This outfit is giving it away!
Alliant 150656 Unique Smokeless Pistol/Shotgun Powder 1lb 1 Canister
Alliant 150656 Unique Smokeless Pistol/Shotgun Powder 1lb 1 Canister
Unique still exist?
- Thread starter Dfish1247
- Start date
Uh, no. Not paying that. I know we all chuckle when someone says they reload to save money, but that's reloading to lose money.
I use Unique for .38 spl. But at the above price I think I should be selling some of my hoard. $125/lb. is crazy.
The Norseman
Member
Unique
Now, getting back to the O.P.'s question; your right I too
have not seen good Old Alliant Unique, but then again I
quit buying Gun Related items.
I really like Unique, it is a Powder that if you needed to,
it works in any Cartridge, hell if I had to, I can use it
in my 270 Winchester Short Magnum.
Another thing I like about The United States of America
I don't need to get anybody's permission to buy what I
want, and the quantity I want.
Keep up the Tradition; Buy it when you find it.
Now, getting back to the O.P.'s question; your right I too
have not seen good Old Alliant Unique, but then again I
quit buying Gun Related items.
I really like Unique, it is a Powder that if you needed to,
it works in any Cartridge, hell if I had to, I can use it
in my 270 Winchester Short Magnum.
Another thing I like about The United States of America
I don't need to get anybody's permission to buy what I
want, and the quantity I want.
Keep up the Tradition; Buy it when you find it.
NJM15
Member
I have several pounds of unique but really don't care for it, incomplete burn in my .45 colt rounds loaded at max. Haven't tried it in any other rounds i have my favorites for them
max503
Member
I thought buying a three pound jug was a bit excessive but now I'm patting myself on the back.
I like Unique, a lot. To be honest, it is the only pistol powder I use. I know that other powders are better for some applications.
I am using it in .38/.357, 9mm, .44spl/mag, .45acp., .45 colt. If they quit making it I would be in trouble. Over the years I have worked up loads that work for me, thus simplifying my component stockpile of several different powders.
It doesn't work in heavy magnum loads or super light target loads, but I find used correctly it works pretty good in most loads, like it has for a long time.
Long live Unique!
I am using it in .38/.357, 9mm, .44spl/mag, .45acp., .45 colt. If they quit making it I would be in trouble. Over the years I have worked up loads that work for me, thus simplifying my component stockpile of several different powders.
It doesn't work in heavy magnum loads or super light target loads, but I find used correctly it works pretty good in most loads, like it has for a long time.
Long live Unique!
When I got out of the Navy in the early 70s I started loading with an RCBS Jr press and a set of .38spl and .44spl dies and cast bullets from my LGS. I bought a Lyman 45th manual and one of the guys in the shop told me to buy a pound of Unique and showed me that you could load all pistol rounds in the book with Unique. It was about 2yrs before I bought my first pound of H2400. I always think of loading pistol calibers with Unique even when I load them with something else. It is my yardstick. I always keep a coupla pounds in reserve besides the one I have open.
Dieseltech56
Member
Unique is the one powder I'm uncomfortably low on. Less than a pound on the shelf. I haven't been shooting much in the last year though so it's just been sitting
I guess if you're going to go through 24lbs in somewhat reasonable time, wear it out.
Unique does the best for mouse fart powder for me all around. Bullseye and aa5 do fine, unique just does better in the grouping department.
Once the magnum brass comes out, 2400 and 4227 are miles ahead of aa9 for me. AA9 does great in the desert eagle though, go figure. I don't shoot much magnum though, seems excessive and expensive for golf ball hunting.
Unique does the best for mouse fart powder for me all around. Bullseye and aa5 do fine, unique just does better in the grouping department.
Once the magnum brass comes out, 2400 and 4227 are miles ahead of aa9 for me. AA9 does great in the desert eagle though, go figure. I don't shoot much magnum though, seems excessive and expensive for golf ball hunting.
When I first started reloading, I bought two 1 lb canisters of smokeless powder. One was Bullseye, the other was Unique. Bullseye was great for duplicating 38 Special target loads, using 357 Magnum brass, Unique was great for full power 38 Special to reduced velocity 357 Magnum loads. Unique also works well in 9x19mm, 44 Special, reduced velocity 44 Magnum, and 45 ACP.
