I'm getting back into reloading for on a single stage. This will be mainly for plinking ammo.
I mainly plan to reload .38 Spl., .41, .44, and .45 Colt. Is there one powder to do it all?

I used Unique in the past, and although it worked, it always seemed dirty. I was also leaning towards jacket bullets to avoid the lead mess.

Opinions?
Thanks.

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Watch & Pray

In my humble opinion THE revolver powder is still UNIQUE.

Unique can do everything except full house magnum loads.

Unique doesn't act strange due to temperature changes.

Unique generally is a powder capable of good consistency and accuracy.

another vote for unique as stated in your application...if a lead bullet fits well and is properly lubed you should have no "mess" from it

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SWCA#2208
KK4EMO

Most of the mess is from the bullet lube.Unique works if you use enough of it.A good crimp will help too.

Unique is a good standard and +P powder for the 38 spl but Bullseye is hands down the BEST for light lead target loads.

My mod 49 snub nose gets better accuracy and velositys with RedDot than Bullseye but for +P loads Unique is still on top.

I'm with Steamloco. I think Unique is the best all around powder for the calibers you mentioned as far as target loads. For stiffer stuff I use 2400. Yes Unique is dirty but you'll be cleaning your gun anyway and it isn't really that hard to clean off the residue. If I don't come home from the range with dirty hands and guns I just don't feel right!
Len

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Endeavor to persevere

Unique. "Dirty Powder" seems to be the new "buzz phrase" amoung new reloaders. I don't mind cleaning my guns after each shooting session. I don't mind a bit of soot on my hands after 150 rounds in my .44 or .357 (I wash my hands when I'm done and keep a couple hand towels handy for an occational wipe. When I'm up in the hills shooting, I take water with me and can rinse off any soot before I drive home. Hey! Baby Wipes would go great here). I usually dress for the occation and leave my white tux at home I guess I'm saying; it's just part of the game...

FWIW, try Universal, reported to be cleaner burning and similar to unique (I use it in my .357 and can't tell the diff. in cleanliness).

Unique is a pretty good powder. Another favorite of mine is Winchester 231.

I have to agree with the others, Unique would be the best.

There are a baker's dozen powders that would work for medium loads in all these calibers, but there is no 'BEST."
If you want more than "the gun goes off and the bullet goes thataway" there are better choices in powder than using Unique for everything.
For example, light target loads and full-power magnums.

However, we parted company at "using jacketed bullets to avoid lead mess." Lead lube fouling is more visible, but cupro jacket fouling is much harder to remove and requires harsher methods to get the barrel really clean.

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Science plus Art

Thanks for all the info. Looks like I'm going back to Unique. I'm not opposed to lead, I'll just have to see how things workout.

A coworker is selling me a Rock Chucker, some dies, brass and misc. other stuff. I'll have to figure out what else I'll need. Definitely a scale and powder thrower. He used pre-measured scoops (15 different sizes in a box). Didn't even know those existed.

I already ordered Lyman's 49th reloading Manuel and their handgun reloading Manuel.

Any die recommendations? I'll need .41,.44, & .45 Colt.
Thanks.

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Watch & Pray

jacketed is costly, especially for the loads you intend to make.
Lead ... if you do, go with cast rather than swaged but for just a few bucks more .. there are plated bullets as well which seem to span the gap between lead and jacketed rather well.

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it just needs more voltage

If you have Unique, Bullseye and 2400 you can load 90%+ of all handgun calibers. As stated above Unique is the best.

"MaximumBob54" will be along shortly with his own critique of Unique (and I for one can hardly wait ).

As far as I'm concerned Unique is very good as is HP38/Win231. Loaded tons of both.

And Venom has a good point - you may want to look into plated bullets. Lots of great choices for less than $150/ thousand delivered to your door.

Add me to the Unique contingent. See a pattern here? You can load anything with it.

I've tried most of the others except for 231. I still reach for Unique most often.

Reply to the die question.

RCBS, Hornady, Lyman, Redding, and Lee all make great dies. I've owned and used all of them.

For the money, you cannot, repeat cannot go wrong with Lee carbide dies! They even include the appropriate shell holder.

I will add that 231 is a great powder which can be used for both plinking and service type loads in everything from .25 ACP to .45 Colt. It works better than Unique in the tiny cartridges (if you should ever decide to load them) and can safely provide good velocity with heavy cast bullets in .44 Magnum and .45 Colt. And the heavier loadings are very clean burning.

Dave Sinko

I load for the .32 S&W long, .38spl., .357mag., .41mag,.44mag, .45colt, and .45acp. I use nothing but Tightgroup. It meters very well and is very accurate in all my guns. Some don't like the low volume in the cases but with a little care it's really no problem and an 8lb container lasts a ong time.

I can load every pistol I have with two powders, Titegroup and Clays. Clays is probably the most economical of all of the powders since it takes so little of it to do the job and is value priced. JMO

Some of the " dirty " stuff comes from not using a load that develops enough pressure to totaly consume all the powder. Unique has a minimum pressure that it likes. I've used it for years and didn't find this to be a problem. Light target loads just never worked very well and I finally bought some bullseye for target loads and been loading some red dot. But for standard pressure loads in the cals you mentioned Unique is still the best game in town. There is also a lot of data on this powder to work with.

gary

You can't go wrong with either Unique or 231/HP38. I like HS6 too. If you want to make magnum loads for your .44 and .41 you are going to have to add another powder, like 2400.

I use lee carbide dies & Titegroup powder.

I have Unique, Bullseye, and H110 to make handgun loads with.
Used in the order listed. Barely use H110 at all.

If you like Unique but for it being dirty and it's poor metering give Universal a try. It was developed to mimic Unique but cleaner and better metering.

Personally I do all my handgun loading with 3 powders, W231(HP-38), W540(HS-6) and W296(H110). If I had to pick only 1 it would be W231 and it would do a great job for me except for top loads in Magnum cartridges.

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Freedom is never free!!
SWCA #3437

Universal Clays test:

I gave this powder a test in my S&W 6" 686 this year to
see what it was like vs Unique.

Yes it is a bit cleaner if that means anything and I was sort of surprised to see a small "Brown powder" instead of the usual gray stuff.......and it meaters a little better than Unique also. Now for the data with a Suter's 158gr Lswc bullet in 357 magnum loads.

All Universal loads with std sml cci primers with Med. crimp.
6.5grs @ 1156fps +/- 27 ES
7.0grs @ 1202fps +/- 42
7.5grs @ 1270fps +/- 34
8.0grs @ Max +/- 44 don't think this one is in the books ?? I think 1270 is fast enough for a lead bulley,don't you ?

Did notice in 38,357 and 12Ga it took LESS Universal to get to the same velositys than with MORE Unique powder, so the data is NOT interchangeable !! Universal also takes up less space.

Safe loading.