Used the last of my Unique. Not getting more.

I had two Star machines that I used to load .45 and .38 Special for my classes in Toronto, back in the day. Then I bought Dupont 700X a shotgun powder.

The Star progressive reloading machines were born the same year that I was 1935, save you working it out, I am 83 YOA! With my Wife loading the primer tubes, 650 rounds per hour were easy to do.
I loaded countless thousands of .38spl projectiles, bought commercially.

I bought it in 12 lb metal kegs. Don't tell the Canadians, but it came home from Buffalo NYS, less Duty!

When I shot IPSC 5.2g pushed a 200g SWC cast lead bullet just fine, made the power factor. With my 4 bullets at a time, Hensly and Gibbs mold. Not sure on the cost now of 700X, but it might be worth a try.


When 9mm became the round of choice, I went to factory fresh rounds, W/sale.
 
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I'm not a fan of Unique, I've found Green dot to be a much better powder in the same applications. For the same performance the GD just seems less snappy, meters better, and much cleaner. Just my limited experience, I've been using GD for over 30 years and it's a permanent powder in my collection.
 
I have found over the years (started handloading in 1963), that Unique was particularly useful for heavy cast lead bullets at moderate velocities. For many years that was my main area of interest...moderate loads in .44 Magnum, .41 Magnum, .45 Colt, .44 Special, and 230 grain cast round nose .45 ACP.

Nowadays however, I shoot mostly light weight cast lead bullets in .38 Spl., so not using so much Unique anymore.
 
I guess I don't expect a powder to do everything perfectly. Yep, Unique doesn't meter as well as some powders in my 2 powder measures, but neither does some of the "log" powders I use. I don't have a quota and 99% of my time at the reloading bench is good, I don't mind "throwing short and trickling up", and sometimes when the stars line up just right the charge variations from my CH or my Lee powder measures are close enough for range ammo. If I load Unique on the light side, yep, it will burn "dirty", but "dirty" is subjective. Your "dirty" is prolly way different than my dirty (I don't wear my white shirt and white gloves when I shoot and every indoor range I used had a bathroom to wash up in. I have rags in my range bag to wipe off any excess soot. When I shoot at the local "range" I take water and paper towels along with the rags to wipe my hands. I have never had a gun, pistol or revolver malfunction from "dirty" Unique. Light loads of Unique under a cast/lubed bullet can leave more GSR on the gun or my hands than upper loads with jacketed bullets.). But one major pro is that I have loads for Unique in all my handgun handloads. I still have a little Unique left, but during one of the panics, I couldn't find any so I tried Universal. Worked good so I bought 8 lbs and still have some left.

Reloading is hugely personal choices. If whatever powder works for you and your guns, great, but that choice may not fit my wants/needs/lifestyle. But it is good to read other's opinions on their choices. It keeps me informed and I may find something I like "better"... ;)
 
On the issue of metering with flake powders like Unique, the OP did not specify the type of powder dispenser is being used.

In my experience, using the RCBS UniFlow powder dispenser, flake powders like Unique or 700-X actually meter quite consistently if the small volume cylinder is used rather than the large volume cylinder.

I use 700-X as my go to powder for 45ACP, 9mm, 38SPL, etc., etc. Have a lot of it. No issues with metering...

Bayou
 
I have used Unique for years and use 12/16 lb. a year . It works fine in my dillion and it is all I use for cast bullets .
 
I have a RCBS Uniflow with the small cylinder it will stay very close 1/10 + or -
I load 10.2 with the Dillion or Uniflow all within a 1/10 gr . using Unique .
It does take time to set but it will work well .
 
I use in for my .44 cartridges (special and Magnum). Why? First because it works (accurate loads), second historical. I find it no dirtier than any other powder with 240g SWCs. For these cartridges it meters fine. So I'll continue to use it here as I still have lots of it. I've went to other powders for my other cartridges for something different. But if Unique was all there was ... no biggie.
 
