Used the last of my Unique. Not getting more.

[Charlie98]

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.

Interestingly enough, I found that out a few years ago. I never really liked the full-house loads with W296/H110 (I really don't have a use for them) but found IMR4227 to be that Happy Place in between max charges of Unique and W296. It is especially useful in my Marlin 1894 .41MAG carbine, but still is very good out of my pistols as well. I like it so much I recently bought 8# of it...

A lot of people complain about how Unique measures... when I first got my Hornady drop I had problems, too. But after I ran a bunch of IMR stick powder through it... seasoning it up... I didn't have too many problems thereafter. It still gets a little iffy with very light charges, but I rarely go there anymore with Unique.

I have several standardized loads with Unique... oddly enough, after all these years, and after Al Gore invented the internet, I found my loads were identical to many other's standard charges...

6.5grn/230grn .45ACP
9.0grn/215grn .41MAG
9.5grn/250grn .45 Colt
7.0grn/250grn .44SPC

Someone commented that is was jack of all, master of none... I would correct that as jack of all, master of some. It works in almost everything, but it excels at a few particular loads. JMHO.

 

[huntinaz]

Just starting to get into 40 cal. Loaded some up yesterday, 180gr Rainier HP's with Unique, Universal, HS-6 and Blue Dot... All worked fine. Blue dot gave best velocity but also highest recoil. Unique gave the best recoil vs velocity balance. More testing is needed but Unique is right in there with the better powders for my application. Which is moderate recoil and preferably 950fps or better. Can't say I'm surprised. Unique rocks.

Charges thrown were 5.2gr-5.5gr with 4 out of 5 being 5.4gr. I can live with 0.3gr deviation if performance is where I want it.

Even HS-6 throws a 0.3gr deviation once in awhile.

If I didn't have so much powder I'd just use a bunch of Unique and call it good. It's a great powder. But, I do. So I tested 4.

 

[huntinaz]

6.5grn/230grn .45ACP
9.0grn/215grn .41MAG
9.5grn/250grn .45 Colt
7.0grn/250grn .44SPC

Someone commented that is was jack of all, master of none... I would correct that as jack of all, master of some. It works in almost everything, but it excels at a few particular loads. JMHO.

Like that 45 Colt load. I would guess that 44 Spl load is about perfect as well.

 

[mkl]

To Nick:

Glad the "double tap" helped you.

Try 5.0 grains of Unique behind a 146 SWC or similar in your .38 Special.

That load in my S&W model 10 is a tack driver.

 

[44 AMP]

I think some people are expecting too much from their powder measures, and not allowing for the inescapable fact that volumetric measuring of a granular solid will have variations, varying with the physical size and shape of the powder grains.

The measures strong point is rapidly dispensing charges of powder where slight variations of charge weight are not significant.

Where small variations are significant, every reloading book I've ever seen tells you to weigh the charge on a scale, and adjust as needed to the desired weight.

I like Unique, its like me, its old, its dirty, and it smokes.
Also does every thing I've ever asked it to do, and pretty well, if not very well.

If you don't like it, don't use it. Free market, you know...
And I'm fine with hearing chapter and verse about why you don't like it. Just don't tell me I shouldn't like it or use it, because you don't.

Free Country...for some things, still...

 

[Nick_C_S]

To Nick:

Glad the "double tap" helped you.

Were you the guy who suggested that to me? Thanks! Yes, it does help. Makes Unique drop more heavy, but more consistent. It was a godsend.

Try 5.0 grains of Unique behind a 146 SWC or similar in your .38 Special.

I can't. I'm out

Question though: Is this 146 SWC bullet lead, plated, or jacketed? Because I sure miss Speer's old 146 jacketed SWC. What an awesome bullet! Too bad their lawyers told them to stop making them. I miss jacketed SWC's.

 

[Road_Clam]

It's not that I "hate" Unique, it's just the fact I was seeing about a .4 gr deviation throwing through my Dillon 650. If I were only loading say 100 rounds of general plinking ammo I wouldn't be overly concerned. When I run a batch of handgun I run 1000 rounds. I don't want a .4 gr deviation with a 1K round run because it will always be bugging me in head while shooting. Like I said I have over 7# and the more research I do the more applications I read about, in particular using Unique in antique military rifle downloaded applications , and also for 44 mag. So yes, i'll still use Unique but i'll just drop charges through my RCBS Chargemaster 1500 for low volume loading.

 

[Crazy Carl]

I like how my .41s shoot with it, but it doesn't meter that well (Lee Pro Auto Disk) & with 'heavy' loads, I prefer the feel of 2400.

I'll use up the couple pounds I have for 215gr plinker loads, but will probably try some Power Pistol when it's gone. May experiment with WSF as well, since I have 2lbs on hand that I bought for .45ACP & 9mm.

 

[mikld]

"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?

Yep, when I was using a lot of Unique, I read of how dirty it was. Also some complained about metering. I was wondering if I was doing something wrong or had a different Unique than they did...

 

[Mike Irwin]

"Yep, when I was using a lot of Unique, I read of how dirty it was. Also some complained about metering. I was wondering if I was doing something wrong or had a different Unique than they did..."


Alliant Unique is different in some ways from Hercules Unique.

Complaints about how dirty Unique can be have coming up since the 1920s.

Complaints about Unique's... unique... metering qualities have been coming up since around the same time.

Simple fact is, the dirty factor has a lot to do with the pressure that the load develops. The higher the pressure, the cleaner it tends to burn. That's true of a lot of the early flake powders like Bullseye, the Dots, etc.

