Unique powder

I bought 10 lbs about a year ago when I started reloading. I have not tried any other pistol cartridge powder yet ( except Trail Boss ), simply because I don't have to.
I have used Unique in
38 spl
357 mag
40 S&W
44 spl
44 mag
45 acp
45 LC
and even used it in 45-70 Govt

Some claim it is dirty and unburnt powder leaves the barrel. I wouldn't know what luxury I might experience with other powders yet. I just opened my 6th pound.
It is useful and I am OK with it. I don't know any better ... yet.
Powder was a bit tough to find around here last year so I bought it when I could so I'd have something for all my handguns.
It works great in my 44 mag 8 3/8 barrel and I do think the powder might have a better chance of burning up in longer barrels. Just a theory, but I might be wasting powder in the shorter barreled firearms and might get same results with less grains.

It does everything from powder puffs to full magnum loads in 44 and 357. It gets kind of dirty in light loads though. In .357 Mag I get the same high end performance as 110/296. In 44 mag, its a little less velocity, but the same accuracy.

Unque is probably the most versatile powder ever made, with very good performance in most of its uses.

Unique

Unique is one of the, if not the, most versatile propellants. It is the one that I always keep on hand.....rifle, pistol, shotgun.....it has a place in each.
I have used it for reduced loads in my .416 Rigby. Nice.
Pete

And 20 and 28 gauge shot shells.

I like Unique and use a fair amount of it.

Being a flake powder, it can be difficult to meter. But with proper powder measure technique (operate the powder measure the same way every time), it meters just fine.

It larger cases such as 45 Colt and 44 Magnum, it can be a bit position sensitive. Not much powder in a large case. Velocity of the bullet will be a bit higher when the powder is back against the primer than when it is up against the bullet. It does not seem to have a great affect on grouping at shorter ranges. This is not an issue with smaller cases where there is a larger percentage of powder filling the case volume.

I do not find guns firing Unique any more difficult or time consuming to clean than when using any other powder. There may be a bit moor soot on the outside of the gun but it wipes right off. I don't expect to be able to eat off any of them after firing any way.

UNIQUE's spherical/spheroid cousin is Hodgdon's UNIVERSAL. (click link for caveat)
For all intents and purposes a grain-for-grain equivalent powder
-- and it meters like water.

I have/use both... Unique out of nostalgia, Universal when I get serious.

I think unique is probably one of the BEST powders to stock up on. While IMO it isn't the best powder for any of the loads you listed, it is very good in all of them. I have found exceptional accuracy in .380, 9mm, .38, .357 and 45acp with unique and many different bullet weights. In fact, I have yet to find any bullet weight/style in any handgun caliber that you can't achieve good accuracy with using unique.

I disagree that you can get full tilt magnum velocities (nor should you try) with unique but I rarely shoot full tilt loads. IMO, unique is the most versatile powder out there.

I've used Unique powder for decades. I use it for several different handgun cartridges. Believe this or not I'm still shooting some of my old 38/357 reloads I loaded back in 1989 w/ Unique. They shoot as well today as they did when I loaded them way back then.

Unique has been a standard use powder for me for years and years........light to moderate loads with cast bullets....which is what I primarily use in my handguns.
8.5-9.0 grains in the .44 Mag under a Keith style 240 gr. bullet will net you 1000 fps, and be accurate as hell. When I opt for more horsepower I go to 2400, but Unique does a good job from the ground up.

Bob

While I consider BE-86 the modern Unique that meters very well (less than +/- 0.1 gr variance) with loads more accurate than other powders of similar burn rate, if Unique was all I had, I will happily load all of my pistol loads with Unique.

I don't think you could go wrong with stocking up on powders at burn rate of W231/HP-38/Unique/BE-86/Universal.

I have used a lot of Unique I my 357 and .44 Magnums since mebbe 1987. I've reloaded with light loads to pretty hot loads of Unique (there's even a "celebrity load" of 10.0 Unique under a 240-250 gr LSWC for the .44 Magnum )...

