Home Forums Reloading Handgun Reloading Unique

Several venders have Unique back in stock. Picked up three pounds this morning. Now if they could get some more 2400, I would really be pleased.

online or local?

Doesn't Unique burn dirtier than Universal it's next door cousin ?

I run Universal in lever guns.........semi pistols.......and it's available

I haven't looked today, but Midway had Unique, Bullseye, and a few other Alliant powders in stock yesterday.

I bought from Natchez Shooter's Supply. Got free hazmat as well.

Been buying most of my primers and a bit of my powder from them the last few years now. The occasional free hazmat or free shipping deals they run help. They've seemed to consistently have the most primers in stock of any of the major online players over the past 12-18 months.

Universal is not on the shelf anywhere and is not expected to ship until maybe next year and maybe the year after that.

Have a 4# jug......I'm set

Dirtier? Yeah, maybe, but "they" cleaned up Unique in recent years - it's not as dirty as the Unique of old. I too like Hodgdon's shotgun powders in pistol loads, having made that discovery after giving up shotgun sports and re-employing the leftover jugs of Clays and Univeral Clays. But that's coincidental, a matter of expediency and accuracy, not because it's cleaner. I still have, and shoot with, a stash of the old Unique and don't mind its "dirtiness" - after all one cleans one's guns after a day of shooting anyway, right? As for schmeck left in the barrel after each shot, it gets blown out along with the next shot and matters not a whit.

Seems to be a trend, Accurate 2 and Green Dot are both a bit cleaner shooting than they were back in the day.

Nitro 100 is night and day, but I think think it's an entirely new powder they just slapped the name on, so I don't count it. The N100NF looks nothing like the old stuff. That's about the cleanest shooting fast powder I've encountered in my loading, though.

Cleanliness isn't a big deal to me, either. The brass goes in the tumbler and the guns get cleaned as soon as I get home from shooting, so burning dirty isn't really a concern. That's what brushes, patches, and swabs are for 😁

I use Unique in 12 gauge loads, 9 mm, 38 special, 45 auto. It's taking me a while but I am getting my 8#er down to the last couple of pounds. It takes a while at 4.6g loads in the 9 mm's.

Are there cleaner burning powders, probably. But Unique can sure be used in a wide variety of loads.

I have always heard about how dirty Unique is. I bet I’ve burned twice as much of it as all other pistol powders combined since I’ve been loading. It simply gives the results I want with the most easily found data available and has always been a mainstay anywhere powders were found, at least until recently.

Curiously, I happened onto a big jug of PowerPistol when not much else was available and have been using it. It produces more soot and smoke than Unique from the 60 year old 8# keg I also have under my bench. Both shoot great so I don’t worry about the “dirtiness”.

If I could only have one pistol powder from now on it would be Unique. I have more or less standardized on loads that use it in 9mm, 38, 357, 44 Special and Mag, and 45 auto. I’m sure it wouldn’t take much tinkering to come up with a good load for the 32 either. In all these cartridges it produces all of the accuracy and velocity I require with the bullet weights I like. No fussing, not magic tricks.

Yep , Unique just gets it done. I'm on my last 8# jug. I hope I can find some more soon.

Unique shoots great in both 32 S&WL and 32 H&R for me... only so-so from 327 Fed, but 2 outta 3 ain't bad 😁 At 3-4 grains a pop an 8 pounder goes a long way, too.

Titegroup has been a favorite for years. That said, when my LGS had this 8# jug of Bullseye a bit ago I had to grab it. It's been a while since I have seen it for sale and I was out.

Unique and #2400 are mainstays on my bench and have been for a long time.

Clean your guns. Unique works for me in a lot of scenarios.

Love it for .44 magnum, .480Ruger and .45-70 !

Organizing and storing loads using each of eight powders for my revolvers is way more than I'd recommend.

Staying within pressure limits and extensive chrongraphing...after awhile don't need to refer to a load manual.

Unique only burns dirty if you run powder puff loads. Load it up and it burns clean and is exceptionally accurate. I put in a supply of universal but haven't had an opportunity to see if it is as versatile or accurate as unique.

I've never understood the "dirty" thing about Unique! My hands get dirty & I wash them and now that I'm powder coating & run a decent load of Unique I seldom have to clean my "dirty" gun. I could never be without 2400 or Unique.

Dick

I've been loading Unique in .44 Special and .44 Magnum for more than 40 years, I also load it in 9mm. I've always been satisfied with Unique's performance, I load some HS-6 in 9mm but when I run out I'll load Unique exclusively in all three rounds.

Sad to see so many with their panties in a bunch because they can't find the powder endorsed by Abe Lincoln.

I switched away from Unique back in the late 80's and never looked back.

There are so many excellent propellants today that it seems silly to get hung up on just one.

What means this?

This past winter I burned up a pound and a half of Unique, in a bolt action 223.

