Where is the Unique

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Unless someone lives near you there is no way to answer your question. You are just going to have to keep checking the shops. You can always use Universal instead since that seems to be available.

Good luck.
 
One of the big powder dealers finally had some a couple of weeks ago...it was over $300 for an 8# jug... First time I have seen it in a while...
 
ArchAngelCD said:
Unless someone lives near you there is no way to answer your question. You are just going to have to keep checking the shops. You can always use Universal instead since that seems to be available.

Good luck.
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Yes, Hodgdon Universal is a good substitute for Unique and may be more easily found.
 
The manufacturing facility that makes the Clays series of powders for Hodgdon has been changed over to making powders for 155mm Artillery Shells. As a result Clays, Universal, and International will not be available for at least 3 years per a press release from Hodgdon.

Concerning Unique I suspect the same situation applies to that powder. However it has always been so popular that there is still some inventory in a warehouse somewhere. As a result there is a limited amount available on the Commodities Market but prices are rather high. Last time I saw an 8 lbs. keg of Unique was few months back at Ballistic Products and it lasted less than a week. Though about picking one up but the price was 338.00 before Hazmat and Shipping so the delivered cost would have been roughly 400 bucks, to rich for this penny pincher.

If you want a viable alternate to Unique there is one that is currently available with much better metering properties than Unique. That alternate is Vihtavouri 3N37. Very similar burn rate and it has zero position sensitivity so it works very well in 38 special or 357 Magnum loads. As for the cost, inflation has not effected the costs for Vihtavouri powders nearly as much as the Major brands so it's currently cost competitive with powders from Alliant or Hodgdon. I'll also note that I've been using this powder for 38 caliber and 9mm loads since about 2015 and it is a truly fantastic powder for these calibers.

Final note, there are currently just two classes of smokeless powders at present. The first class is those that are available. The second class is the Unobtanium powders. I would suggest that everyone stop suggesting the Unobtanium because it's a total waste of time looking for them. Instead concentrate your effort on those powders that are available.
 
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If you are using Unique powder for a 9mm;

I have found that a good back up powder is BE-86
if you can find it.

Since it is fine grained, more can be dropped in the small 9mm case
for the large 147 gr bullet and get higher fps.

I agree with Universal for the 38 & 357 loads, if you see it.
 
Alternatives to Unique

fishwishin said:
Powder is starting to show up in my area. I have only been reloading since October of 2022. I have never seen Unique in my area. Is it popping up anywhere at all?

Thank you
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I have been looking for both Unique and Bullseye for some time. I have not seen in my area ( western Mass and act). The same goes for 2400 which I use for .44 Mag and .351 Winchester.

When I ran out I went back to my 3 reloading manuals which are Speer, Hornady and Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook. I checked the tables for what also can be used against what my LGS and nearest Cabela's had in stock. I found several alternatives to both powders that are working out well so far. When both powders show up again I will restock. In the meantime I can keep shooting for now.
 
scooter123 said:
The manufacturing facility that makes the Clays series of powders for Hodgdon has been changed over to making powders for 155mm Artillery Shells. As a result Clays, Universal, and International will not be available for at least 3 years per a press release from Hodgdon.

Concerning Unique I suspect the same situation applies to that powder.
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This is not correct. Hodgdon's principal manufacturer is General Dynamics at the St. Marks Powder Inc. facility in St. Marks, Florida. Unique and other Alliant propellants are manufactured by Alliant Tech Systems (ATK)
 
Just as an aside to this conversation, I recently loaded some 380 rounds using Unique under a 95 gr. Small ball . As usual I cleaned my Sig 238 after firing 50 rounds at the range, and I could not believe how filthy the gun was when I removed the slide. All the internals were covered with heavy cabin soot..
in the past I've always used TiteGroup as my 380 go to and I must say it is much cleaner than Unique for these 380 loads
 
buckshotshorty said:
Just as an aside to this conversation, I recently loaded some 380 rounds using Unique under a 95 gr. Small ball . As usual I cleaned my Sig 238 after firing 50 rounds at the range, and I could not believe how filthy the gun was when I removed the slide. All the internals were covered with heavy cabin soot..
in the past I've always used TiteGroup as my 380 go to and I must say it is much cleaner than Unique for these 380 loads
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Titegroup is a lot faster than Unique. In something as small as the 380 Auto Unique is probably a poor choice due to its burn rate. you'd likely run out of case capacity before you get it up to the pressure it needs to burn cleanly.
 
I had been looking for some Bullseye for a while and have been able to trade into some BE but this week I found a 8# jug of Clays at my gun/pawn shop. I use it in my .45acp, cas and shotgun loads. Very clean powder. Was tagged at 299.00 but I got it for 250.00 plus 17.00 tax. I had thought about driving to Raleigh next weekend for the Dixie Gunshow but I won't bother now. Figuring in the cost of my gas and show entry I'm down to about 27.00 a pound. Happy birthday to me.
 
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I pretty much gave up on all things Alliant until such time as things pretend to get back to normal.
Hodgdon has been making a lot of headway in getting goods to the shelves.
 
I was in a semi-local shop this morning and they had more powder than I have seen in the last 4 years combined. I saw at least 2 lbs of Unique. I was looking for IMR 4227 and they had several pounds of it. I asked the price.

$54

I'll keep loading with the choices in my cabinet for now.

Edited to add:
Apparently that is going rate for IMR powders on line as well.
 
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If we have to be shorted sporting powder right now so the companies can supply the Ukraine, I'm fine. I have ~ two pounds of Unique I bought two years ago during a lucky email link from an internet seller. I'm fine for the moment, and I want the war to end soon.
 
