Jesse Heywood
Member
I have been wondering about Alliant Powder and their advertising claim of Unique being cleaner burning. One concern is that my “older” bottle says cleaner burning on the label. So I loaded a few rounds and went to the range, not knowing what to expect.
The rounds:
.357 Magnum
Starline brass, new
Winchester small pistol primers.
Missouri Bullet 158 gr. SWC .357 Action, Brinell 18
Unique smokeless powder. Lot 580 Aug 5, 2009 (referred to as old) and Lot 634 12/19/2013 (new).
Loaded 5 rounds each with powder charges of 4.5, 5.0, 5.5, 6.0 grains.
Gun: S&W 686, 6” barrel fired at an indoor range. Cylinder wiped clean between charges.
Results are visual, comparing between charge weights.
4.5 grain:
Old – little smoke
New – little smoke, more soot on cases & cylinder
5.0 grain:
Old – moderate smoke
New – moderate smoke, more soot on cases & cylinder
5.5 grain:
Old – smoky
New – smoky, more soot on cylinder, soot burnt on cylinder, cases about equal
6.0 grain:
Old – very smoky, more soot on cylinder, cases about equal
New – slightly less smoke.
My test showed less smoke with the new powder only at the highest charge. While I did not test accuracy results were very good to excellent. Leading was minimal.
The rounds:
.357 Magnum
Starline brass, new
Winchester small pistol primers.
Missouri Bullet 158 gr. SWC .357 Action, Brinell 18
Unique smokeless powder. Lot 580 Aug 5, 2009 (referred to as old) and Lot 634 12/19/2013 (new).
Loaded 5 rounds each with powder charges of 4.5, 5.0, 5.5, 6.0 grains.
Gun: S&W 686, 6” barrel fired at an indoor range. Cylinder wiped clean between charges.
Results are visual, comparing between charge weights.
4.5 grain:
Old – little smoke
New – little smoke, more soot on cases & cylinder
5.0 grain:
Old – moderate smoke
New – moderate smoke, more soot on cases & cylinder
5.5 grain:
Old – smoky
New – smoky, more soot on cylinder, soot burnt on cylinder, cases about equal
6.0 grain:
Old – very smoky, more soot on cylinder, cases about equal
New – slightly less smoke.
My test showed less smoke with the new powder only at the highest charge. While I did not test accuracy results were very good to excellent. Leading was minimal.