Home Forums Reloading Bullet Casting Alternative to Unique?

I cast bullets for my two Rugers - GP100 in .357 and Super Blackhawk in .44 Magnum. For the .357 I cast 158 grain SWC and for the .44 200 grains RNFP and 240 grains SWC TL.

I use Unique in both, it works well enough, this is mine 3rd or 4th pound of Unique, i.e. I shot quite a few of these bullets.

Now when I am running out of Unique again, I was wondering what would be the best alternative. I am getting bit tired of the diesel exhaust looks my revolvers get after a trip to the range.

Opinions, suggestions?

Filthy or clean burning is not high on my list of characteristics for choosing a powder.

Very good, ok, the burn cleaniness is one of the reasons.

Let's say I want to try a different powder, just because.

How is that for a reason?

You have more options that Carter has peanuts. Take a look here.

More an issue of what you can find than need for best performance?

I've been substituting Universal Clays for Unique of late. Mainly because I have a sh*t ton of it not because I dislike Unique. Frankly the dirtiness of Unique has never bothered me- I clean my guns after shooting them anyway, no matter how clean or dirty they are. Now, you want a cheesed up revolver to deal with, try putting 50 rounds through a .44 cap-and-ball revolver on a summer afternoon. It'll make a Unique-dirtied .357 look like heaven.

I shoot a lot of Universal in my forty-fours. Burn rate is about the same as Unique, (not exactly but close) but it does burn a little cleaner and accuracy is as good, at least in my revolvers. I do keep a couple of pounds of Unique around just in case. I've been wanting to try some Power Pistol but can't find any.

Thanks everybody. I looked around a bit and found this article:

http://www.castpics.net/subsite2/GeneralReference/Cast%20Bullet%20Powders.pdf

based on that, I am thinking 2400, it covers a lot.

Can't go wrong with 2400. Your good loads you end up with might be a little hotter than the Unique loads your used to. You might want to look into Titegroup if you can find some. Win 231 also for lighter loads.

I think you'll find 2400 dirtier than unique.

I been using Power Pistol and 231 wth good results with cast boolits lately.

Not a fan of 2400 myself; I've never found an application for it that another powder couldn't do better. As a replacement for Unique, you can expect more flash, blast, and recoil to generate the same velocity.

WSF is my favorite Unique substitute. It burns relatively clean, and meters nicely, being a ball powder. In all the loads I've tried, the velocity numbers match Unique grain for grain.

Universal Clays is a close second favorite, and gives me a little better accuracy in 45 Auto loads than the equivalent load of Unique. Charge weights are pretty similar as well.

Boils down to what Digital Dan said, what can I find, my supplier have not seen 2400 in 6 month or so.

And that is the real problem. I can find plenty of rifle powder around, but almost never see pistol/shotgun powder.

IMHO, most of the residue from cast bullets is from the lube anyway so the powder isn't a big deal - from the cleaning standpoint.

I love Unique. But if you cant get it the closest powders on the relative burn rate chart I see are Winchester 231, Alliant 20/28, Hogdon Universal, and Alliant Power pistol. Herco is not too far away either.

If 800fps or so is good enough, look into Trail Boss. It fills the case and it's pleasant to shoot. Loads for .38 and .357 158s run about 3.2 to 4.2 grains.

It's also very versatile as there's lots of data for CF rifle loads using jacketed and cast bullets. Accuracy in rifles is excellent, according to the articles I've read and my own limited experience with a .243.

Trail Boss, unlike a lot of pistol powders, is usually easy to find.

I had to press Green Dot into service when I ran out of Unique.

I guess I'm an odd duck for not caring for Trail Boss. Too much of it is required versus a lot of other good faster burning choices making it a poor "bang for the buck".

Tried it in 357, 44 mag and 45 colt. Only about half of it burns from my observation. Velocities were all over the place, so accuracy was terrible.

Working with 240gr Lee TL bullets now, interesting results, I think I will get one more pound of Unique after all

I have found Universal Clays to be the cleanest burning powder in handguns. Followed by W231. However, all that dirty stuff might very well be the lube you are using on your cast bullets, which usually contributes significantly to the grime.

Power Pistol.



Travis

Some guys really like Ramshot True Blue. Good luck finding any though.

I'm gonna try that as soon as I can find some on the shelf.

CFE Pistol would sub nicely for 231, Unique, U Clays, Power Pistol and HP-38 (231).....

I'm curious if anyone has found the substitutes to be as accurate as Unique? My 480 with it's target load, 310 gr cast over 9.7 gr unique will shoot one ragged hole groups at 25 yds, a cylinder full into 1" or less at 50, and I think if I were good enough it would group three into an 1" at 100 yds, but the best I ever shot at that distance was 1 1/2".

