Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Hercules Unique in .222 Rem?

I have some old Hercules Unique, does anyone have a reliable powder weight to use this in a .222 Rem with 55 grain bullet? Or even CAN this be used here?

Way,way too fast burning. It's a medium slow shotgun powder with some- many pistol applications. On a burn rate chart of 173 powders listed, Unique is #35, while traditional .223 class powders like H335, H332 and BL(C)2 are 108, 100 and 105 respectively.

I have used Unique in subloads...10 to 12 grains, in .30 cal rifles. Why wouldn't a smallish tot...3-4 grains of the same powder, be useful as a similar subload in the .222?

He wasn't clear about what he wants to do and Unique is even much faster than Blue Dot which is often used for such loads. I haven't seen any such data for Unique. It might be possible if a gallery load is your desire.


Powder is cheap and there are vastly more appropriate powders for the .222 on dealer shelves every where.

It should work with 2-4 gr. of Unique, but I'd love to see someone else try it first! It will be relatively slow velocity, very low noise. If you're using cast bullets I'm sure that there is an application for it, but I can't point to any published info.

I have used 7.5 grains of AA #5 in a 223, for 1800 FPS. Makes a sort of super 22 Mag round.

It's not directly responsive to your question, but I'd want to be sure that I used something that lights easily and uniformly. I don't know how Unique is in that sense, but TiteGroup does claim to overcome the problems often associated with small charges rattling around loose in the case.

I have never seen any published data for Unique and jacketed bullets.
Lyman shows 6.0gr start load and 8.0gr max load for 55gr cast bullets velocity in the 1800 to 2200 range. They also show 36000 cup with the max load so these are not wimpy pressure loads. I don't believe those loads would be safe with jacketed bullets or at least not worth taking a chance.

There was an article a few years back using Unique in a few different calibers. 30-06 was 10 grains. I have a 45-70 load using Unique but mostly I think it would be a pain in the .222 being a flake powder. I might try H4895 instead using Hodgdons reduced load formula. A good all around powder and meters well.

The Lyman #48 lists Unique for their cast 55 gr. reduced load...6.0 gr. at 1972 fps @ 25,000 c.u.p. & 8 gr. at 2358 fps @ 36,000 c.u.p....

I have also some stock of an old Hercules UNIQUE and use it regulary in my Sako 223 as a quiet round to fill the freezer.-
6.5gr and a home swaged bullet of 55gr to 62gr makes 1600 to 1770 fps and 1" to 1 1/2" at 100 mts.- Good enough for a head shot on a doe red deer.- It print just on top of the lower post of a duplex reticle on a Leupold 3X9 set at 4X.- The idea was to make 22 WRFM+P and it was, and very cheap.-

I've been running 7.2 grains of Unique with a 55 grain cast bullet in a CZ 527 .223 and have been very pleased with the accuracy.