Been ringing steel gongs at 300 and 400 yds. Charge with bullet weights from 40 to 55 ( with 50, 52 and 53 in the middle), was 9 grains... Used both small pistol and small rifle primers...didn't make much of a difference...
so Unique is even accurate enough for that kind of service.

on top of the rifles were Cabelas Covenant 4 rifle scopes.. that reticle made it easy.

I used Unique in 38 Specials and 45 ACP’s when I shot indoor pistol league. I found Unique to be a good powder that produced accurate loads. I’m still using powder from a keg I bought quite a while ago. Since the indoor ranges at the high school armories have been shut down, there’s not much indoor shooting as there once was.
I haven’t used Unique in any hunting loads that I recall other than cotton tails and squirrels.

Same here, I usually fiddle with it in newly acquired guns, but the only thing I've consistently used it for is 32 cal small game/plinking loads the past 4-5 years. The keg I'm currently pulling from will likely last me the rest of my life, since those popguns are such are powder sippers.

Haha! Having constants in one's life is a good thing. Sure, experiment with other powders - it's what we loonies do - but it's nice to have a security blanket you can turn to, knowing the results will be predictable. Doesn't matter what powder that security blanket represents to the individual. (And in truth there's so little accuracy/performance difference between many powders that it takes an exceptionally good shooter with the skills of a human Ransom Rest to tell the difference.)

Had an old fella walk in the gunshow last weekend carrying 8 lb jug of Unique he was looking to sell. It came home with me.

If I remember correctly. Unique was the first powder I used in about 1964. Went in partnership with a friend on loading equipment. Loaded for my recently bought Colt Python. Hasbeen

I started in reloading in 1976, bought Unigue and added 2400 to the bench.
They are my go to for handgun ammo to this day.

Dirty, schmirty. I've never understood the fixation on clean vs dirty powders.
Every shot pushes the crud from the previous one out the front.
Dirt in the action, well that may be another issue.

Low powered loads, like cowboy action shooters like, pretty dirty.

Maxed out loads, much cleaner.

Hotter the load, cleaner the burn. Good old powder that’s stood the test of time. Are there better powders out there? Probably. But these days you shoot what you can find.

I’d be happy loading hot .45 ACP, 9mm ammo and similar, if Unique was all I could find. Could do worse.

DF

Clean burning does make a difference when you are going thru a course of fire with 6-8 reloads in a revolver.

For sure, especially a DA with a star ejector. Grains of unburned granules getting under the ejector, cylinder won’t close. Don’t ask how I know.

Maybe from my early reloading days, trying 2400 in my K-38.

Yeah.

DF

Biggest source of crud on my revolvers is from the cast bullet lube . I just mostly shoot Alox lubed cast bullets and some hi Tek coated. The powder fowling is negligible . I just wipe them off with some oil and paper towels after I shoot. Sometimes I clean the bore if I get some leading. No big deal at all. I often wonder why people worry so much about it.

I have never noticed Unique being that dirty. During one of the shortages when I was about out I did some experimenting with other powders. American Select, 20/28, and e3 come to mind. They worked fine for my target ammo needs. I have bought another #8 jug of Unique, but I am still loading American Select in most of my 38 Special and 45GAP range loads.
Then I worked up loads for the 45GAP, using about every non-magnum handgun and shotgun powder I could locate samples of. What I discovered was lots of different powders worked very well. The only one I was not reasonably impressed with was 800X.

With that out of the way. If I were to stock up for a very long dry spell Unique, WW748, and Red Dot would be the three powders that would load 90% of the ammunition that I shoot. Unique has been getting the job done very well for a very long time.

Bob R

Went down to the Sportmans Warehouse (Oregon) on 82nd today...they had several pounds of Unique...remaining.

I almost agree with your three choices. Would probably substitute Win 231 for the Red Dot. Truthfully cuz I ain't never used any.

I got three 4 pound jugs, and one 8 pounder....

I'm MORE SET!

I use Unique in 9mm, 38 special, 45C and 16 ga shotguns. Works well for me.

i use Unique in my revolvers and rifles for cast bullets. i have a Ruger SBH in 44 Mag that uses a 44 Special with 255gr Keith type bullet with a Skeeter load of Unique. i use Ballistol gun oil to clean the outside of my revolver when i am done shooting that day. when i'm around 1000 rounds+/- shot out of it, i'll take a toothbrush and Shooters Choice to the inside of chambers and the forcing cone. i don't know how many cast bullets i've shot from it, 7 or 8000 rounds?, but the barrel ain't leaded and it's clean as the day is long.

i use cast bullets and Unique in my rifles. i'm partial to 7.65x53 Argentine with Lee 312-185-R and Unique.

That's just so special!

My more recent new bottle of Unique is stamped "Now Cleaner Burning" on the label. Not sure what they would have changed, but I like the idea.

I use Unique in 9mm, .44 Magnum and in cast bullet loads in my .35 Whelen. One powder for many applications, keeping things simple.

Unique is very dirty in the 41 mag loads I tried it in. But these loads were extremely low pressure. I use Tite Group in that application today. HS-6, Universal, and Blue Dot all work well in midrange loads where unique is also well suited.

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