Is Unique inherently difficult to work with?

[PO2Hammer]

If you're not running a progressive and you really want precision with Unique, it doesn't take but a few seconds to throw a light charge onto a scale and trickle it up to the exact weight.
Fantastic powder. Love it in 357. 7.5 grains with the 135 Gold Dot is my varmint load.

 

[farm23]

I still weigh each load so no problem for me and I like Unique. From what I read it will do ok at the levels you want to load. When I get to the point I need to speed things up and use a powder measure this will be a useful thread. I started to reload again to save money but keep finding 'one more thing' to buy: o-well I am enjoying the process.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I load it progressive and never have a problem. It's good for +/- a tenth of my equipment. I load them up and don't look back...I am sure a set of powder dippers won't get that close and people have been using them successfully for years.

 

[entropy]

I use Lee Dippers for all my loading. Time isn't my primary concern when I load, consistancy is. I like unique for .45ACP as well as .45LC, .38 Spl., and when I loaded for it, 9mm.

 

[Dudedog]

I had some Unique and some Promo.
Promo pic link
http://www.ilrc.ucf.edu/powders/sample_detail.php?powder_id=2
Unique pic link
http://www.ilrc.ucf.edu/powders/sample_detail.php?powder_id=122

The Promo metered better for me than the Unique thru a Lee Pro Disk measure.
Generally had + or - .2gr when metering Unique, I just loaded for the + side of the swing.
So not difficult to use, just didn't meter well for me. Shot well but I would not buy it again if I had the choice, I would chose something that metered better. (almost any other pistol powder)

 

[DudeRick]

As mentioned, it doesn't meter well, and it is dirty. but it's a great powder. I broke my right wrist a few months ago, so all that I have been able to do is load / chrono testing of 9mm bench rested shooting left handed. I have tested 3 different projectiles with 5 different powders so far, guess which one has turned out to be the most accurate...

 

[FROGO207]

Well I am not in a super hurry and work on a SS or turret press. My old Ideal (Lyman 55) measure can be "tuned" to drop consistent loads with any propellant I use. Propellant bridging is more of a concern with me. With difficult to meter propellants I find a load I like and make a custom scoop using an old brass casing. If you practice/use a scoop enough getting consistent drops is easy IMHO. I use boatloads of 700X and a good bit of 800X without any problems. YMMV

 

[RealGun]

The smaller the aperture the more inconsistency you might have. Larger granule powders then measure better in larger charges. I would not recommend Unique near or below 5 grains. I believe Unequal and especially BE-86 are close alternatives to Unique. BE-86 certainly measures well. I will keep using Unique until my 8 pounder is gone, if ever, but I won't buy more. I like BE-86.

 

[Slamfire]

Unique is about the most flexible pistol powder I have used. It is my go to powder for the 44 Special, 45 LColt. Midrange loads in the 44 Magnum are both powerful and accurate. It is not hard to "work with" as I throw my pistol charges. It is my considered opinion that metering of pistol powders means little to nothing in terms of velocity spreads. The choice of powder, the pressure the powder operates at, these are more important than ball versus flake. AA#5 is a ball powder, throws very well, it does not show tighter ES's and SD's than Unique. What beats them both for consistency is Bullseye, another flake powder. Bullseye is the most consistent powder in the 45 ACP that I have used. I am only showing 230 grain data, but I have lots of 200 LSWC data with thrown charges with Bullseye and the ES's and SD's are close to what I get out of well tuned rifle loads.

All of these charges were thrown on a Dillion 550 B. I don't see any validity for claims of superiority for ball powder. And, I don't see the purpose of weighing pistol charges. If you don't have a progressive, get your little Dandy powder measure out and throw charges. You won't notice the difference over your chronograph or on paper.


Kimber Custom Classic M1911


230 LRN 5.5 grs Unique lot UN331 1989 Mixed brass WLP (brass)
OAL 1.250" taper crimped 0.469"

16-May-09 high 83 °F

Ave Vel = 827.4
Std Dev = 17.63
ES = 85.68
High = 871.6
Low = 785.9
N = 31

230 LRN 6.0 grs Unique lot 6/21/1998 Mixed brass WLP (nickle)
OAL 1.250" taper crimped 0.469"

16-May-09 high 83 °F

Ave Vel = 885
Std Dev = 16.79
ES = 67.26
High = 917.8
Low = 850.5
N = 30


accurate lots recoil15' foot ejection

230 LRN 6.5 grs Unique lot UN387 6/21/93 Mixed brass WLP
OAL 1.250" taper crimped 0.469

18-Mar-07 T = 62 °F

Ave Vel = 926.4
Std Dev = 16.64
ES= 71.16
High = 963.4
Low = 892.3
N = 32

light leading accurate centered hard recoil, 20 foot ejection

230 FMJ (R-P) 7.8 grs AA#5 lot DM Speer Once fired WLP (brass) OAL 1.250" taper crimped 0.469"

12-Dec-11 T =53 °F


Ave Vel = 847.1
Std Dev = 19.59
ES = 86.17
High = 877.2
Low = 791.1
N = 14

Accurate but high.


