Replicating Unique load with Power Pistol ...

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Dave27615

Inactive
Many of you remember Stephen Camp and his webpages on the Browning Hi Power. Well one of his pet loads was 6.0 grains of Unique with a 124 gr. XTP. He listed his chrono results at 1250 fps.

The 6.0 grains of Unique is well over my Hornady manual max (I've shot it many times and it's safe in all my pistols). I'd like to duplicate the performance with Power Pistol if possible but don't have a chrono. so .... is there a formula to convert Unique to Power Pistol? Or does anyone have a load they'd like to share? Thx.
 
is there a formula to convert Unique to Power Pistol?
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No. There is no "conversion table" or whatever. To even approach loading in such a manner is strongly ill-advised.

Unique is not Power Pistol. Power Pistol is not Unique. Although they both fall into the "intermediate" burn rate range for pistol propellants, they are otherwise quite different. Point is, my advice to make no attempt to "duplicate" Unique's performance with Power Pistol; but rather, to simply make another load work up and treat it as its own. It's not going to be a duplicate of the Unique loading.

I have never loaded 9mm with Unique so I can't give a direct apples to apples comparison. But I have loaded both Uni and PP in 45 ACP, 38 Special+P, and 357 Magnum. Across the board, Power Pistol outperforms Unique. More velocity; lower Standard Deviations; and they tend to have a lower pitched report, with less felt recoil. All with a much cleaner burn too. IMO, Power Pistol is a superior propellant in every way. There is no comparison.

I have loaded 124gn bullets in 9mm with Power Pistol. Keeping within the data published in the Speer #14 manual, using a Gold Dot Hollow Point bullet, I achieved 1221 f/s through a Beretta 92fs (5" bbl); and 1133 f/s through a Kahr CW9 (3.7" bbl). That's plenty juicy for me, but did fall short of the tested velocities of Speer's factory ammo +P offering.

Speer #14 maxes at 6.4 grains - my loading was a little below that.
Hornady 9th and Sierra V/6th both max at 5.7 grains. Typically, you'd wanna start about 10% below that and slowly move up. A chronograph would be a big help - just sayin'.
 
Dave, there are probably some shooters near you that could help you with a chronograph.
Check your local ranges, gun clubs etc.
They are not the be all , end all but they are useful.
One of our local indoor ranges here has a chrono that they will let us use, no charge.
Be careful.
Personally, in 9mm I prefer CFE Pistol, but that's just me.
 
Personally, I would find a reliable source of published data and start with that. Not only is Power Pistol not Unique, different lots of PP are not like previous lots of PP, etc.

Back in my early days, I used Unique in the 9mm for my HiPower... it was not a good combination, at least for me. Some of that may have been my early loading technique, but I went from rounds that wouldn't cycle the action, to primer flow and the hammer following the slide back into battery.
 
You should be able to come up with a Power Pistol load that gives the same velocity as the Unique load you were using. You do NEED to consult loads in loading manuals or powder mfg's website. Work up from the starting load, NEVER exceed max. loads. You will actually need a chronograph to know what the velocity really is. There are chronos available in the 100.00 range.
Max. velocity isn't always the best load.
 
...also, don't be afraid to try different weight recoil springs in the BHP. As Pete said, sometimes a very accurate load might give iffy cycling, just drop the weight of the spring and you got it.
 
The OP didn’t use a manual-listed load with Unique, just a load off some guy’s page on the Internet. But he knows it was “safe”...apparently meaning that his guns didn’t blow up or break.

Alliant lists a standard-pressure load with a 124-grain JHP of 6.4 grains Power Pistol with a velocity of 1157 fps. Close enough to his magic number. But will it shoot accurately in his pistol? Who knows.

.
 
Without Quickload as a starting point, and a chronograph as a means to determine boundary conditions, forget it.
 
Dave,
Dependent upon what model of HiPower you have, they may not take +P loads, at least not for any length of time. The recoil lug on the barrel cracks on the underside.
Supposedly the 3rd gen of HiPower will withstand +P loads.

6gr of Unique, will not be equal to 6gr of Power Pistol.
So, you should you find a load that is stellar, you should really have chronographed it.
Then you could look in the manuals for the same estimated velocity with Power Pistol.
 
Alliant 2019 Reloading Guide

Alliant, maker of both, publishes load data on their website and have a downloadable guide with data. Their data in the download pamphlet lists a bullet weight, then loads using applicable powders, with velocities for each. The online guide tends to show you one powder for each load, slanted to newer powders. The downloaded guide is much more comparable. Alliant's data for both powders is the best you will get for your purpose, and I would only use published data starting 10% lower.
http://www.alliantpowder.com/resources/catalog.aspx
 
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Lets see...if the OAL was 1.1 and your using the same exact brass, with same capacity, and you used 6.0 of Unique..I would say you will be very close would be 6.5 grains or 6.6 grains of Power Pistol.

With exact same OAL and 5.8 Unique, I achieved 1240 in 4.5" barrel. Using exact same oal, bullet and brass, Power pistol achived 1250 fps using 6.4 grains.

This is 4.5" barrel, so if your using 4" your going to be up around 6.6 or so probably.
 
The 6.0 grains of Unique is well over my Hornady manual max (I've shot it many times and it's safe in all my pistols). I'd like to duplicate the performance with Power Pistol if possible but don't have a chrono. so .... is there a formula to convert Unique to Power Pistol? Or does anyone have a load they'd like to share? Thx.
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To me, that's like asking if smokeless can be downloaded enough to match black powder. Power pistol is superior to Unique in every aspect.
 
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