I have used Unique in rifle, shotgun, revolver and pistol loads for 53 years.
It has its good and bad points but overall, it can put out a lot of good ammo.
The only area where I found it to be not on par, was with a long, heavy
plated round nose, 147 gr bullet, seated into the short 9mm case.
Case volume just made the fps a little too low, to make me a happy camper.
Use a little 115gr and it is a very different story.
It has its good and bad points but overall, it can put out a lot of good ammo.
The only area where I found it to be not on par, was with a long, heavy
plated round nose, 147 gr bullet, seated into the short 9mm case.
Case volume just made the fps a little too low, to make me a happy camper.
Use a little 115gr and it is a very different story.
SLT223
Member
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I started reloading in 2013 during last supply crunch. Everyone on the forums talked about how great unique was so I looked and looked but couldn't find any. CFE-P had just come out. It started hitting the shelves and I got an 8 pounder. Worked great. Flows like water through a Dillon measure. It's a tad slower than unique on the burn rate charts, but does the same jobs with a little less case fill due to being ball vs flake. This is also why it meters so consistently. I later found an 8 pounder of unique. Years later, I've used far more CFEP than unique. If you find CFEP, don't hesitate to buy and use it. I find it more user friendly for my needs, but that's just me.
I went through trying other powder in my benchrest days, talk about partial bottles everywhere, along with bullets and brass that didn't work well. Took me forever to use up the powders that didn't come in first. I have bullseye and aa5 as I mentioned above, so I can still shoot for a decent while.
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I seldom use Unique anymore only because it doesn't go through my pistol powder measure quite as well as some other powders, but it will work for many different cartridges if I need it. It apparently remains a very popular powder and probably will for a long time.
However, if you can find Herco, far less popular these days than just about anything, it makes a pretty good substitute for Unique. Data is not interchangeable, but it has a burn rate that's similar to Unique and will work in the same cartridges.
However, if you can find Herco, far less popular these days than just about anything, it makes a pretty good substitute for Unique. Data is not interchangeable, but it has a burn rate that's similar to Unique and will work in the same cartridges.
Agreed. I use it in:
.32 ACP;
.380 ACP;
9mm Luger;
.38 special;
.357 Magnum;
.45 ACP;
.45 Colt;
.38-55; and
.45-70.
It's not the "best" powder for many of those cartridges, but it works well in all of them.
It is however my preferred powder with 125 gr bullets in a 2 1/2" or 3" .357 Magnum.
I've found the key is consistency. For example I use 6.5 grains of Unique under a 230 gr FMJ and I load it on my Dillon. Using small charge bar it'll drop 6.5 grains consistently - until something unusual happens on the press.
For example if you discover a small primer pocket federal case, remove the cas and then have to leave that spot e,pty on the the shell plate at the powder station while you size and prime another case on the next pull of the handle, the next drop afterwards will be 6.7 grains. That means pulling the just charged round off the plate and removing .2 gr of powder. In comparison, with a smaller grained powder like Power Pistol it's not an issue.
But…as long as the press is solidly mounted and operates consistently it's accurate.
Fishslayer
US Veteran, Absent Comrade
BE86 is close enough to almost call the data identical. Alliant reps have a number of threads on the internet.
I'm usually using it in low pressure range fodder in magnum revolvers so I just use Unique data.
Bad news... after a few years of being available the secret is out. Now it's just as unobtanium as Unique.
I'm usually using it in low pressure range fodder in magnum revolvers so I just use Unique data.
Bad news... after a few years of being available the secret is out. Now it's just as unobtanium as Unique.
I use Unique, but you all are safe from me hitting the shops any time soon as an elderly friend sold me some last time I visited him.
Yes, that's an 8# container (44SPL shown for scale) that might be older than I am. Less than half full sadly, but I think I'm set for the duration regardless.
Yes, that's an 8# container (44SPL shown for scale) that might be older than I am. Less than half full sadly, but I think I'm set for the duration regardless.
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