How well does Unique meter

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1sailor

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I've been using either w231 or Universal on my 9mm reloads with pretty good results. I know that a lot of guys swear by Unique and i have a chance to pick some up. Wondering how well it meters though. Using either of my two standard choices my charge weights never seem to vary more than a half a tenth or so. does the Unique throw pretty consistantly. Also, the little bit of data I can find on it would indicate that with a cast 125gr bullet a good starting point might be around 3.5gr with a max being about 4.0. does that sound about right?
 
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Like rocks but, with a little care in setting up your powder measure, using the right type, depth of chamber, you can get +/- .1gr and that is all any measure will do from a design standpoint. FWIW
 
When throwing 6 grains of Unique I'm getting + or - .2

So 5.8-6.2 grains.seems to be the norm with my Uniflow.

Bruce
 
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You're backing up with Unique. Unique's a flake powder that does give good accuracy, but it can't match either in metering and it doesn't burn efficiently in many apps.

If you're using Universal you have everything good about Unique without its drawbacks.
 
If you want a powder similar to Unique and easy to run through a measure

IMR 7625 works very well. I'm surprised that more reloaders do not use this powder.

I missed an opportunity to pick up several pounds as no one was buying 7625.

Burn rate and charge weights similar to Unique. Meters like Bullseye or slightly better.


Bruce
 
Unique will not measure as easily and consistently as W231.
Flake size/dimension is not as friendly as ball powder. It will still do OK if you take just a little extra care with the size of the powder column in the measure and consistency of and firmness of your measure stroke.
Unique also not as clean or consistent in mid to lower level loads.
Having said all of that, Unique is still my second favorite pistol powder as it bulks up just a little bit better in 44SP and 45LC.
For 9mm and 38SP, however, I would stick with the W231.
 
thanks for all the info. I was considering Unique as it is still available to me where as I cannot find either Universal or w231.
 
Unique is a much larger flake, and it will clump and "bridge" coming out of the powder measure. That can cause a very low round and a near double charge in the following round. If you are loading on a progressive machine, I wouldn't recommend it. When loading into a loading block so you can look down into all the charged cases, you will easily see any over/under charged cases. It is also not as efficiently burning as 231 either, and will leave "kernels" of burnt powder as residue, and if you do not eject the cases straight down, can get under the extractor star which can then cause a loaded cylinderfull to "bind up". It can be a very accurate powder, usually at more maximum loads.

You just have to be more careful with it.
 
I have tried several powders in the 9MM and now I just use Bullseye.

It is cleaner than Unique with small charges and meters well enough.

More rounds per pound than Unique and the case is so small charges are easy to see. No worries about a double charge.

Bruce
 
Unique has always metered just fine out of my RCBS powder measure.
 
I like Power Pistol in my 9mm & 40 S&W loads. I make up mostly full loads & it burns very clean. I find it dispenses very consistently from my Lyman 55 powder measure too. From the same measure, Unique is less consistent for me, but I still like it for general use.
 
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H Richard said:
Unique is a much larger flake, and it will clump and "bridge" coming out of the powder measure. That can cause a very low round and a near double charge in the following round. If you are loading on a progressive machine, I wouldn't recommend it.
Click to expand...

Not all powder measures are the same. Not all progressives are the same.

My experience has been no clumps and no bridges with my 650. I just finished 500 rounds of Unique in 45 ACP. I took a measurement every 100 rounds, 6 in all.

Zero drift.
Okay, the display did flicker a tenth now and then but settled back on the original measurement so I'll concede +/- 0.1.

Unique has been around for a hundred years (literally) and you should be able to find loads for just about any caliber pistol (as well as shotguns). Since it is a flake powder it fills cartridges well. My Lyman 45th ed. (1970) ACP load was 6.5 grains under 230 grain TMJ.* There's no way the case would hold a double charge. And 4 grains in a 9mm case is going to be pretty full.

Like table salt, Unique does a lot of things well enough but none outstanding. The perfect powder to have on hand in these troubling times. IMO.:cool:

* According to Lyman, this load represents the factory load Colt used for the published data on the 5" Government 1911 at that time.
 
I use Unique in .38 Spl, .44 Spl, and .45 ACP loads measured through an RCBS powder measure. Metering goes well after about fifty throw/dump and adjust cycles to get the powder in the hopper bunched in the correct manor. Then I check every tenth charge. Also, I keep the measure hopper above half full. Consistency is + or - .2 grains which is fine for medium level loads. I now use Bullseye for the light wadcutter .38 Spl. loads as it will meter + or- .1 grain, which is good when using just 3.1 grains of powder.

As for W231 and Universal-none of my local outlets have it in stock much of the time so I stick with the old war horse Alliant Powders Bullseye and Unique.
 
Both 231 and universal meter very well through my Dillon measure on my 550B, and I use both. Unique not so well. For all except magnum pistol loads I would stick with 231 or Universal. Universal is the almost exact same burn rate as unique, has the same uses as unique, but meters much better and burns much cleaner. I can see no use for unique if universal is available. If unique is all you have than that is what you have to use.
 
I have used many pounds of Unique in my Dillon 550B with NO PROBLEMS ever in 9mm, 38 Spl, .40 S&W, 45ACP....

Randy
 
I like to use powder baffles with unique they stop the bridging effect that the unique powder has.

For what it's worth, I've found that the smaller the load/charge of unique I use, the more inconsistencies I get with unique. I've used that powder in a rcbs little dandy & uniflow, a Dillon throw that was on a sd press/setup that I bought years ago, a lyman 55 & a hornady universal throw. With any of them when I started getting under 3.0gr charges I had problems. When the chargers were around 4.5gr/5.0gr and over I didn't have any problems (.1gr +or -).

I'm glad to see your will to try new powders. For all unique shortcomings it still a very good powder & this is coming from a universal clays ser/shooter. Just keep your charges up (no powder puff loads) like everyone recommends & enjoy. It's always good to have 3 or 4 loads for the same firearm/bullet combo with different powders.
 
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