stout, but will cover anything you ever run into in clay targets. You can drop the charge weight by about 10%, but don't go any lower as performance will really suffer. A gas auto is not going to like you going any lower than that either.
Figure your powder cost on a per shell or per case of shells basis, you will find that the Clays is cheaper as you can use 17 grains or so rather than 22 grains or so. Using roughly 20% less powder to get the same velocity offsets the 10% or so difference I have seen in the two powders.
The universal works really well in 20 and 28ga, as well as the pistols. In 12 ga it is more suited to heavy target and field loads. I have burned quite a bit of it in the 12, and it works really well when you need a heavier load.
Use what you have for now, get comfortable and then start terrorizing the patterning board with all the new recipes you find that look promising. It is very satisfying to do.
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