230 gr FMJ (R-P) 5.0 grs Bullseye 99' & 2005 mixed lot Mixed Brass WLP (brass) OAL 1.265" taper crimp .469"

12-Dec-11 T= 53 °F


Ave Vel = 793.5
Std Dev = 18.92
ES = 61.99
High = 817.4
Low = 755.4
N = 16

 

[RugerOldArmy]

Unique may not meter as well as some powders, but it doesn't meter too badly, works very well in a great many cartridges, and can be very accurate. It is still my favorite for .45 Colt (255 Gr lead RNFP bullets) and 9x19 (124 Gr jacketed bullets), which speaks to its versatility, and these are still my most accurate loads for these cartridge/bullet combinations. I tend to find the best loads with Unique on the middle and upper end of the load window, where it also burns more cleanly.

I recall reading a very interesting article that claimed Unique best approximated black powder when using lead bullets. The author contended that when using lead bullets and Unique, they obturate and seal the gap between the bullet and bore very well, like black powder does, due to the initial pressure in the pressure curve. In my experience, it did work well for lead bullets, but that is likely a combination that led to people contending it didn't burn as cleanly as other powders.

My $.02. Happy Holidays.

 

[Charlie98]

230 LRN 6.5 grs Unique

That's been my .45ACP load for as long as I've been loading it.

I manually operate my Hornady powder drop on my ProJector... I 'double-tap' the handle to settle the powder in the chamber, then roll it into the drop. As I roll it back, I bang the stop to a) break up any bridging that may have occurred (I don't have bridging problems with Unique,) and b) to settle the next charge of powder in the chamber, rinse and repeat. I do this for any powder, not just flake, and I have had very good results.

 

[sbwaters]

Unique?

Meters rough - Check. Dirty - check. But other than that, hey, it’s a powder that is available and works well.

 

[Kevin Rohrer]

I wonder how many hundreds of other threads there are here and elsewhere about this subject?

 

[ColtPythonElite]

It's a Unique subject.

 

[cp1969]

Been using Hercules Unique for a long, long time. When I used an RCBS JR press, I would use the RCBS powder measure to fill 50 cases at a time in the loading block, holding the powder measure over each case in the block. When done, a visual inspection of the powder level in each case would detect any serious discrepancy in powder level.

To set the powder measure, I threw ten charges into a pan and weighed it on the scale, set for 10x the desired load.

Later moved on to a Dillon 550, but set its powder measure the same way.

I've never experienced any problems with Unique., either from metering or cleanliness. Cast lead bullets are messy enough that powder residue in the barrel is the least of my concerns.

 

[GaryL]

I'm using Unique in 45 colt. Load with a 550b. After letting things sit for quite a while, just recently got back to finishing up the box of bullets I had left. Checked the first couple throws just to see if anything had changed, and saw quite a bit of variation on the electronic scale. So then put the next couple on a balance scale, and they were dead nuts. Poured them into the pan on the electronic one, still off. Put a couple check weights on it, and those were off a bit. So after a restart and tare, each load I checked was within 0.1gr, which I'm perfectly happy with. Double checked back to the balance beam and check weights, and everything was normal.

The balance and electronic scales measure slightly different, but they are close.

Anyway, I recall working up that load finding a sweet spot where a couple tenths didn't make a difference.

 

[1MoreFord]

It was always filthy in .38spl plinking loads. Cleaned up fairly nicely in std. velocity 9mm loads. I never complained about the way it metered through my RCBS measure. It was the cleanliness issue that made me switch to WW231 for most of my handgun reloading needs. I didn't mind cleaning the gun too much but I hated having to clean me too.

 

[mdi]

FWIW; I have been only able to get .05 variations with one powder/powder measure combination; in my Lee PPM with W231. I have been able to get less than one tenth grain variation. All other powders I've used will vary .1 to .4 grain. No powder measures perfectly in a powder measure...

 

[revchuck]

Unique burns more cleanly as pressures rise. You'll get some residue in .38 Special and .45 ACP loads, but it's pretty clean in 9x19, .40 S&W and .357 Magnum loads. Earlier this week I put 100 rounds of .357 Magnum through my 681; the load was 6.8 grains of Unique under a 158-grain RNL. The chambers were as clean as I've seen them with any other powder or factory ammo. I also remember shooting a hardball-equivalent Unique .45 ACP load through my 1911 at a bullseye match and having to brush the powder off my arm after each string.

 

[Toprudder]

Unique burns more cleanly as pressures rise. You'll get some residue in .38 Special and .45 ACP loads, but it's pretty clean in 9x19, .40 S&W and .357 Magnum loads.

It has been my observation that this is true for most, if not all, powders. It is more noticeable with the low pressure rounds like you mentioned - 38spl and 45acp.

IMHO, if one wants a low recoil load in any caliber, it would be better to switch to a faster burning powder rather than downloading a slow burning powder. With a faster burning powder, you still get a high peak pressure (but shorter duration) that does several things: It promotes more complete ignition of the powder, with less residue. It better helps obturate lead bullets. It also helps expand the brass and form a better gas seal in the chamber.

 

[tkroenlein]

I had issues with with Unique and the aforementioned 800X when dropping small charges from the standard metering drum from my Uniflow measure. 800X was unusable. After I replaced the standard drum with the small drum, I have no trouble. I believe the larger drum would allow the powder to compress when trying "shear" off the rotation and wedge tight enough to lock up the drum. The smaller diameter and longer column of the small drum allowed for less powder to stack and wedge during the rotation of the drum, and no more issues, and the previously inconsistent charge weight problems with flake powders went away.

 

[CraigC]

I have issues with Unique metering when the charge is below 6.0gr. Not the accuracy but with the powder granules physically making it through the Uniflow without getting cut. For those I use Titegroup. No issues with the Dillon measures on my 650's.