I have a "Unique" question

[phrogpilot]

I started reloading about 8 years ago and loaded .45 Colt almost exclusively for most of this time (use Unique). This year, I also began loading .45 ACP and 9MM and will be loading .380 ACP shortly. My question is this; should I expand beyond using Unique for these other cartridges? I like the simplicity of one powder. The .45 ACP and 9MM rounds I've been loading over a charge of Unique all go bang, cycle perfectly and seem at least as acutrate as I am. Yet when I read this great forum I people extolling H231 and other powders, as if there is a real difference in performance. Should I be more "adventurous" in my powder selections?

 

[Dave B]

Unique is probably the best all around powder ever made. It is good to great in almost anything. That said, the small amounts needed in the .380 are a little harder to measure, due to the larger flake size. Bullseye or Titegroup might be a better choice. Bullseye is another great pistol powder for light to medium loads in about any pistol. If you had Bullseye and Unique on your shelf, you would be good for about any pistol except heavy magnum loads.

 

[rcmodel]

We just answered the same question yesterday here:
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=6190773#post6190773

rc

 

[zxcvbob]

Unique gives better performance in .380 than any other except for one expensive powder by VihtaVuori; I don't remember which one (N330 maybe?) Unique just about perfect for all the cartridges you listed, even though it's not very sexy.

Red Dot is a good one for light target loads. I get better accuracy with Red Dot in every pistol cartridge I load. But it's only for light loads because it gets really peaky if you load it up. (Bullseye is better behaved in that regards, and it measures better.)

If all I had were Bullseye and AA#7 (or Power Pistol) and one as-yet-undetermined rifle powder, I'd be OK with that but I'd miss my Unique and Red Dot.

 

[SharpsDressedMan]

It is kind of nice to buy an 8 pounder of Unique and know that I can load most all of my pistol rounds with that if I have to. I do use other powders, but keep going back to Unique for generic and practice loads. I have no complaints about it being a dirtier powder, either. Cleaning gun aftere using Unique seems normal enough to me.

 

[RidgwayCO]

In my experience, Unique can work fine in the .380 Auto, but you have to watch it like a hawk. When dispensing small amounts it will sometimes bridge, giving you a round with much less (or no) powder.

The best powder I've ever found for the .380 Auto (and I've tried most of them...) is Accurate #2 . Burns very clean, meters like water, and it's cheap cheap cheap ($65.50 for 5 lbs at Powder Valley). Plus it can be used for my 800 fps 95gr lead bullet "plinking loads" just as as well as my 1050 fps 90gr HP "social work" loads. Plus it gives me ridiculously small ES and SD numbers with most loads.

I've moved most of my handgun reloading to the VihtaVuori powders because they're so good. But Accurate #2 is all I'll ever use in the .380 Auto.

 

[ambidextrous1]

Phrog, a question like yours will always produce responses listing nearly every pistol powder available.

For the past 15 years, I've been using Bullseye for .45 ACP and Unique for the smaller auto cartridges. There was a time when I was easily seduced by 'errornet' claims of superior performance of other powders for the .45 ACP, and I tried a bunch of them, but couldn't see that they had any advantage over Bullseye.

I now have two pistol powders for reloading, and have thought about eliminating one of them; can't decide which. A larger charge of Unique is required for the same MV in any cartridge, so I'm torn between the slight economy of Bullseye and possibly more uniform charge weight with Unique.

It's likely that I'll continue with two pistol powders in the shop for the next 15 years; I'll be 93 then.

I hope these comments have been helpful.

 

[Galil5.56]

Unique is awfully good stuff, and has remained while a ton of Johnny come lately/newest hype propellants have come and gone. I can't think of a better propellant especially for a new 9mm reloader, and it works well from very mild lead target loads, all the way to very full power jacketed. Works very well in plinker lead loads in 30/30, 30/06, etc, and real well in many shotgun loads too.

Been around of over 110 years, and will for as long as folks reload IMO. Here is an interesting scan from an Alliant/Hercules loading manual I got in the mid 90's when Hercules became Alliant. Although you can't read the label, it reads "Unique", and makes for some interesting and impressive reading.

 

[Jesse Heywood]

If you're happy with the results, there is not much reason to change, unless you like experimenting. Some do, some don't.

 

[jmortimer]

I like the simplicity of having one powder and use Unique for .45 Colt and .38/.357 but I don't shoot hot loads. Unique is perfect for low to upper middle range loads which is where I want to be. I do admit to recently buying 9 ounces of Trail Boss but have not tried it. Up till now it has been nothing but Unique. One other thing, Unique works well with the Lee Powder Dippers - 4.6 grains for the .38 and 9.2 for the .45 Colt.

 

[tom357mag]

I use Unique for my .357 , .38 . .380 . 12 & 20 gauge and love the results as well as the simplicity of having to buy and use only 1 powder.

 

[mongoose33]

The reason I don't use Unique is that i don't like how it meters.

It's a great powder otherwise, though.

 

[warnerwh]

Unique is an excellent powder for handgun loads, period. I've read some people say it doesn't meter well. I get plus or minus .1 grains. I use a Lee Pro Auto Disk. I used to have a Dillon XL650 and it metered well with it's powder measure also. Accuracy is the most important thing to me so if I had any powder issue I'd change powders in a second. For handgun accuracy I will no accept groups over 1.5" at 25 yards for any load.

 

[rg1]

I use Unique in 9MM and 45ACP as well as shotgun loads. I've tested it in 380 loads but wasn't satisfied with velocity and velocity variations. Powder charges were weighed for the .380 test loads. I agree with RidgewayCO that Accurate Arms #2 is a great powder for .380 loading. Much better results in the little .380 case with AA#2 than with Unique. I like to simplify my powder selection too but for the .380 in particular and any magnum type pistol calibers I'd buy other powders.

 

[zxcvbob]

RG1, how much Unique were you using in .380? (I use 4.2 grains with 95 grain round-nosed hard cast bullets. It's a very hot load but still within SAAMI specs, barely)

 

[Peter M. Eick]

I am set up to 4.0 grns of unique with an 88 grn JHP on the 380 right now. That is my accuracy load for 380.

 

[phrogpilot]

Thanks to all who answered this thread; your responses are very interesting. I'll keep going with Unique for .45 Colt, .45 ACP and 9MM. I think I will try AA #2 for .380.

 

[rg1]

ZXCVBOB, I don't have the saved data from my test with Unique powder in the .380. All I can tell you is that it was Hornady data with their 90 gr XTP-HP and the velocity was lower than Hornady's data results.