.38 spcl/158gr SWC/Unique--What's the real maximum standard load?

[Dave T]

max bob,

I too have had trouble getting consistent charges of Unique, to the point where I gave up on it. Back when I was still using it I had the best luck with the now discontinued Bullseye Pistol Powder measure. It had a cast body with brass drums/roters, drilled to various volumes for Bullseye powder. With some experimentation I found the roters useful for throwing charges of various powders including Unique. You could probably find one of them at a gunshow, along with roters of various sizes.

Dave

 

[Rule3]

SUB SUBLIMINAL MESSAGE

subliminal message to follow:

cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own, cast your own.

It is 70 degrees F, I am in shorts and T-shirt no shoes. I am going shooting while you are freezing and under snow.

It is 70 degrees F, I am in shorts and T-shirt no shoes. I am going shooting while you are freezing and under snow.

It is 70 degrees F, I am in shorts and T-shirt no shoes. I am going shooting while you are freezing and under snow.

Might have to turn the A/C on later.

I can shoot when I want where I want

Of course if you want to drive down here with all those bullets we can shoot them up real fast!

 

[Rule3]

But back to the question, I can't get Unique to meter consistently with my Lee Pro disc either. It does not clog or leak it's just not as consistent as I would like. I am going to test it on the cheapo Lee Perfect Powder measure. See how that works.

 

[gwalchmai]

Just to add a data point, Unique meters very well on my Dillon 550. I check it every 100 rounds, and it's always spot on, well within .1gr.

 

[olskool]

my standard load is 155 lyman hp and 158 lee fp. with 5 gr. unique with a standard primer, very accurate load. i use a belding mull measure, it works every time. i also use a old uniflo from the 60s it is consistent. i use 50% ww 50% soft lead with almost no leading. and i CAST MY OWN!!

 

[Erich]

Unique clumps up in my RCBS 1500 Chargemaster, which results in more frequent overthrows than I like. No biggie, just throw them back in the hopper. But it takes more time to throw 100 precisely weighed charges with Unique than it does with, say AA#7.

That said, it's just not an issue for me if I'm loading blasting ammo that's not at the max level. The Uniflow does fine with Unique in that situation.

 

[nicky4968]

I respectfully disagree with my more learned colleagues.

I have used 4.3 grains Unique for 40+ years in .38 Special under 158 gr RNL. In my opinion, it is not unlike Winchester's "Any Rifle" .45-70 load. It isn't a Magnum; it won't bring down satellites, or charging brown bears. It is a .38 Special and is very accurate.

Plus 1 on the Lee dipper method.

If the .38 isn't enough, use the Krag.

 

[Sully]

Plus 1 on the Lee dipper method.

If the .38 isn't enough, use the Krag.

A DIPPER!!??? Grandpa used to use one of those for loading his shotgun shells!!! "X" amount of 3F BP in a 2 3/4 paper hull

 

[Gun 4 Fun]

What are you guys using to meter out Unique? I have tried in my RCBS Uniflow, Lyman Ideal 55, and Lee Pro Auto Disk. The Auto Disk ran the best but the flakes would gum up under the nylon wiper after a while. The RCBS and Lyman both seem to bind or jam every so often and never meter out the same amount for me. I get some light and then some heavy. I have a worse time with Trail Boss. TB I have given up on but I have a pound of Unique that I would still love to use.

I know a lot of the guys here have trouble with Unique, but until I came to this site, I never had any idea that ANYONE ever had trouble with Unique.

I have used almost nothing but Unique in my Dillon 550B since buying it new in 1988 specifically for loading my .45 ACP's, and that is all it has ever loaded. Everything else gets loaded on my old Pacific reloading setup bought new 30 years ago now.

The Pacific powder measure drops charges of Unique like who'dathunkit. No bridging, no hang ups, no problems.
It came with two inserts- one for pistol, and one for rifle. I leave the rifle insert in even for small cased pistol rounds like the .38. It works just fine with loads as light as 2.5 grains of either Unique or 231, so why switch the the one for pistol?


For some unexplained reason, I feel the urge to go cast some bullets .