The dirtiness of unique has never bothered me, because it performs so well out of every gun I've found it to be appropriate for.

mog75,

Trail Boss requires a lot of "bullet pull" to burn consistently, not just from a sturdy crimp but from the case itself. This is contrary to what a lot of people would guess.

458 Lott, I've found Universal and WSF to both be just as accurate as Unique, in a wide range of different loads. One particular load (230gr cast RN .45 in a 1911) showed a distinct improvement with Universal, but as a general average, all three powders have performed about the same for me.

Of those three powders, my only reason for choosing one over the other is just metering consistency, with WSF metering the best, and Unique the worst (although still completely acceptable).

I like Power Pistol too, but it seems at it's best with slightly warmer loads, and does produce quite a bit of flash. It's an easy powder to work with though.

Too fast if you are trying to replace Unique.

Power Pistol is really good stuff.



Travis

Actually, that kinda sorta makes sense as even though the charges are light in weight, there's a lot of "stuff" to light. I've got 30 .45/70s loaded with 16 grains under a 350gr LC for my Ruger and I didn't crimp. If they don't shoot well, I'll bring the rest home and run them through my Lee FC die.

The .38s I shoot are crimped pretty hard, but the .243s with 100gr Sierra PHs weren't and shot pretty well.

Neck tension is the first place to look, crimp has a much smaller effect on bullet pull, in comparison. Too much crimp can also ruin accuracy with lead bullets.

Well, I should have plenty of that. The through-expander in the Lee 3-die set opened the necks just enough to seat the LCs and some Nosler .458 300 gr BTs I pulled from some ML sabots. After seating, the necks measured right at .480 and all the rounds passed the plunk test.

Now, if the weather will just cut us a little slack, I can shoot this puppy.

In the same boat, lol.

I alternate weekly .357 revolver and .44 revolver with cast bullets at the range, it was my resolution for 2015 to shoot more, but these days it's pretty tough to keep it up.

I usually enjoy Winter, especially since I don't have to slog over Weather Mountain to work any more, but I've had about enough, thank you.

The only CF handguns I have are .38s and .357s. 158gr swaged HP Hornadys over 4.2 gr of TB is my practice load. Very pleasant, and nearly impossible to double charge. I'm thinking about trying a dipper, just for fun, to see how it works. I also have a couple of rotors for my Lil Dandy that I need to check. They don't list TB as yet.

I'd planned to do more shooting and you'd think since I moved and am now less than 5 miles from the range I'd be getting in at least a weekly session. Trouble is there is a difference between moving and unpacking and I think I'm at least a month away from getting my stuff sorted out so I can get in some range sessions.

We got about 10 more inches of winter fun today. Going down to 3 tonight. Global warming is a bitch.

About 5" here, we are in Piedmont, near Warrenton. Blue Ridge usually stops a lot of the GW coming our way.

But I spent 2 quality hours in the seat of the tractor, doing our driveway and also two of our neighbors. Nip of brandy every so often to keep warm, it was fun

My two hours were spent with a shovel. My neighbor usually bails me out with his Kubota, but he's down with a bad case of flu. My driveway is about 50 yards long, so I got a good workout.

My son lives a couple miles outside of Rixeyville. I haven't heard from him yet, but he works for a landscaping outfit and is either running a plow himself, checking up on his crews, or getting some sleep before going back out. The last storm had him in the saddle for 19 hours or so.

Pappy....Anywhere near Wyoming Co. or Monroe Co.? Mom's side is from Peterstown and Pop's is from Oceana. and I had to be born a damn Conch in Key West.
WILL

Found this to be true myself. Heavy for caliber bullets and clean cases help a bunch. Normal crimp. Thrown charges, then trickle up to your desired weight seems to work better. Those big doughnut granules will play havoc sometimes on thrown charges.

Nope, Eastern Panhandle. Actually, these days it's a D.C. suburb.

The Shenandoah River is about 5 miles to the East, and the Western slope of the Blue Ridge just behind it. Lots of pretty country nearby, and still close enough to civilization for convenience. If I were younger, I'd move farther out, but then again, if I were younger, I'd still be trying to make a living instead of enjoying the one that I earned.

Geez, Pappy, we should get together this summer and bust some caps. I get out to the Hagerstown area at least once a month.

The range I use is private, no guests, but there are a couple near Martinsburg that are open to the public. PM me this summer.

I'm a bit slow on the reply, but thanks Mule Deer. Might have to knock the dust off that bottle and give it another try.

I like Titegroup

Been following this for awhile and a couple of thoughts come to mind.

A) It hardly ever snows in Florida
B) When all else fails, load with black powder, the stuff that set us free.

Plus you can make it yourself............carefully

Closest to Unique on the burn rate chart I have handy are Winchester 231, Alliant 20/28, Hodgdon Universal, and Alliant Power Pistol.