Longtime Unique fan (38 / 357) needs options

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sbrmike

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I have used Unique for years. I still have a half pound or so. With the recent absence of Unique and my new Uniflow not throwing it very well at all - bounces from 5.7 - 6.3 (357 Mag set at 6.0) and 3.7 - 5.1 (38 set at 4.7). My older Uniflow threw it much closer in both loads. I may disassemble this measure and give a good clean / degrease to see if that helps.

For the record. I was plagued with serious health concerns, multiple surgeries this entire year and got rid of a lot of stuff. I am slowly recovering (maybe) and got back into stuff. I don't know what is up with the powder throwing.

Since Unique is a bear to obtain anyways, what is a decent, easy metering option that is Available? A pound will last me a long time!

You see my 38 and 357 Mag Loads are middle of the road. All are with 158 gn LSWC bullets. Pretty much general purpose - OK for self defense, hunting, plinking, and friendly competition.
 
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I still use the Uniflow and Unique.
Make sure that you have the pistol drum installed and not the one for rifle, it will help. Also, I always run about 6 to 8 throws after I have it adjusted in just in case of any static inside the drum. I recheck by weighing a throw after every dozen dumps. Good luck.
 
Longshot has replaced Unique for me in service load 38 and moderate 357 loads. It takes about .5 to 1 grain more for equal velocity, but produces less pressure, meters easily, and burns cleaner. I use it for 800 fps 41 mag loads as well, and all 40 S&W and 45 ACP & Auto Rim loads. You don't, however, get that 'Unique' smell after firing. :)

I could easily meet all my reloading needs with Longshot, Lil Gun (for magum pistol), and Varget (rifle).
 
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You might buy some BE-86 powder, since it is a brother to Unique's fps in my 38 special loads and it will match unique in the 9mm and pass Unique
in high fps load in the small case with the heavy 147 gr, plated bullets.

CFE-p will also be close to BE-86 in the 9mm loads but a little lower in fps with the 38 special loads
but both will give good accuracy in target loads, if thats your thing
in both the 38 and 9mm cases.


If you can't handle full power or factory loads, due to the recoil
or the type of guns that you shoot

you might look into w231 or Bullseye for light target loads that take a lot less powder
and make a pound of powder, last a lot longer.

Good shooting.
 
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During one of the past "shortages" (obumma era?) I couldn't find any Unique so I tried Universal. Liked it so bought 6 lbs. I have since used it in most of my handgun handloads and it meters well in my Lee PPM and my C-H 502. My 9mm "JIC" handloads are 124 gr JHP over an upper load of Universal. So far I have about 1,100 rounds stashed. Works well in my 5 9mm handguns...
 
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The Uniflow's drum can certainly affect how it meters small charges of flake powders. The standard drum has a pretty large diameter charge well, which means a lot of surface area and powder flakes to sweep and drag as the drum rotates. The handgun drum has a small diameter well, so you end up with a lot less surface area at the top of the well to get swept during rotation, which is better for flake powders.

One ball powder that often seems available when most other powders are not is Accurate Arms. AA#5 has worked well for me in 9x19mm and 45 ACP.
 
My current Uniflow is the Competition model with Baffle, Pistol/Small Rifle .5- 40 gn rotor. My previous unit was a Uniflow II with Baffle, and Small Cylinder.

My old one was nearly dead on all the time; probably varied .1gns max loading 50 cases with the above listed loads. This one won't throw 2 back to back. I'll have to tear it apart and see what is up. I ran a hopper through it to season it before throwing charges. My Unique looks good and smells good; no discoloration or ground up flakes.

The micrometer is repeatable. But.. so is the spread!
 
I only reload .38 Special and .45 ACP. Only a single load for each caliber, and I only used Unique. 4.5gr on the .38, with a 158gr RNFP coated bullet. Then Unique became impossible to find, and I had not stocked up ahead of time. I went well over a year without doing any reloading, until a LGS suggested I try Winchester 244. I did, using 3.8gr. Meters very nice (Lee turret with auto drum dispenser), and I cannot tell any difference shooting it compared to my Unique loads. No chronograph, but I alternated loads in my revolver, and couldn't tell any difference. Point of impact remained the same.