Look for Herco at gun shows etc. Not as popular or as well known as Unique...and almost as versatile. When I load 20/28 ga I use just a tiny bit more than my usual unique load...in my 44 mag load I use a 1/2 grain more than I would use Unique. I bought 2 8 lb kegs of Herco for 40 bucks a piece.
 
Good luck finding any that won't require financial embarrassment. Alliant availability on about anything they make has been atrocious the last three years.

If you loading straight wall, try Winchester 244 or Accurate #5. Seems to be a good alternative from what I've seen.
 
In.......

In my garage? Bought an 8 lb jug years ago.:D

Seriously, they make a lot of powders that do different jobs. Get something close until what you are looking for is available.

I used to use two powders for pistols until I went magnum, then I used three and one for rifle. Now I've had a chance to use all kinds of powders because I was forced to buy what was avalable.
 
Dfish1247 said:
Good luck finding any that won't require financial embarrassment. Alliant availability on about anything they make has been atrocious the last three years.

If you loading straight wall, try Winchester 244 or Accurate #5. Seems to be a good alternative from what I've seen.
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I've had good luck with 244 but be aware that it's quite a bit faster than Unique. So far I've shot 244 in 9mm, 38 Special, and 44 Mag. Good "target" powder for all three. Burns clean as well.
 
Alk8944 said:
This is not correct. Hodgdon's principal manufacturer is General Dynamics at the St. Marks Powder Inc. facility in St. Marks, Florida. Unique and other Alliant propellants are manufactured by Alliant Tech Systems (ATK)
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You forgot the General Dynamics plant in Canada, where I've been told the Clays series of powders are made. St. Marks makes H110 and other powders for Hodgdon. What is made in Canada is currently not available and won't be for at least 3 years. BTW, I shoot 4 gun Skeet and Clays and Universal were my goto powders for 12, 20, and 28 gauge loads. Now the 12 is getting Titewad and the 20 and 28 get made with Longshot. While these powders do work well these alternates have a higher density and cause stack height issues. BTW, Unique is another wonderfully bulky powder that was superb for the 20 and 28 but that is also MIA. While I have no clue as to where Unique was being made I sort of suspect it may be another Canadian product.
 
Alliant powders have always been more difficult for me to find locally. Seems most retailers in my part of the state keep mostly the Hodgdon brands.

As others have said, I've been seeing Unique, 2400, and a few others show up at a couple of places, but I can buy VV powders for less. I can't make myself pay $50 for burning dirt when I can get VV340 for around $42.

Hodgdon is doing the same with IMR4831, IMR4350, IMR4064, and other long time favorite powders. Luckily I have a good supply of most.

I've recently picked up a few pounds of RAMSHOT brand powders that were recently on sale for testing.

I don't like the chokehold Hodgdon can put on smokeless powders. Lack of competition is never good for the end users.
 
All of Alliant's manufacturing capacity has been dedicated to defense contracts. Better find VV and Hodgdon substitutes for your favorite Alliant powders, maybe permanently.

Even after Ukraine is turned into a smoking wasteland, it will be a decade or more before NATO nations rebuild their stockpiles.
 
Alk8944 said:
This is not correct. Hodgdon's principal manufacturer is General Dynamics at the St. Marks Powder Inc. facility in St. Marks, Florida. Unique and other Alliant propellants are manufactured by Alliant Tech Systems (ATK)
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St. Marks Powder has a large piece of the commercial propellant market. Alliant markets several powders produced by St. Marks Powder, as does Hodgdon, Western Powders Ramshot, Accurate Powders and Winchester Ball propellant. Much more powder is sold to commercial manufacturers, too, such as Black Hills Ammunition. St. Marks Powder is the largest producer of propellant in the U.S — and the world.

Ball Powder Propellant: You Are Probably Shooting St. Marks - Guns and Ammo
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Which Hodgdon powders are manufactured by ADI in Australia? The following table is a listing of the powders manufactured by ADI in Australia, marketed in the US by Hodgdon under Hodgdon brand labeling, and marketed in Australia and New Zealand under ADI brand labeling. Same powder, different packaging.
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HODGDON POWDER AND ADI; THE AUSTRALIAN CONNECTION


I don't know what powders are made by GD for Hodgdon but you can bet they're making a lot of it for military contracts these days and forsaking the commercial ammo and reloading market. That's pure speculation on my part but I do know there's a WW1 artillery style war going on in Europe and that takes a lot of powder to fling those 155 mm projectiles.
 
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LostintheOzone said:


I don't know what powders are made by GD for Hodgdon but you can bet they're making a lot of it for military contracts these days and forsaking the commercial ammo and reloading market.
Click to expand...


As long as the Russians and Ukrainians are banging away at each other, we are going to have limited availability and high prices on a lot of stuff that we use. It doesn't matter what factory is making the powder. If it's a gov't contract factory or a factory dedicated to the commercial market, they are all sourcing the same raw materials from the same places. If the war continues for a long time, what will probably happen is that manufacturing capacity will expand to fill the demand. At any rate, our sporting use shortages will continue until the military demand is met.
 
Dfish1247 said:
Good luck finding any that won't require financial embarrassment. Alliant availability on about anything they make has been atrocious the last three years.

If you loading straight wall, try Winchester 244 or Accurate #5. Seems to be a good alternative from what I've seen.
Click to expand...

Like I said above, including the powders mentioned above Universal is an even better replacement for Unique since it was specifically formulated to directly compete with Unique.

Add W231 and Zip to the list too if you consider W244 or AA#5.
 
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