Bye Bye Unique

[Harrison]

I found 10 gr of Unique in my 38-55 with a 250gr lead boolit is very accurate. Outside of that, I prefer H-Universal in pistol loads. It meters a whole lot better.

 

[68lemans462]

Bullseye, Unique, 2400. They do everything, are very consistent over many years, are more readily available, and often a bit less expensive. I tried many others but settled on these 3 many years ago. I don't get the "dirty" thing. I believe in "Never let the sun set on a dirty gun" so clean/lube all my guns every time I shoot them. Never noticed much difference between powders in terms of "dirtyiness" or with factory ammo either.

Firing at an indoor range does, usually, make for dirtier guns, hands, etc.

I use these 3 powders as well, regularly. I dont get the "dirty" thing.. It usually takes about 5 patches to get my guns clean, and no "scrubbing" is required. I clean my guns after every trip out, so either way they get cleaned every time and it takes very little time to get them clean. Getting the lead out of my barrels is usually more difficult than powder residue.

 

[gregintenn]

All I can tell you is to steer clear of black powder at all costs if you think Unique is dirty.

 

[garbler]

A few have already mentioned an inherent problem with large capacity cases and small loads. Not necessarily light loads but small volume loads that leave a lot of air space in the case. A couple of things are at work in this scenario and much is the fact that the bullet has left home before all the powder is burned. As a double base powder Unique compared to most pistol or shotgun powders is one of the easiest to ignite. It doesn't require a hotter primer or any help in that department. It is also just as close to waterproof as any powder and a great one for carrying in the field or storing where you cannot control the environment very well.

But in bigger or deeper cases with charges of like 25% of the case volume it is likely that the primer blast is possibly creating problems by throwing the powder around or starting the bullet before the powder is burned. Like one poster above noted in smaller cases like the 45acp and with pretty full charges you won't find much unburned powder or residue. Of course the larger flake size of Unique makes the powder seem dirtier compared to WW ball types since I think any unburned powder of this size will get blown free of the gun most likely.

I can tell you from personal experience with Unique and most of the Hercules DB flake shotgun powders that I get a better burn with less residue when I put a heavy crimp on the bullet and/or shoot a heavier bullet in cases like the 41 Mag or 45 Colt. A taper crimp won't due it, you need a firm roll crimp to hold that bullet in place until the powder pressure pushes it out and not the primer. With 45acp's or smaller cases that have higher percentage volume charges the taper crimp and burn doesn't seem to be a problem — not from my experience anyway.

Another thing that can contribute to this is the air gap from cylinder to barrel on revolvers. If you have a bullet running for the forcing cone with some unburned flakes behind it they will most like never ignite once they jump the gap and lose some of the fire and pressure out the sides. A problem you don't have with lock-breech design semi-autos

None of this helps on metering though. Unique is uniquely difficult to throw in some measures especially with a rotary drum. The old Belding & Mull measures used to work well if you didn't mind filling them constantly. But mine are dedicated to black powder only know.

 

[novalty]

While I agree that Unique is dirty on the low end, and run cleaner with hotter loads. I find that it meters very well in my RCBS Uniflow. I have also started using W231 instead of Unique, but still keep a couple pounds of Unique on my shelf as it is so versatile. My S&W 1911, was very accurate using 6.0grs. of Unique behind Berry's 230gr. Plated RN.

 

[rwsmith]

Unique is dirty

Yes, it is a little dirty. But it seems to clean up easily. I never had to do anything except run a brush through my model 10 and wipe it down.

 

[steamloco76]

I have to say I'm on the Bullseye-Unique-2400 bandwagon too. They just plain work and cover 9MM, .38 SPL, .357 Mag, .44 Spl.,.44 Mag and .45 ACP very nicely. Really heavy .44 mag loads for my Winchester M94 rifle get W296.

I've played around with W231, AA#2, AA#5 and AA#9. All are good powders, however all are also somewhat difficult to find in stock at reasonable prices in my area, not so for Alliant's trio.

Biggest mistake I ever made in loading was switching to TiteGroup for a while. It was OK with Jacketed and FMJ bullets, but caused severe leading with every single cast bullet load I tried. No such issue with Unique and Bullseye.

 

[TAROMAN]

Bullseye-Unique-2400
The holy trinity of handgun powders.
Have tried many others, but still go back to these three.
A big reason is the wealth of data developed over the last century or so.

 

[garbler]

Despite the problems some reloaders have with this powder there are two rare things that are common to Unique. That is accuracy in almost every application from the 380 all the way to the Colt 45 and including magnums. It is also a fine accurate performer with straight wall rifle cartridges and/or for gallery rifle matches with reduced power loads. The second is it's all around adaptability for almost any cartridge. I had an uncle who had two powders Unique and 3031 and loaded every pistol and every rifle and shotgun with these two powders from a 45-70 trapdoor, down to the Hornet and an old 257 Roberts and 30-06 Springfield. There aren't many reloading products that can do that and still stay dry.

 

[wbraswell]

I don't have any problems with Unique metering in my "Lil Dandy". But I hand hold it and bump it every time, so the powder is settled.

 

[Cdog]

I've found Universial Clays to be a good replacement for Unique .

I'm with Nick on this. For me, Universal has all the good attributes of Unique without its drawbacks.

It meters very well, burns efficiently, and delivers good load densities.

Taking nothing away from the HP38/W231 powder, I still keep some on hand. If you like Unique's performance, you'll love Universal.

 

[jackpearl]

I find " Clays" to be very clean. It isn't position or temperature sensitive. I have had very good luck with it with 45 ACP and 38 special. Anyone else?

 

[slickracer]

I find " Clays" to be very clean. It isn't position or temperature sensitive. I have had very good luck with it with 45 ACP and 38 special. Anyone else?

Me too, I've settled on 3.5 grains with a 125 lead and 3.2 with 158 lead.

 

[jackpearl]

Me too, I've settled on 3.5 grains with a 125 lead and 3.2 with 158 lead.

I used 3.2 with 125gr lead SWC. Worked great for CAS with both pistols and the rifle

 

[ChuckS1]

Light loads and light crimp, coupled with cast bullet lube, will make Unique a little dirty. Like others have said, heavy crimp and more Unique will solve the OP's problem.

 

[andyo5]

I tried 231 in my 45 loads for awhile, but found that it left a crusty residue which was difficult to remove. Bullseye and Unique both produce a powdery residue which is easier to deal with.

 

[gm272gs]

You know how to catch a Unique bird?

Unique up on it.

 

[dryfarmer]

has anybody seen Unique for sale in the last couple of months
I am down to my last pound, and will need more by next winter

 

[bmcgilvray]

I fail to see any drawbacks to the use of Unique. It 's my most used powder. I've had a forum member here claim I even eat the stuff on my corn flakes.

 

[doc540]

Guess I just haven't been loading it hot enough.
7gr was perfect for silhouette matches, but it smoked like a Mexico City bus.