Tried Unique again

[armoredman]

Man, that stuff meters like wet loose tobacco.    4.6 grains with the 124gr Lee cast powder coated in the P-10C gave decent results, but I didn't get any chrono data yet. However, it did leave far more leading than I ever used to get with AA#7 or #2.

[Matt101]

I?m currently running Unique in my S2. 5.0gns behind a Frontier 124gn RN makes 139-140 PF


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[M1A4ME]

I started using Unique back in the late 70's for .45 acp and a few years later for .38 special.  Worked great. 

I don't remember having metering issues with the Lyman 55B or the RCBS Lil Dandy pistol powder measure.  I do remember having excellent accuracy in my Colt 1911 type pistols.

The last couple of years (bought an big jug - 8 lbs) I can't get consistent charges.  After all these years I finally bought a inverted wedge looking insert for the RCBS uniflo (can't remember what those things are called), tried the lil dandy again, just isn't happening.

Herco (and 2400) does great in my powder measure.  As much as I've liked/used Unique over the years, I'm looking for something else when the Unique is gone.

Still not as bad as 800X though (I don't think anything is as bad as 800X).

I was wondering, the other day, if Unique changed over the years.

[SI VIS PACEM PARRABELLUM]

I don't have any serious issue metering Unique in my RCBS Uniflo. I fill the hopper and tap the side a couple dozen times to settle the powder then top it back off.I throw about 10 charges and dump them right back into the hopper. After setting it up this way I get good consistent charges wilh a firm stroke of the lever. I still use Unique for .38 spl and like it very well.

[Wobbly]

Metering used to be worse with Unique. About year 2000 or so, they changed the way they ground it to get a more consistent particle size. That helped, but did not cure things completely. It's still considered one of the powders most likely to "bridge" inside the powder measure.

IMR 7625 is about the same burn speed and was gaining in popularity when it was discontinued. Now IMR is trying to unseat Unique with their new powder Unequal. There are plenty of other more modern powders in that same burn rate range if you need better metering results and care to look.

 

[MadDuner]

I went back to Unique on all my 9mm reloads.  I can see that the metering with the "flakes" is not as consistent as TiteGroup, but it all goes bang. At 5.0gr of Unique the case is about 80% full. With the powder that close to the top - you can easily see it to double check yourself. If you mess up and charge it twice - you have about 4gr of powder all over everything, and that's a mistake that is impossible to miss.  Some day I will upgrade to a more modern setup with an automatic powder dispenser!

[CPTKILLER]

 Alliant lists Unique at 5.8 grains with a 9mm Speer GDP.  The velocity is est at 1,180 FPS.

For lead I would go lower or put a gas check on lead bullets to reduce leading.

http://www.alliantpowder.com/reloaders/powderlist.aspx?type=1&powderid=3&cartridge=23

[larryflew]

Still using Unique for 9, 380, 32, 45 and a light 44mag. All done with Lee 1000. Mostly 9 and like seeing the powder in the case as it comes around and knowing it's in every case.