I like the 244, and will just stick to it if/when Unique ever becomes available. I figure I get around 20% more loads per pound of powder.
 
For 38 Special 148 grain wadcutters I use 2.7 grains of Bullseye. For 158 grain swc's I use either Bullseye or HP38/Win 231. I use a lot of Unique for my 44 Special loads, but never have used it for 38 Special.
 

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Hodgdon's Universal is supposed to be functionally equivalent.But finding that is also a problem.
 
I'm a big fan of HS-6 for moderate to hot 38 Special and moderate 357 Mag loads.

Best regards,
 
A quick partial update. First and foremost, thanks for all of the replies.

Well, we all know about assuming. Well assuming appears to have bit me here. I bought this measure used. I assumed running a hopper full should have gotten it all ready for use. Nope. No way!

I disassembled the unit completely and found the Uniflow to have probably not degreased on initial use. The funnel below the hopper on the casting has (still has) a nasty black goo; similar to what would be when removing black electric tape from something. It did not scrub off easily. Luckily I had a never used Uniflow II casting on hand. I scrubbed all of the parts and installed them in the unused casting. All fit well. Tomorrow I will run a hopper through and bet this holds very close to set point.

One thing that I did notice is the Pistol / Small Rifle Rotor is nearly, if not identical in size to the standard Large rotor. I may have to research this further. This may be the larger Pistol to Large Rifle Rotor: 10 - 110 gns.
 
For a Unique Replacement , try " Ramshot True Blue " . It meters like water and is usually available @ on line suppliers . I have used it for years in 38 special , 357 magnum , 44 special , 45 Colt and 41 magnum with complete satisfaction . Good Luck , Regards Paul
 
After 50 years of reloading, my "standards" are Bullseye for 38 special and down (exception .45 ACP), and Unique for .357 and up. However, with periodic shortages I have worked up loads for all calibers using either. Maybe visa versa is not "optimum", but for plinking and informal target shooting it's all OK.

Being proactive, I have ample supplies. But with the oddities of Covid I got worried and decided to try a backup just in case. I bought some HP 38 / Win231 and was pleased to find excellend results in all my handguns. With that info I bought a bunch right off of Hodgdons website at a pretty good price. It meters as good as Bullseye.

On a side note, that "old crappy" Unique works just fine in my Lee auto drum powder measure, so maybe it ain't so crappy after all.
 
Another update. This Competition Uniflow Powder Measure has the Pistol / Large Rifle Rotor assembly, 10 - 110 grains. I already had a Large Uniflow Rotor Assembly. I doubt this will throw my above referenced charges. We will try though.
 
I am another user of 231/HP38. I have not tried a lot of the other great powders in this range but years ago switched to 231 from Unique for a reason that I no longer recall. Not a perfect powder but I use it for light cast bullet loads in 38,357, 44 mag 44/40 and 45 Colt. I have 16 lbs of it so I like it that much
 
I used to use Unique like it was a crack habit.
Especially with traditionally lubed cast lead where the stuff often reduced or eliminated leading problems. Since the advent of coatings, I no longer have to care about that particular attribute.
As a result, I can explore powders fearlessly.
Power Pistol seems to be a slightly more energetic propellant of similar rate.
BE 86 also has great potential in this role.
CFE Pistol makes fantastic numbers in many cartridges, though at first I looked upon it with disdain for the CFE gimmick.
AA #7 has seen good service. Though this may be a bit slow to call it a unique substitute.
AA #5 is closer, though I've never used it.
 
venomballistics said:
I used to use Unique like it was a crack habit.
Especially with traditionally lubed cast lead where the stuff often reduced or eliminated leading problems. Since the advent of coatings, I no longer have to care about that particular attribute.
As a result, I can explore powders fearlessly.
Power Pistol seems to be a slightly more energetic propellant of similar rate.
BE 86 also has great potential in this role.
CFE Pistol makes fantastic numbers in many cartridges, though at first I looked upon it with disdain for the CFE gimmick.
AA #7 has seen good service. Though this may be a bit slow to call it a unique substitute.
AA #5 is closer, though I've never used it.
Click to expand...

