Unique??? for 300 Win Mag???

U

UncleLoodis

New member
Greetings all,

I am going to start loading 300 Win Mag, and was reviewing load data in Lyman's Reloading Handbook (49th edition). After seeing many powders in the 70-80 grain region, I was stunned to see that Unique is mentioned--and at a mere 16-30 grains! Certainly this cannot be the same Unique powder that I use for pistol loads, can it? I noticed that it was only being listed with cast bullets. Misprint? Accurate data? Anyone ever try it?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

Best regards,

Uncle Loodis
 
The Unique loads you found are for low velocity plinkers. it is an old standby powder for many reduced powder loads in many rifle cartridges
 
Well, to me, that is amazing. Just one more use for Unique I guess. If I could only choose one powder, it would probably be Unique. I think I've loaded just about every pistol cartridge that I load with it. My buddies and I call it "Flaming Dirt" because it does burn dirty. But it is so versatile. Thanks for the info.
 
Unique is often used in low velocity cast bullet loads in a great many cartridges. But those low velocity loads may not be low pressure. Too, they take up less than 50% of the case volume, so double charges are a risk. Believe me, a double charge of Unique will ruin your day, so be careful.

Today I prefer BlueDot for my reduced loads, but Unique certainly works.



.
 
I noticed that it was only being listed with cast bullets. Misprint? Accurate data?
Click to expand...

its not a misprint, and its as accurate as the rest of your data from the same source.

Did you happen to notice the listed velocity? Its WELL below regular .300 Mag speed. it's a reduced load, intended for plinking, and possibly small game.

You can make and use such ammo but you must be EXTREMELY CAREFUL!!!

I was doing that, or more accurately THOUGHT I was doing that nearly 50 years ago loading Unique under 173gr cast slugs in the .308 Win. I mistakenly loaded a grossly overcharged case, and nearly blew up a Remington rifle.

Got hit in the face with hot gas, and the bolt was locked shut solid. Gunsmith actually slightly bent the bolt handle getting it open, and had to use a chisel to get the fired case out of the chamber. The case head had expanded enough that the primer fell out, there were 3 visible cracks in the case web and there was a "belt" of brass swaged on the case body just ahead of the extractor groove. Looked it up, and according to the books, those signs indicated somewhere between 90-110,000 psi.

Gunsmith told me I was lucky, and that Remington only proofed the rifle to 80k psi...

Broke the extractor, and pin, ejector pin, safety pin, and bolt stop pin (from the vented gas. No damage was found to the bolt body, lugs or receiver, the rifle was repaired and I still have it, but as I was told, I GOT LUCKY!!

I haven't messed around with Unique as gallery loads for rifles since then.

Done right, they work and are safe (there are a few things you should do help ensure that that usually aren't given in load data tables) done wrong serious risk of KA-BOOM!!

You can make ammo for your .300 Win Mag that will let you shoot squirrels and bunneys without blowing them up. It won't shoot to the same zero as your deer and elk ammo, so you'll have to sight in the rifle for the light load if you want to hit anything, and then rezero it for big game.

For most people today, its easier (and safer) just to use a different gun (like a .22LR) for small game and save the big guns for the big critters.
 
"For most people today, its easier (and safer) just to use a different gun (like a .22LR) for small game and save the big guns for the big critters."

Yeah, but it ain't near as much fun. :D
Paul B.
 
As always, such a great wealth of knowledge and information. Thanks all for replying. 44 AMP, what an amazing story! You are so very fortunate indeed to not have been maimed or killed!

I don't plan on shooting small game with my rifle. I inherited it from my father, who used it for elk and deer. We used to have a shared funny between us regarding deer--if the bullet missed the deer, the sheer concussion probably would kill it.

Again, I'm surprised at the versatility of Unique. Lyman's states that it will get a 190 grain bullet zipping along at 2,144 FPS...to me, that's impressive. And, I think it would be safe to try to take down a deer with that kind of a load. But again, I plan on using my rifle for larger game, with standard loads. I usually just like to take it out occasionally and put a handful of rounds downrange and recall good hunting trips I had with my late father.

Best regards,

Uncle Loodis
 
I have a bolt action cheap stevens 308. I bought the rifle 5-10 years ago. It has never shot a factory cartridge. I load a cast coated 115 grain 30 caliber "Carbine" bullet over 11 grains of Promo which is the same by weight as red dot. I shoot it a lot. There was a place that let me shoot it at hand gun type hunter silhouette. Others used lever action 357, and one used a 30-30 with reduced loads and cast bullets.

I also load either a cast 45 grain bullet with a gas check, OR a Sierra 40 grain Blitz bullet over 8 grains of unique in my 222 over 20 gauge model 24 V. I get about 1600 fps and its great for small game.

They used to make IMR SR4759 which was a powder for reduced loads. The kernels looked like doughnuts. Small with holes in them. Now its 5744 by Accurate.

Lyman has some good loading information on cast bullets.

Lee loading manual has a whole section on reduced loads.

David
 
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