It appears that the supply of Unique and 2400 Pistol Powder has dried up ??

Suggested alternates from Western Powder alone:

Accurate No. 5
Ramshot Tru Blu
Accurate No. 7
Accurate No. 9
Accurate 4100
Ramshot Enforcer
Accurate 5744

If/when Bullseye disappears ...try Accurate No. 2 .

These are powders from just one maker that can be used... I discovered Western Powders during the last shortage .
Accurate No. 5 can step in for Unique nicely .
After 2012 I made sure to "stock up " on powders and primers and to investigate any powder that might work for the 3 powders I had used for decades...Bullseye , Unique and 2400 , they just disappeared for a long time . There are others that can step up and fill the void .
Gary

__________________
Certified Cajun
NRA Member

Red dot is another that can fill in nicely for the .38 special and .45 target loadings

You are going to like gwpercle's suggestions a LOT, because the Accurate Handgun powders meter wonderfully. IMO the only use for Unique is 20 gage shotshells, where a variation of +/- 1/2 grain isn't significant.

I’m not sure what Jimmy’s motives are here () but as a longtime user of Unique I am always amused at the fretting over it when it gets hard to find. There are so many powders that do the same job, but we all (at least those of us over fifty or so) like it, don’t we?

I’ve often told myself if I had only Unique and 2400 I could get along easily - and probably just as well as I do now with at least half-dozen additional powders on hand.

I don't understand that when things are plentiful , some guys don't add some extra stock . You don't have to be a hoarder to have extra stock . A few lbs of this powder or that powder and a few thousand primers extra is not a huge investment but gives you back up . Regards Paul

Red Dot, Green Dot and 700-X can also be used for pistol loads.

BE-86 is just a smidgen faster than Unique and is flash suppressed if that matters to you. The only issue is that being new, there's no detailed load data. The Alliant website has max load data.

In 9 mm, about 0.3 gr less than Unique for a particular bullet weight seems to be the ticket. In .38 I'd guesstimate about the same. In .45 ACP, 6.4 gr drove a 200 gr Berry THP at 882 f/s.

Added edit: BE-86 is a very dense powder that meters very consistently.

Limited Funds might be the cause.
Some Retired Folks survive on small disability pensions.

Midsouth Shooters supply has 2400 in 4 lbs bottles available now.

__________________
Regards,

Tom

I have found BE-86 to be just about a grain for grain match to Unique, in .38 Special and .45 Colt.

From 1967 until 2011 Bullseye , Unique and 2400 met all my needs loading handguns ......Then 2012 hit !
Had to buy and use whatever powder I could get .
Say what you want about Bullseye and Unique but I have found nothing that beats them ... Accurate #2 and Accurate #5 come close...but they don't beat the accuracy or wealth of data Bullseye and Unique have .
Lots of good powders have been developed since 1967 and I would never had tried them if not for the 2012 Shortage .
Gary

__________________
Certified Cajun
NRA Member

In 12 Ga. loads, Universal Clays did almost as good as Unique powder.
In my short weapons it was also ok.......

2400 is a little better than Blue Dot but for target loads you use less BD.

A lot of Reno's powder stores are closed to walk in traffic.
Good luck.

I've always been a follower of the trinity, Bullseye, Unique and 2400.

I had been loading shotgun and had lots of Red Dot on hand, makes nice 38 and 45 loads.

In one of the last scares, I was running low on BE and Unique. I bought some of the new-fangled 231 powder, works fine.

Yep, I agree. Be quite happy with just those two.

Grafs has Unique, but four pound minimum. Midsouth has 2400.

While sitting at the house I have loaded up all of my rifle brass and I still have over 5 lbs of powder and enough primers/bullets to load the rest if I had the brass. I am debating on what pistol brass to load as I will have to go away from preferred powder to a backup load. The LGS is out of Unique but it is one of my backup powders. They do have my preferred powder but it is in 1# cans instead of the 8# jug. I do have it on order with my LGS.

I was just thinking the same thing. For years those two have loaded all my pistol rounds. I used to used Bullseye for some light 38's and 45acp's, but haven't used any of that in years.

Bass Pro has 2400 available to ship for free to my local store.
If you live near one check them out online.

if i had to live with any handgun powders,they would be Unique and 2400. In 50 years of shooting I`ve seen no need to change

I was taught to reload with Bullseye, Unique and 2400 back in the early 1970's. I learned a lesson after the last fiasco. i have 14 pounds of Bullseye, 7 pounds of Unique and 3 ponds of 2400. Also some 700X, 296, and 231.

When this fiasco is over I will buy more of the same........

__________________
USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

Add H110/296 to the list and you have 98% of what I always use.

For all my regular handgun loads I have been running Green Dot for a few years. Bought 16# of it and it works good for all handgun loads unless your looking for max velocity.

When the last big shortage hit, I had been using my BE, Unique and 2400. 4895 for rifles. But I discovered Titegroup, Power Pistol, PB, Acc #7, Red Dot, HP-38 and some others I'm probably missing. I was able to get 4895 right through and that's my 'universal' powder for rifles.

I was always an 'experimenter' anyway. So I was happy to try new stuff.

__________________
"He was kinda funny lookin'"

My supplies of both powders are good to go. The pic I am going to try to post is one of two like this I have. 2400 in this one. I guess from the 50s. Lightly rusted on the top of the can but the other one I used up was good shooting powder. I sold the can for a pretty fair price too... Much more than the whole full can cost originally

Attached Images

	DSCN0031.jpg (109.3 KB, 13 views)
	DSCN0032.jpg (125.2 KB, 13 views)

I too have discovered Green Dot a couple years ago.I think it is a sleeper.While quicker burning than Unique,it will burn more consistantly and is not position sensitive like Unique when used in target loads.As a bonus,like Unique it works as well if not better in light cast bullet rifle loads.

Unique & 2400 are my go to powders......

.

__________________
"IN GOD WE TRUST"

Glad that I bought plenty, years ago. Sitt’n on about 9 pounds of Unique! memtb