Hey guys, what would you classify Unique powder...Fast, Slow, or medium burn rate....I've read that Bullseye and Titegroup would be relatively fast, and Accurate No.7 to be slow...What would you rate Unique as far as it's burn rate?
Thx

It is listed as #31 in a field of of 148 powders. Here is a chart.

If you plan to use it ,what I found is it meters thru the dillon like cornflaks,I still have part of a paper can I bought in the early seventies.

I have some that came with the Dillion 550b when I purchased it from a local guy...Of course I would be checking the powder drop often, but you're suggesting checking it very often..once out of every 5-10 rounds? and see what the variance differs between checks. How much do you think the variance would be, 0.2gr? More or less than that?
Thx

I have been loading with Unique powder for more years then I care to admit to. I load on a Dillon 650 and have no problems with metering Unique......perhaps because I have run a "ton" of Unique through my powder measures. The OP will just have to check his powder drop until he is confident it is dropping fine. My 650 will drop Unique +/- 0.2gr, and that is all I can ask for. YMMV

This message has been edited. Last edited by: GT-40DOC,

It is a fast powder, but a slower of the "fast" ones. It makes it versatile.

Unique is pretty fast compared to ALL powders.

It is in the middle of pistol powders.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
Unique is pretty fast compared to ALL powders.

It is in the middle of pistol powders.

Yep. I would call it a medium pistol powder.

Unique is my go-to powder for 45 Colt and 38 Spl loads with cast bullets. I've also used it with 9mm, 40 S&W, 45 ACP, 44 Spl, and mid-range 357 mag loads with cast, jacketed, and plated bullets.

If I were limited to just one pistol powder, it would be Unique, hands down.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Bigboreshooter,

I have burned up a bunch of Unique over the years. I have of late used it with 115 and 124 gr plated in 9mm. Great accuracy, soft shooting. 5.2 gr with the 115's, very accurate in my 9mm 1911 R.O.

Metering in a Dillon powder measure(not polished inside), I find filling the hopper full causes considerable 'bridging'. Experiment to find the amount of powder in the hopper that gives the best consistent charges and keep the powder at or near that level.

quote:

It is a fast powder, but a slower of the "fast" ones. It makes it versatile.

Not how I classify it at all. It is a medium burner. At the fast end, but certainly a medium burner. Fast burners work well with reduced loads, Unique is NOT in that category. Keep in mind when looking at a powder burn rate chart; it should be broken into two separate charts, one for handgun, one for rifle. So for pistol, you have uberfast, fast, medium & slow, Norma R1 to H4227, 1-66. Depends on the chart, Unique @ 31 puts it smack in the middle.

Good to know that it's a medium burner, because I plan to use it with heavier bullets, 147gr 9mm, and later down the road I'd like to try the 165gr 9mm, after I've got more experience reloading. I don't want something fast that won't give me much margin in powder weight when pushing heavier projectiles, and create over pressure situations. I'll be starting low and work up to some that suits my pistol....Thx

I know a fella who uses it for 500gr 45-70 loads and swears by it. I need to give that a whirl.

I've just used it in 45ACP.

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Good to know that it's a medium burner, because I plan to use it with heavier bullets, 147gr 9mm, and later down the road I'd like to try the 165gr 9mm, after I've got more experience reloading. I don't want something fast that won't give me much margin in powder weight when pushing heavier projectiles, and create over pressure situations. I'll be starting low and work up to some that suits my pistol....Thx

You may not get enough into the small 9mm case for a 160-165gr bullet. It will be fine with 147gr, but unless you are running them hard, I would drop to a slightly faster powder for 9mm minor. W231/HP38 would be a better fit. Unique likes to run well above midrange to burn completely.

quote:

Originally posted by AZSigs:
It is listed as #31 in a field of of 148 powders. Here is a chart.

Out of curiosity, how does one use that chart and the knowledge within?

What do I gain knowing/using the info?

quote:

Originally posted by fredj338:
You may not get enough into the small 9mm case for a 160-165gr bullet. It will be fine with 147gr, but unless you are running them hard, I would drop to a slightly faster powder for 9mm minor. W231/HP38 would be a better fit. Unique likes to run well above midrange to burn completely.

I did get some IMR PB powder with the Dillion press also, would this be more suitable for the 165gr? Just asking for future reference. I saw on a different chart that IMR PB was 1 slot below W231....Thx

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Out of curiosity, how does one use that chart and the knowledge within? What do I gain knowing/using the info?

It can guide you to another powder close to what you use if your powder of choice goes missing. Like Unique is unobtainable, then WSF or Universal are very close.
If you have a lot of exp & a chrono, you can develop load data using the burn rate chart as a starting point. It requires a lot of thought though.

You should know that a burn rate chart only lists powders in relative burn rate order. It does not differentiate the distance between each powder. For example, looking at this hypothetically, powder #1 may be almost identical in burn speed to powder #2, but powder #3 may be twice as slow as #1&2, and four times faster than power #4 on the chart. Therefore, do not look at a burn rate chart and simply assume that the next powder down is just a little slower, or the next powder up is just a little faster.

Also, powder positions can jump in burn rate according to their application or the way they were tested. One powder may be faster in a certain case than another, but slower than that same powder in a different case. The burn rate chart is useful in that it gives you an idea of what powders are in the same family. As Fred was explaining, for example, if you cannot find any H1000, you could look at the chart and see that IMR7977 or 7828 is close. Then you should go to the published data for those alternate powders and see if one might be suitable to your application.

I haven't loaded any in a while, but I use Unique to load moderate power plinking ammunition with plated lead bullets for my .41 Magnum revolver. It shoots great. My recollection (again... been a while) is that any reasonable .41 magnum load with Unique more than half-fills the case, so a double charge is immediately obvious when powder spills everywhere.

It meters fine through a Lee Pro Auto Disk automatic powder measure/dispenser.

I don't reload a whole lot because for most of what I shoot, the time is more valuable to me than the cost of ammunition... but cheap .41 Magnum is about $1/round, and I can load it for about $.20/round. At 200-250 rounds an hour on a Lee turret press, it's a no-brainer.

I'll take $150+ per hour any time.

I think I bought 5 boxes of 50 rounds plus the reloading equipment when I bought the revolver. I shot it all, reloaded it, and just keep reloading it as I run low. It's about time again. (I don't shoot the revolver much anymore.)

quote:

I did get some IMR PB powder with the Dillion press also, would this be more suitable for the 165gr? Just asking for future reference. I saw on a different chart that IMR PB was 1 slot below W231....Thx

Maybe but I have never used PB. You would be working w/o any book data so some solid experience & a chrono would be needed. I have run RedDot & WST with the 160-165gr at 800fps+/-. They are very soft shooting but to me, the recoil impulse seems slow, like I am waiting on the slide to return. So I abandoned the super hvy bullet concept in 9mm.

Its relative position is highly dependent on what others are in the comparison group. Unique is a medium pistol powder, but would be considered fast (maybe too fast) among rifle powders. If you allow the range of propellants to include those for the .50BMG it would be very fast, and if you also considered that used in the 16" rifles of the Ohio-class battleships it would be instantaneous.

flashguy