Ball Powder Replacement for Unique?

[Slamfire]

Win 231 and Titegroup are Ball powders. They have just been rolled flat to change the geometry and get the burning rate wanted. But the manufacturing process is Olin-Winchester Ball Powder.

News to me. But if it ain't round any more, is it still a "ball" powder?

Ball powders metering consistency is in the 0.1 grain range, at least for me. Flake powders around 0.3, and stick, well 0.5 to 1.0. I have used W231, have about 3 pounds left to reload, the stuff looks really flakey to me, but I don't remember the metering consistency.

 

[Jim Watson]

Thing is, Ball Powder is defined by the manufacturing process, not the shape of the granules. There are a lot of flattened Ball process powders out there.

W231 measures very precisely. Even though rolled, the granules are smooth and rounded.

 

[strat81]

Hodgdon's website lists Titegroup as "spherical", hence my mention of it. It meters very consistently out of my Pro Auto Disk. YMMV.

 

[CZ57]

True Blue. No doubt about it!

 

[Grump]

Two powders needed to "replace" Unique

For light loads, WW231

For heavy loads, Power Pistol

For both, look at the target and the velocities closer than the powder scale. If you're .3 in total range, or even +/- .3 for a spread of .6, AND the velocities are within 50 fps ES and groups are as tight as quality factory ammo, what's to complain about?

Some might still be "cleaner", but even the so-called cleanest powder still leaves you with a dirty gun.

 

[spencerhut]

My response from Ramshot

Our silhouette and true Blue are very close. Silhouette being slightly faster burning and is actually the Winchester WAP powder. Both these will work well for IPSC type calibers and loads. ZIP will be ideal for the low pressure 45ACP type loads.

Regards
Johan Loubser
Ballistician
Western/Accurate Powders

 

[Grump]

From what spencerhut posted, I'd join his suggestion of Silhouette. As WAP, it metered great for me, flashed a LOT less than Power Pistol, and came sorta close enough for max velocity with 125-grain bullets in .357 Mag to suffice....so long as you're NOT after 1400 FPS from a 4-inch revolver. I just couldn't get it there without ugly primers. You can get real close to top velocities using WAP/Silhouette in 9mm, .40 & .45 ACP, though, and it works fine at less than full throttle, too.

 

[Grump]

AA #5 has been promoted as the Ball process equivalent of Unique. It has also been said to have blown up more Glock .40s than any other powder.

Citation?

Try this: http://www.thegunzone.com/glock/tapioca.html#nb8

Note: in all fairness, correlation does not equal causation, and being "associated with" blow-ups of both Glocks and at least 1 H&K .40 is not conclusive. I would suggest checking with Clark Magnuson and his destructive testing events to see whether he's used any version(s) of AA #5, and whether cases failed at a lower threshold of overcharge than other powders.

 

[CZ57]

Johan Loubser once told me that True Blue is a variant of Vectan SP-2 (around AA#7 in burn rate) and closer to their estimation of where it ranks on their burn rate chart, so don't accept his oppinion as gospel just yet. The placement on their burn rate chart is incorrect. I should have known better because Vectan powders come from France and True Blue is manufactured in Belgium. He has also told me that TB's burn rate is slightly faster than AA#5. I don't think he's figured it out yet. I've been using True Blue longer than he has and he was part of the package when Western Powder Co. (parent co. of Ramshot) bought Accurate. Silhouette is an outstanding powder. Particularly for 9mm and .40 S&W, but for all the calibers mentioned by the threadstarter, True Blue is more flexible, and more flexible than #5 in my oppinion, especially in the .40 S&W. Considering the topic of a ball powder replacement for Unique, forgetaboutit, True Blue is better and becuase it is a ball powder with a high bulk density and being fine grained, it will meter like sand.