Unique

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woodperson

Single-Sixer
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Okay, I have never loaded Unique. Now for .41 Mag mid range loads with jacketed bullets I am using Universal or HP 38 or Titegroup. I do not have enough "fill" to suit me with these for the loads I shoot, Would Unique be better than these above powders? Or not?. I liked Blue Dot but can not use it anymore, I am loading coated bullets with Tralboss. Would Uniqe be a better choice for those loads also?
 

sixshot

Buckeye
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You don't mention what gun you are shooting but the powders you show all should work just fine in your 41 magnum. I happen to prefer Unique for my everyday midrange loads, usually 8.0 grs with a 230 gr Keith bullet. Many say it's dirty, well it can be dirty but guns get dirty when you shoot them, do you want accuracy or a clean gun? Not to hard to clean one from time to time.... Anyway, there have been several warnings about using Blue Dot in the 41 magnum so do as you please, some use it, I've never shot a single kernel of Blue Dot in anything & never will.
Fact is, there are many fine powders that will work in your 41 magnum, Unique just happens to be one of the best, but there are others. Longshot, Power Pistol, etc. Good Luck.

Dick
 

daveg.inkc

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I load Unique in my .41 Mag ,AA-9 is also a good choice. I know Blue Dot says not to use it in .41 Mag. High Pressures are the reason? I'm going to load 2400 in my next .41 loads, with a Missouri Bullet, 215 Trooper.
 

Flyover_Country

Bearcat
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Jan 2, 2018
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Unique is essentially a dirtier-burning, more expensive Universal. It has the same flake shape/size and the charge weights and burn rate are nearly identical. I haven't shot a .41 Magnum, mine is a .44 Magnum, but Universal is pretty bulky and a double-charge is very apparent. A "just barely didn't stick the bullet in the bore" load will be about a 50% case fill and a full-pressure load is about an 80% case fill. A double charge will be between obvious and overflowing. Unique isn't any more accurate in my experience than any other medium-burning shotgun/handgun powder but is certainly dirtier.

I've never shot Blue Dot, my exposure to shooting slow-burning shotgun powders was with IMR 800X. It's a great shotgun powder for mini-mag and 3" magnum 12 and 20 gauge shells, but isn't the greatest choice for magnum revolvers. It does burn very clean, but meters poorly due to the giant flake size and some published data (Hornady's) is very overpressure and led to very sticky cases in my notably overbuilt SRH. 2400 is my choice of an "almost full power" powder as it makes extremely accurate loads and can be downloaded to medium-hot loads such as you'd make with Blue Dot. It is absolutely filthy (much worse than Unique) and makes a giant muzzle and gap flash in broad daylight, but if your experience is like mine, it will be an extremely accurate powder and very friendly to reload. It is much more accurate than say, H110, although H110 is notably cleaner burning, has less flash, and is somewhat more potent.

Cast bullets of a suitable hardness (18-20 BHN) which are coated will shoot well with any SAAMI pressure spec magnum revolver load. I've shot many with max loads of H110 and they've done perfectly fine.
 

contender

Ruger Guru
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Unique is an OLD power & yet is still one of the most popular. I use a lot of it, and as mentioned,, cleaning a gun isn't that hard. And while others may burn cleaner,, it is a consistent powder. I use it in my competition guns, as well as many other loads. I buy mine in 8 lb kegs.
I have used other powders,, but often find that Unique is what I prefer.

As for "filling" a case,, often, Unique won't fill one,, but you still get uniform burn.

Let your gun decide if it likes it.
 

Luckyducker

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I used to use Unique but just couldn't deal with how dirty it burns, as it would leave my hands black like I was doing oil changes on old cars. For moderate loads I would suggest W231 and for full power loads I would suggest H110, but I am sure there are other clean burning propellants that would work just as well without all the black soot.
 

Rick Courtright

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daveg.inkc said:
I know Blue Dot says not to use it in .41 Mag. High Pressures are the reason?

Hi,

A few years back, Alliant issued warnings about using Blue Dot in a couple of cartridges. If memory serves, the .357 Mag was among them. Again, from memory, the reason for saying "No Blue Dot" involved inconsistent/erratic results, meaning one round might be fine, the next, loaded identically, would measure out at excessive pressures and so forth. We had observed this same kind of behavior in shotshells years earlier, and Blue Dot became our slowest seller when I was with the trap and skeet range. Most guys who used Blue Dot whom I knew were quite cautious when loading it, yet still had erratic behavior from their ammo. Most of 'em quit using it.

Back to the OP, I've loaded untold amounts of Unique like so many here have, and find it's probably the most versatile powder out there for covering a wide range of ammo. In my own experience, it's good for mid-range loads in a lot of pistol calibers, sub-sonic target loads in some center fire rifle cartridges, and a variety of shotshells in a couple of gauges. Does it burn dirty? The older formulation was certainly guilty of that, the newer one is less dirty. Unique tends to burn cleaner when loaded to the top end of the pressure range in pistol ammo. No biggie on the cleanness: that's why God invented cleaning kits and supplies! Try it, and see if you, and you gun(s), like it.