There is no such thing as a handgun for which Unique is not suitable.

Faster powders are slightly more practical for purely target loads.

Slower powders are slightly more practical for heavy "magnum" loads.

You can still always load top-notch pistol ammo in any caliber with Unique.

Yup, a very versatile powder, as is Universal. HP-38 is my all-around go-to handgun powder.

UNIQUE's spherical/spheroid cousin is Hodgdon's UNIVERSAL. (click link for caveat)
For all intents and purposes a grain-for-grain equivalent powder
-- and it meters like water.

I have/use both... Unique out of nostalgia, Universal when I get serious.

Click to expand...

Same here; used to buy Unique in the big cardboard drums until I found Universal; MUCH cleaner burning. I have used both for everything from 32ACP and SWL to 45 ACP

I've been using Unique in 9mm and 40 for a very long time now, 10 years. Since new powders like CFE Pistol and BE-86 are coming out, once I use up my supply of Unique, I'm going to thost two powder. Longshot is also working awesome in the 40.

They burn cleaner and give similar performance.

Unique is good but it's not gonna give you fullhouse loads like 2400.
You'll reach the upper pressure limit before you reach the velocity that 2400 will give.

Good powder? yup
But not for fullhouse loads and it sounds like that's what you're looking for.

No powder supply is complete without some Unique!

Very versatile stuff. Its my favorite for 9mm luger and 45acp, and and Im loading up a bunch of 357 with it as we speak (type!)

Whoops, doubled.

When I first started loading I wanted a powder that was very flexible and I could use in most of my pistol calibers so I bought some Unique. This is the only powder I loaded with for the first year or two. Its one of those powders to always have on hand because its so versatile but in the past several years I find that I hardly ever use it. I have had much better accuracy, velocity, and the biggest one Cleanliness out of other powders. I do prefer Unique for several lead loads for my 357, 44 but for my 9mm, 40,45, 380, it is way to dirty, and one of the worst metering powders out there and there's just several other powders better suited for those calibers with jacketed rounds. If you shoot 500-1000 rounds through your 9 or 40 with Unique and then try a powder like WSF or AA#5 there is no comparison. Same with full capacity jacketed loads in 357 and 44 mag Unique will work but but H110,296 gives better velocity's and much cleaner to. Just my experience.

TimSr said:

In .357 Mag I get the same high end performance as 110/296.

Click to expand...

No way. Not unless you are loading well over safe loads.

I don't own a 41 or 44 so I don't know about them.
I have used Unique in .357 (and 9mm, .38 Special and .45 ACP) and it shoots well. It meters poorly for me in charges less than about 5gr. (larger charges meter better) It is somewhat dirty as well.
I would purchase it again if nothing else was available but Universal is much cleaner and meters and will do everything Unique will do except for the heaviest Unique loads.
BE86 is about the same as Unique as well and is cleaner and meters better IMO.
If you want light or midrange loads in .357 a powder around Uniques burn speed works well. If you want "true" maganum loads you need something slower.
Just depends on exactly what you are after.

I've been using Unique in everything from .32 S&W Long up to .44 Magnum and .45 Colt in handguns and have used untold pounds in 12 gauge loads.

Newer lots have been changed slightly to make it cleaner burning, but it is as versatile as ever. It is one of those powders that I will always have on the shelf.

Unique is, well, unique. It is a highly versatile powder and has been in constant production since about 1890. Therein lies it's main weakness.

There are modern equivalents that 1) meter far better in modern powder measures, and 2) aren't nearly as messy inside the gun at lower loads.

It's main asset is that it is very low density (i.e. "fluffy"), and the 'case fill' in older black powder cartridges, such as 38 Spcl, can be useful in preventing double-charging or position sensitivity that may occur with higher density powders.

Should you have it on hand... Yes. Will you consistently choose it over 10 other powders you may have... probably not.

Just my 2 cents.