I have loaded 357 with both AA#7 and #5. my Marlin '94 loves #7, my 6" 686 does OK. my 2.75" 66 does not. unburned powder is the issue on that one. #5 is a good decent powder.

I have a couple lbs of CFE Pistol that I load 45acp with. Never really though about loading some 357 with it. I'll have to give that a go.
 
CorvZ061 said:
I have loaded 357 with both AA#7 and #5. my Marlin '94 loves #7, my 6" 686 does OK. my 2.75" 66 does not. unburned powder is the issue on that one. #5 is a good decent powder.

I have a couple lbs of CFE Pistol that I load 45acp with. Never really though about loading some 357 with it. I'll have to give that a go.
Click to expand...

I've been looking at some of the heavy bullet CFE Pistol 357 data myself.
Seems a springboard for a 350 Legend subsonic load. But then ... that jumping off the topic rails a bit.
 
A couple things that help with the Uniflow. You already took it apart and cleaned it. Rub all the interior parts with dry graphite lube. Wipe out the hopper with a used dryer sheet. Use the baffle and keep the hopper around half full. When you throw a charge, do a double tap-tap on the upswing and another tap-tap on the downswing. If you store it empty, throw another used dryer sheet in the hopper.
 
As long as you're not looking to make full magnum loads, there's a host of various mid to fast burning powders that will produce mid-range and lighter mag loads.

I've gotten a lot of mileage with:
- bullseye
- hp38/win231
- solo 1,000
- clean shot (shooters world / lovex powder)

For the first three powders there's a lot of load data out there in the various manuals and online.
 
Paul in Nevada said:
A couple things that help with the Uniflow. You already took it apart and cleaned it. Rub all the interior parts with dry graphite lube. Wipe out the hopper with a used dryer sheet. Use the baffle and keep the hopper around half full. When you throw a charge, do a double tap-tap on the upswing and another tap-tap on the downswing. If you store it empty, throw another used dryer sheet in the hopper.
Click to expand...

^^^^Solid gold.
 
I am well aware of maintaining a Uniflow. This one gave me issues that are mainly from assuming. I have thoroughly cleaned, wiped with dryer sheets and run two full hoppers through before replacing the baffle and setting for a charge.

This Competition Uniflow has the larger Competition Pistol / Large Rifle Rotor installed. It was advertised / sold as having the smaller Pistol / Small Rifle Rotor installed. The only difference between it and a Uniflow II is it comes with a Baffle and the Micrometer Metering Unit. I got it cheap enough so no big deal. It will work great for Rifle cartridges if I keep it. I will easily get my money back if I sell it.

It is much better but no cigar. Throws 5.8 - 6.3. I know my older Uniflow II held much closer than that, probably was 5.9 - 6.1 if that bad. I got a small rotor inbound and that should fix it right up.

I have about 3/4 pound of Unique. If I get it throwing good, I should be good for a long time.
 
Universal is the direct competition for Unique and was formulated for that exact purpose. BUT, if isn't always available either.

I'm a huge fan of W231/HP-38. I use it for most of my handgun cartridges for range ammo but I do have other powders for most cartridges too.

W244 is the newest Winchester powder and it is extremely close to W231 with very similar results. It seems to be the most available and Midsouth Shooters has it in stock and on sale for under $27/lb. The actually have A LOT of powder in stock.

I can load any handgun cartridge very well with only 3 powders.
My favorites are:
W231/HP-38
W540/HS-6 (W540 discontinued)
W296/H110
That is my powder trinity which replaces the original powder trinity of Bullseye, Unique and 2400 for me.

W231 and W244 will meter extremely well in your Uniflow and will give you what you need load wise. (IMO of course)
 
Thanks for the heads-up on WIN 244! When I'm in the market for restocking a ball powder I will most probably give it a whirl!

Cheers!
 
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