Why so much Love for Unique?

I find it works well enough for a lot of applications and it is extremely versatile. There is also a TON of data out there for it. So I know that if supplies completely dry up and I can't get powders that might be ideal for a particular application, if I have a jug of Unique around I can make it work for almost anything from 38 special to 30-06 to 20 gauge loads.

I don't see it as love per say, but respect. Regardless of the faults you mentioned, it still works very well in multiple applications. Also a powder many of us cut our teeth on many moons ago.

It's one of those powders that I always keep a pound of. If I run out of the powder I'm using, and can't get more (common these days) I can almost always find a load with Unique. Same with Green Dot; I load Trap loads with it, and were I to run out of Bullseye, AA# 5, or Unique, I could load both .45ACP and .38 with it.

Then, yes, I see why you wouldn't be as enamored with Unique as the rest of us on this post. Nothing wrong with that, and yes, W231 is definitely a good versatile pistol powder.

I've used Unique to load everything from .380ACP to .45-70 Gov't... if nothing it's probably the most versatile powder extant. It also depends on how you use it... generically speaking, it's not a clean-burning target- or mid-range powder...like W231 can be, it does burn dirty at lower load density, but cleans up in higher ranges. Unique is also the most forgiving powder I've ever worked with... variations in charge weight (due to it's 'poor metering,' if you will...) don't really affect it's load characteristics, and it doesn't spike pressures, usually, when you are at the upper end of load data. It CAN, however, load almost the entire spectrum of handgun cartridges... from low-charge small bore cartridges, to very nearly Magnum-level loads, just short of true Magnum powders like 2400 or W296.

Palladan44 said:

In my opinion Unique is nothing special, and I have other powders I like much better for any given application.

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These days of more specialized powders, you can say that. I have a shelf full of pistol powders, and Unique will do about 80% of what all of them do in their respective cartridges... that's pretty...uh... Unique.

I never have tried Unique. I do use HP38(Win 231) a lot. My interest in Unique is that I would like more case fill. Does Unique appreciably fill a case more than HP38 when loaded to about the same velocities with jacketed bullets? I went to get some Unique but my supplier had plenty of HP38 and no Unique so I guess it will be a while before I can actually try it. I have been using Trail Boss for my coated bullet loadings and am happy with that so I do not need another lead bullet powder.

I like Unique, but I've switched to HP38 for better metering.

Unique is a PITA, but always seems to deliver the accuracy.
I only use it for 357 loads these days, W231gets used a lot more.

Bill M. said:

My interest in Unique is that I would like more case fill. Does Unique appreciably fill a case more than HP38 when loaded to about the same velocities with jacketed bullets?

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It does have slightly more case fill, compared apples to apples, but, like most slower powders, it requires more charge weight, per se, for the same velocity.

I haven’t found it any dirtier than a lot of other powders for my purposes. I tried quite a few powders in 9mm to try to find one that was effectively cleaner and didn’t really find one that was worth switching. I wonder how many people have actually done back to back tests examining debris, case soot, etc with Unique and how many parrot the internet wisdom of flaming dirt?

it meters accurately for me, with the caveat that on the Lee PAD measure and chart the actual weights are far more off than any other powder. But it throws consistent charges at those weights.

I don’t LOVE Unique but I certainly don’t hate it. It works fine for me, like almost every other powder I’ve tried.

brewer12345 said:

I find it works well enough for a lot of applications and it is extremely versatile. There is also a TON of data out there for it. So I know that if supplies completely dry up and I can't get powders that might be ideal for a particular application, if I have a jug of Unique around I can make it work for almost anything from 38 special to 30-06 to 20 gauge loads.

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That about sums it up. I haven't used it for rifle, but it works in everything I've tried. I have found other powders that are a little better for one caliber or another, but Unique is a safe fall back option. Also, while it meters like corn flakes, and charge throws can vary .3-.4gr (total variance), most of the time, that doesn't seem to affect accuracy. Makes me wonder how well it would work if it metered like W231.

Shot alot of Unique in the '90s and oddly I still have 7 unopened cans of it (Hercules branded). But I switched to Universal after it came out.

1KPerDay said:

I haven’t found it any dirtier than a lot of other powders for my purposes. I tried quite a few powders in 9mm to try to find one that was effectively cleaner and didn’t really find one that was worth switching. I wonder how many people have actually done back to back tests examining debris, case soot, etc with Unique and how many parrot the internet wisdom of flaming dirt?

it meters accurately for me, with the caveat that on the Lee PAD measure and chart the actual weights are far more off than any other powder. But it throws consistent charges at those weights.

I don’t LOVE Unique but I certainly don’t hate it. It works fine for me, like almost every other powder I’ve tried.

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Actually, the dirtiest load I shoot is 4.5 grains of bullseye with a 200 grain SWC in 45 ACP. This is my low recoil target load and I suspect that the lack of pressure means that the brass doesn't fully seal everything up upon firing and so I get sooty cases. In contrast, a full power load with the same bullet and 7 grains of unique is fairly clean.

Universal and Shooter's World Ultimate Pistol both fill the same burn rate niche for handguns that Unique does, but with better metering, cleaner burning, and at least for me, slightly better accuracy. I don't load for shotguns, so maybe that would be a mark for Unique that the other two don't possess, but for me, Unique is third on the list.

As said previously it has been around a long time and data for almost anything is available these days. IMO it works pretty well in a lot of instances. If that's all I had and there was never any more propellant going to be made then I would not be tied down to what I could load. Others may be good as well but they are more limited from what data I have reviewed.

Having grown up shooting black powder I'm always amused by people calling a smokeless powder "dirty".
An old saying, years before my time, by the Scheutzen competitors referring to running the slug down the bore when using Pope's "breech muzzle loading system, was "When the next one you loads, the last one you cleans". I see shooting modern cartridge guns much the same. Each succeeding shot cleans the previous ones resdue. I love Unique and use it in almost all of my handguns for specific purposes, mainly for medium loads and a few select warm ones. I like it for shotguns, mainly the handicap trap and upland hunting loads. Rifle, cast bullets in everything from .222 through 45-70 and .444. It shines in 45 Colt, 45 acp, and 38 special. I've never had a failure due to "dirt" or "irregular" metering. I think that a couple tenths either way, unless you are pushing the limits, makes little or no ballistic difference in the bigger cases.
There's my opinions. Sixty-five years of loading Unique may have prejudiced me.

I have only been reloading just shy of 10 years. Early on when I started, I couldn't find Unique locally. By the time I did get some Unique, I was set with enough powder.

By looking at older manuals that I have acquired, I can see why Unique is the do-all powder. Plus if one can find the site, their is rich history of the early days of reloading that grew around Unique, Bullseye, and 2400. The "forefathers" of gunpowder. Infallible I believe was the early name of Unique

It's a versatile powder that has been around for ages. It's a classic and everything smokes with cast bullets.

Unique has been around for over 100 years for a reason. Hard to beat in 45 Colt, 45Acp,44spcl. Also works very well with cast and plated bullets. Only “dirty” when it is loaded for reduced loads.

Like everybody sez: Unique is like a pair of pliers, you can use them on a lot of places where a better tool may not be available.

I use Unique from 380 ACP through 460 S&W Mag. Also, I load 20 and 28 ga shot shells using Unique.

It meters just fine using a good powder measure and a consistent technique.

I do not find it any dirtier than other powders, but I do clean my guns often.

It is called Unique for a reason.