How well does Unique meter

[Nevada Ed]

I have use Unique and Universal in my 38 and 357 mag and yes they both get dirty at the lower powder loadings.........

I also used both in my 12Ga for HDP trap shooting and they are dirty at the starting loads and very clean at the top loadings.

It might not be the cleanest powder out there but I don't mind
when I can go 50 straight in a shoot off...........dirt?
What dirt?

 

[alde]

I have been using Unique in 40 S&W loads with cast bullets and like it. It meters pretty well in my Dillon 550 powder measure. I just load mid-range loads so I don't worry too much about some minor fluctuation. It's all well below max load and burns clean. I bought an 8 pound jug about 6 months ago based on its versatility knowing things might get hard to come by after the election. I use a lot of W231 too and it meters perfect all the time.

 

[Gunz50]

Unique is my std powder for 9mm,38 spec., 45 acp, I have had nearly perfect metering in thousands of rounds loaded with my Dillon 650 set up.
The newer Unique power burns much cleaner and fully then the 70's and 80's powder.

 

[coastie sai]

once again sorry to jump in late . .. i am loading .40 cal on my dillon 550 unique seems to be working well. . . i noticed sometimes it gets erratic .. .instead of 5.5 grs it might put in 5.9 or 6.0 besides that point. . . what is the cleanest burning powder for .38/357 .40 .44 .45? thanks, joe

 

[oberon]

Unique is really a versatile powder.
A little crunchy, and kinda dirty, but it has always given consistent performance for me. I have used it in large bore revolver loads with very satifying results. Works good in my .357s as well.
I use a UniFlow or a Lyman #55.
I have loaded single stage for nearly 40 yrs.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

Unique has been around for nearly (or maybe beyond) 100 yrds now. It has made it this far because it forms the powder trinity of bullseye, unique and 2400. You can pretty much load any handgun round with those three powders. Unique is the midrange powder for non magnum loads and lead rounds. I buy it in bulk.

Yes it does not meter perfectly like 231 but it works well enough and does not need to be perfect for good accuracy.

One big advantage that unique has over ball powders is less wear and tear on the gun. This is particularly an issue for magnum or maximum rounds like the Supermags, but ball powders are known to sandblast the frame and forcing cone contributing to flame cutting and wear. Flake powders tend not to do this. Also "I believe" that the lower nitroglycerin content in Alliant powders contributes to a lower flame temp and less stress on the gun. Last advantage is big fluffy powders like unique contribute to safety by helping make double charges more obvious.

 

[JenniferG]

I like Unique for the reason that it almost fills the 45acp case and it's easy to see if a case is shorted. I tried Bullseye and it uses far less volume and that made me a little apprehensive. The Bullseye worked fine and with a little getting used to it's probably just as good or maybe better than Unique.

One of the things I noticed about the flake powder around plastic is it has a tendency to act like it contains a static charge. You know, like those darn packing peanuts, they stick to your fingers, clothing and hair and when you try to toss them into the trash. There always seems to be one sticking to you and you have to scrape if off with something that going into the trash with it.

I first noticed it when I set up a bench and put a plastic (Lexan) covering on top of the bench. The flake powder would sometimes stick to the sides of my powder measure and it would literally jump around if you spilled any on the bench top when your fingers got near it and you try to sweep it into the container. I got rid of the top and replaced it with some plywood then painted it white. You'll still notice the unusual behavior with plastic funnels and the plastic drum of the powder measure. I don't think it's dangerous, I never had any mishaps it's just something I noticed and was aware of.

It was never a problem with my other powders like 4227, 3031 or 4198 that I used for rifle cartridges.