Ball powders of the type developed in the 1930s and brought widely to market starting in the 1950s burn a lot more cleanly inherently. It's the nature of the beast.

The same is true of the metering issues. Unique's size and shape make it a lot more prone to variations. That's simple geometry.

I've metered Unique through an RCBS Uniflow, a Belding & Mull, and a Lee Pro Auto disk measure and, despite varying my loading procedures, Unique still gave me far more variation than I wanted or really had any reason to accept.

I simply switched back to Winchester and AA ball powers, which meter brilliantly through anything I've run them through.

 

[Nick_C_S]

Did some loading today for the first time since I originally started this thread. The powder used today was - coincidentally - AA#2. Wow, what a difference in metering characteristics. With ease, I set the charge weight right down to the gnat's eyebrow, and it never deviated even in the slightest.

Like night and day.

 

[E.J.W.]

A Unique situation if I may say so...

I've used Unique for many years starting when the cans were cardboard and still said "Hercules" on them. I still have an empty one or two of those Hercules cans along with some metal Winchester WSF cans too. They always start a conversation when someone visits. I moved to Universal some years ago and found the same performance and seemed to use a few less patches when cleaning my revolvers. My Uni-flow did struggle with Unique as others have said and seems smoother with Universal too.
I bought some CFE to try, so far it is a nice powder in my 9, still working up a few loads for the revolvers.
E.

 

[Mike Irwin]

I've used a bunch of AA 7 in my .41 and .357 Mags. I originally bought it for my 10 mm before I sold it, but now that I have my .40 I'll probably use it for that, as well.

Universal is the powder I chose when I started loading for .45 Long Colt. I was looking at duplicating traditional loads, but not really jumping up in power, and Universal seemed to be the best option for that.

 

[marchboom]

I'm down to my last 1/4 can of Unique and won't buy it again. Win 231 will now be the powder I use for all my pistol calibers except .44 Mag. 231 works for everything so I'll be buying it in 8# kegs.

 

[Nick_C_S]

231 works for everything so I'll be buying it in 8# kegs.

I have an 8# canister of W231; along with several singles. Excellent stuff. I love it. But I do consider Unique to be an intermediate burner; where W231 falls in the fast category. So they're kind of apples n oranges in my book.

Power Pistol is my intermediate propellant of choice moving forward. I have a 4# canister of it; along with a couple 1# units.

 

[Sevens]

It's a shame that hazmat shipping rules make it extremely difficult/impossible for all of us to swap powders. It'd be fantastic if we could all meet up at the same show. I'd finally rid myself of a 3/4 pound of Unique, 1.5lbs of Blue Dot, 3/4 pound of IMR-800X and GOD knows how much damn Green Dot, all stuff I won't ever enjoy having or using.

That stuff will be in my estate.

 

[Nick_C_S]

Sevens, you crack me up .

I'm glad I don't have any of those powders you mentioned. Especially the 800X.

Propellants I have phased out:
Bullseye
HS-6
TiteGroup
Unique
W296

Propellants I still intend to phase out:

Nitro 100 - almost two canisters (12oz each)
AA#2 - almost two canisters
AA#5 - about 1-1/2 canisters
AA#7 - about 1-1/2 canisters

Honorable mention: I recently bought a canister (9oz) of TrailBoss out of overwhelming curiosity. Neat stuff. But I'm not sure I have a use for it. I've only loaded 50 rounds of 38 Spl with it. I won't likely buy more. Also, I originally intended to keep N310 in my inventory - replacing Nitro 100 - but my shooting styles have changed to where I don't actually need any propellant in that burn rate range (super fast). I have almost two #'s of it.

 

[Mike Irwin]

I've been locked into my handgun powder choices for years...

WW 231. This is my primary for virtually all of my loading, from .32-20 to .38 Special to light .357 and .41 Magnum loads. I've also burned a lot of it in 9mm and .45 ACP.

WW 296. This is my powder of choice for fullbore .357 and .41 Mag. loads.

Universal. The only cartridge I use this for right now is .45 Long Colt.

AA 7. I originally bought this for 10mm, but I've also used it in .357 and .41. I'm also likely to use it for loading .40 S&W.

Trail Boss. When this powder cam out, it was a dream come true for my .44 Special loads. I had been using 231 and was very unhappy with the results I was getting from such a small amount of powder in such a large case.

I've used it in .32-20 with mixed results, so I'll just stick with .44 Special.

 

[Nick_C_S]

AA 7. I originally bought this for 10mm

Me too. And it works great for it. Full-house (for me) 180 JHP's. I know I could probably move to AA#9 and eek out a few more fps; but I don't see the point. 180's roaring along at 1222 f/s (G29) and 1268 f/s (G20) is plenty fast for me. AA#5 is my go-to propellant for 180 plated range shooters. Runs really nice. In fact, my remaining quantities of AA's 5 & 7 will probably be saved for only loading 10mm Auto. What I have is probably a lifetime supply - considering how much (little) I shoot the 'Tens.

Trail Boss. When this powder came out, it was a dream come true for my .44 Special loads.

I didn't even think of that. I bet TB would be a great choice for my Penn Bullet's 185 DEWC's. I'll give it a whirl this year. Also, I have 100gn DEWC's for 38 Special. TB would probably fit that bill well too.

 

[300Whspr]

I have been using Hod. Universal is place of Unique. It is a ball powder and meters much more accurately. Not a lot of data, so start low and work up keeping an eye on pressure.

Since when is Universal a ball powder? All the Universal I have is a flake powder.