 

[Rule3]

I have several custom made dippers made from old empty brass that I filled down to deliver the exact amount of certain powders. You can do the same with the plastic Lee dippers but then the original stamped cc measurement is wrong.

If I am loading 20, 30-06 rounds. Or testing different loads, It's as accurate as anything out there, plus I use my reading glasses and flashlight to confirm every case is filled as it should be.

 

[webley green]

The Lee Perfect Powder Measure is what I use; in fact I have two of them for my reloading. Unique is my only pistol powder. I load .38, .357, .45 and .45 Colt.

 

[Skip Sackett]

For some unexplained reason, I feel the urge to go cast some bullets .

"With a sinister grin on his face, Skip turns to his faithful assistant, Egor, and exclaims: It's working Egor, it's working!"


I think the reason that you aren't/haven't experience the types of problems others have is equipment. I had some problems with my Lyman #55 as mentioned above. I solved them. Loading on the Dillon Square Deal or the XL650 and my Unique loads are spot on. +/- .1. Plenty good enough for handgun ammo.

Another reason may be charge weights. Undoubtedly you aren't trying to see how low you can go with Unique. Some do and find it to be troublesome. Use a different powder is my suggestion to them.

Paul5388 did a neat test with accuracy and charge weights. Even some of the ball powders did pretty poorly with weights under 5gr. Maybe he will chime in here soon.

 

[Gun 4 Fun]

Hey Skip-

I hope you and Egor are keeping warm around the smelting pot in that old stone castle since getting all the snow.

 

[BillyWayne]

What is this "Lee dipper method" you speak of? I own Lee dippers and thought I was using them correctly. Has someone found a more "perfect" way?

 

[Rule3]

What is this "Lee dipper method" you speak of? I own Lee dippers and thought I was using them correctly. Has someone found a more "perfect" way?

The only more perfect way is to make your own out of 9mm or 40 SW brass.
The Lee are set amounts. Say it holds 5 grains of xyz powder but you want 4.5 grains? You can file the plastic down to exactly hold 4.5 or just make one out of a 9mm brass and file it down , glue or solder a little handle on it.

 

[Sully]

The only more perfect way is to make your own out of 9mm or 40 SW brass.
The Lee are set amounts. Say it holds 5 grains of xyz powder but you want 4.5 grains? You can file the plastic down to exactly hold 4.5 or just make one out of a 9mm brass and file it down , glue or solder a little handle on it.

That concept ONLY works for 1 drop weight.....of 1 powder. It doesnt work for any more or any less of "XYZ" powder....doesnt work for even 4.5 gr of "ABC" powder and cant begin to measure various ( not 4.5 gr) drop weights of other powders. I have enough "junk" cluttering up my bench without a small herd of homemade ( or factory made) powder dippers

 

[samwood]

I made up a chart listing what charges my modified Lee dippers throw for each of the different powders that I commonly use. I have it thumbtacked to the wall behind my press.

If I feel like using the dippers, I just refer to my chart, double check the charge on my scale, and start scooping.

 

[brucev]

Skeeter Skelton suggested using 5.0 grs. of Unique under a 158-160 gr. hard-cast SWC. He suggested this only be used in modern revolvers of good solid construction. I do not know if it would give problems in a aluminum framed revolver. I have used it in all of my .38/.357 revolvers for at least 25 years without any problems whatsoever. It is my standard load for the .38 Special. HTH.

 

[Skip Sackett]

OCD1's suggestion is a good one for those that are super OCD!

If you couple it with Paul5388's scale method, you can use the dippers for "NOP" or "TUV" powder if you want. At that point, using a scale too, a big dipper gets you close and then you "trickle" in from the smaller dipper.

Now, I'm not that OCD when it comes to handgun ammo. A .5gr difference isn't going to make much difference (as long as it isn't an overcharge) in the way most folks shoot a handgun anyway!. That's a generalization, so, just cool it.

Here is Paul doing his thing:

And a link to the last thread where he posted it:

http://smith-wessonforum.com/reloading/168342-tips-tricks.html

Good advice for those OCD folks!

 

[ChuckS1]

Late to the party, but when I meter Unique in my Uniflow I use the baffle and always keep the hopper 3/4 full. Works pretty good.