Rick C
 

Jimbo357mag

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If you are shooting mild loads and Universal doesn't fill the case enough you probably don't have much choice but to switch to Trail Boss. Other bulky powders like Accurate #9 and 2400 won't work well at low pressures.
 

woodperson

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Thanks for all the info. I can live with the Universal and the W231 loads. Would like a little more case fill but agree that I can load these without double charging them. Just wanted to be sure I had not missed something "special" by not trying Unique. I do load Trail Boss with the coated bullets. Was looking for something for jacketed. My best accuracy so far is with Lil Gun and I may just stick with that for the few jacketed bullets I load and shoot. Lot of flash and noise though,
 

Mus408

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I use Unique powder a lot and it seems to work well.
You might try Power Pistol for a cleaner burn and a bit more speed still within pressure limits.
 

mikld

Blackhawk
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What is the reason for wanting more "fill"? I know the charges running 90%-110% case capacity may be more "efficient", but I seriously doubt if any normal shooter will tell any difference between 60% and 100% charge levels.

I started using Unique in the early '80s after several years of Bullseye and W231. This was pre-web so I had no need to see if the powder burned "dirty", and I saw little difference when gun cleaning after shooting a couple hundred 44 Magnums/44 Specials. The range I shot at had rest rooms and washing my hands before I drove home was a natural thing with me. I have never had a gun cease to function from shooting a lot of Unique. I wore jeans and either a sweatshirt or T shirt, not my white tux, and I don't remember anyone complaining about "dirty" powder before reloading forums. "Dirty" Unique is getting a bad rap as most powders will burn "dirty" when not loaded to optimum pressures. Many Unique reloaders that claim it's "garbage powder"or "sand blasting" powder are using light or even some mid range loads. Mid to upper load will burn quite clean.

Try it in your 41 Mag. You might like it, but decide for yourself...
 

loaded round

Hunter
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Blue Dot was my go to powder ever since I started loading for my Colt Delta Elite in 10 mm. I have not heard any adverse effects with this cartridge. Any comments guys? I do like this powder.
 

Flyover_Country

Bearcat
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Jan 2, 2018
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Unique is certainly very versatile. It is useful for full-powered loads for many semi-auto pistol and black powder era revolver rounds, standard power 12, 16, 20, and 28 gauge shotgun loads, and lead bullet rounds in centerfire rifle rounds. It's not just subsonic rounds, for example, you can use Unique to shoot a 160 grain lead bullet from a .30-06 at about 2000 fps.

Unique is notably dirtier than many other powders, and is by far most notable in shooting revolvers as the soot exits through the cylinder gap and gets all over the frame, cylinder, and the shooter's hands. Shotguns have a little more fouling in the barrel than with cleaner powders (much easier to clean than with a revolver), and in high-pressure rifles it burns clean as a whistle as those pressure levels are more than enough to completely burn that powder.

Typically issues with case fill involve using fast-burning dense powders in low-pressure cartridges, most infamously Bullseye in the .38 Special. If there is a very small charge volume in the bottom of a large case, it is not too hard to accidentally miss a double charge and blow up a gun which is only rated for low-pressure loads. Unique (or Universal, or any other medium burn rate medium-sized flake powder) is bulky enough that it would be obvious if you double-charged a case. Many powders suitable for handguns, with the notable exception of H110/W296, are quite insensitive to case fill.
 

sixshot

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Unique was the very first powder I ever used, starting way back in 1966 & to this day it has been my most used powder. While I use many different powders in many different handguns I still fall back on Unique in many of them when I sit down to reload & I've loaded many hundreds of thousands of rounds since those early days with that first Ruger 357 & S&W model 57 41 magnum. It worked back then & it still works today.
The newer Alliant Unique is somewhat cleaner than the older Hercules brand & then the use of powder coated bullets is another step in the right direction. There's one other thing you can do with Unique if the "dirty" is bothering you & that is to use a bit more crimp, many times it makes a big difference.
If you're happy with the powders you're using then don't change, me, I could never get by without one of the most versatile powders ever made, that's why it's been around so long.

Dick
 

Mus408

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What about Alliant BE-86? It is supposed to be similar to Unique and Power Pistol burn rate and cleaner burning and meters very well.
You don't see much load data for it though.
 

mikld

Blackhawk
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During one of the panics, I was unable to find Unique so I got some Universal and it works quite well in the same applications. I guess "clean" is subjective. My 7 revolvers that shoot Unique loads have never ceased to function. All cases eject easily, no crap under ejector star. And no excess soot on the exterior, no more than most other powders. I have always been of the opinion that revolver shooting is not equal to brain surgery for cleanliness and what some fear as "dirty" is plain old gun shootin' to me. If you want to see what dirty really is, try a black powder revolver...
 

Rick Courtright

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sixshot said:
There's one other thing you can do with Unique if the "dirty" is bothering you & that is to use a bit more crimp, many times it makes a big difference.

Hi,

I think Dick's advice here is pretty universal, at least with the various powders I've tried. I know "to crimp or not to crimp, that is the question" is something that really ruffles feathers on reloading forums. However, my professors always told us when doing research, try to start with primary sources. In this game, those would be the ammo factories. According to my minimal research, it appears they seem to like crimps... snug ones in many instances!

Rick C
 
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