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My Uniflow won't throw Unique worth a crap. It's pretty ugly.

My Dillon measures, however - and ironically, since so many other people have problems - threw Unique so well that it was a surprise to see an average deviation over 300-500 rounds of even 0.1 gr. They were awesome with Unique.
 
I have the RCBS Uniflow with the small rotor and micrometer adjuster. Yesterday I was loading for 45 colt. I needed 8.2 grains. I set the micrometer where I was getting 8.2 grains. I threw ten charges, weighed it and came up with 82.4 grains. made a slight adjustment to the micrometer adjustment and threw 10 more and came up with 82.0 grains. Threw 50 charges into a loading block of cases. Confirmed the volume with a pen light and stuffed the bullets into them. They may be off +/- 0.1 grain because of the nature of Unique, but I can't see where that would matter with 45 Colt.
 
My Uniflow does fine with Unique, and I use the large cavity drum (I think I lost the other one, if I ever had it. Never used it.
If you think Unique doesn't meter well, go use an IMR stick powder, then tell me its not better than that.

Not as good as fine ball powder that measure like water, but I never had a problem, or heard of one before the Internet.

I have used Unique in smaller caliber cases but its not optimum even in .357. In .45 caliber, its great for me. 6.5gr 230gr .45 ACP is ball ammo duplicate, 8gr under a 250 for .45 Colt in a Colt, 10gr in my Ruger Blackhawk.

Been using Unique since the early 70s, see no reason to switch to any of the newer powders, as long as I can get Unique.

Best for "full power" medium to medium heavy loads, not at its best in light loads, and not suitable for the very heaviest loads, it performs well, for me. you may not like it, but that doesn't change my mind.
 
I like Unique and use it but I can understand Nick's reasoning.

Like many others here I put it to use through an RCBS Uniflow. Mine is pretty old and has the green metallic paint on it. I finally put a micro meter on it 6 months ago. It did improve consistency but there wasn't all that much to improve.

I have tried Unique in .38, 45acp, 44 mag and 45 Colt. I still use it in the last two calibers weekly. I'm not opposed to other powders and in fact do use other powders with essentially the same effect.
 
In 43 years of reloading, I've never used Unique for any caliber. In the early days, I was using Herco and Blue Dot. Metering from my old Uniflow measure with those powders was enough to make me pull my hair out. I had to set the measure low, and then trickle every case up to weight. I certainly didn't want to add another flake powder to the mix.

The calibers where Unique seemed to work, according to the manuals, were also the calibers where so many of the medium burn rate ball powders worked well. Plus, all I ever heard about Unique was how dirty it was. Didn't seem like there was anything there that would have been an advantage for me. For the 9mm and the .40, I'm using Power Pistol and WSF these days. I'm especially happy with the performance of WSF. What a great powder that is with jacketed bullets in the 9mm.

I gave up on Herco a long time ago. When I ran out of Blue Dot about 3 years ago, it went away. I use Longshot in its place. Life is much easier now.
 
I've never really liked Unique, and quit using it in the early 1990s.

That said, Unique is very likely the single most versatile smokeless powder that there is.
 
I like moderate loads with Unique but quit using it on heavier loads because a) it caused leading, too fast burning I guess, and b) it gave harsh recoil, I guess due to pressure spike. Full loads of IMR4227 were far easier to shoot.
 
Well folks, there you have it. Some praise Unique, some hate it. Some get good results with their powder measures, some don't... :rolleyes:

In my old age, my shooting and reloading has slowed way down (bum knees, forest fires and rain) and I have my log books from '88 that I'll use to find a load. The powders that worked for me from '88 to '17 still work today...
 
"Well folks, there you have it. Some praise Unique, some hate it. Some get good results with their powder measures, some don't..."

What? You mean people can have different opinions and experiences?

That not everyone achieves the same results as everyone else?

:p
 
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