Hey guys, I'm new to reloading and about to begin my first load of 124 gr 9mm. When I bought my Dillion 550B, the guy I bought it from gave me 2 pistol powders, one container of IMR PB, and another of Unique. Which powder would be better? and should I go with first? I know not to mix the powders...Ever ...A little back ground info..I shoot in action matches from time to time, and would be shooting a Sig 226 SSE or a Sig 229 SSE...I would like good accuracy out to 25 yards, or more......Thx

This message has been edited. Last edited by: STYLUS_407,

Unique is a classic for pistol rounds in that range of power. I have used a lot of it in .38 and .45ACP, and even in lighter .357 magnum loads. (There are better choices for the heaviest .357 loads.) You can't go wrong with Unique. The newer formulation is supposed to be a little cleaner burning. I haven't used the new stuff because I still have some from the older formulation, but I never thought Unique was too dirty. A little more dirty than some, but not excessively so.

I haven't used IMR PB. I read one comment that it didn't meter as well for the light charges you would use in 9mm. That could be powder meter specific though. It also seems to be a little more expensive than most comparable powders. Since you have some for free, I am sure it will make some shootable rounds. People like it for .38 Special too. Like Unique, it was designed for shotguns, but works well in lower pressure pistol rounds.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: jhe888,

New guy, go with the Unique. PB is pretty fast, IMO not for anything but 9mm minor.

Cool thx, I'll go with the Unique until it runs out. Then use the IMR PB for target loads. Then get more Unique.

quote:

Originally posted by STYLUS_407:
Cool thx, I'll go with the Unique until it runs out. Then use the IMR PB for target loads. Then get more Unique.

I think 231/HP38 meters much better than Unique, might want to try it as well. It's nice having options.

Unique is a good pistol powder to start with. It is hard to fit a double charge in most cases.
I have shot thousands of round loaded with it.
It seems to meter well in my Dillion powder measurer .

quote:

Originally posted by STYLUS_407:
Then get more Unique.

Good luck with that.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

quote:

Originally posted by STYLUS_407:
Then get more Unique.

Good luck with that.

I went in looking for Unique a month ago. I got some Herco instead. It is a little slower-burning than Unique, but serves as a substitute for heavier loads.

PV is showing having 1 & 8 lb Unique in stock now. Hopefully this is a sign that the powder shortage is close to fully recovering.

I prefer Unique and I get it cheap at GIBrass.com

isn't PB discontinued now?

Unique works great in 9MM with 124 gr. bullets. I'd choose Unique mainly because there is lots of reload data from all sources and not much with PB

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
Unique is a classic for pistol rounds in that range of power. I have used a lot of it in .38 and .45ACP, and even in lighter .357 magnum loads. (There are better choices for the heaviest .357 loads.) You can't go wrong with Unique.

^^^THIS^^^

I like Unique with 124gr bullets.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

quote:

Originally posted by STYLUS_407:
Then get more Unique.

Good luck with that.

I went in looking for Unique a month ago. I got some Herco instead. It is a little slower-burning than Unique, but serves as a substitute for heavier loads.

During the great shortage, I was running low on Unique and could not find any. In looking for a substitute I tried SR4756 with heavy bullets in 40 S&W and 45 ACP. I was beginning to like it, then found out IMR had just discontinued it.

I'm restocked on Unique now, but I'm still trying some other medium burning powders, Power Pistol and AutoComp, to have some alternatives during the next great shortage. Both seem to work OK, but offer no benefit over Unique, to me.

I've always said, if I were limited to just one pistol powder for every gun I shoot, it would be Unique.

PB is very clean (the cleanest I have ever found), but it is a bit fast for 9x19.
Unique is a "better" powder for 9x19, but it all depends on YOUR gun and what it likes.
The big problem is that PB is dead, so you have all you will probably ever see, and load data for handguns was always hard to find.

I've found that Unique meters rather poorly in my RCBS Competition Powder Measure. On the other hand IMR 7625 meters wonderfully and I'm still working through a stock built up when it was announced it was being cancelled. Once that is gone I'll either go to Vihtavouri 3N37 or Accurate #5, both which meter very well. Another plus for the Vihtavouri is that it isn't the least bit position sensitive as is SR7625, something I learned when I tried SR7625 in 38 special. Currently the only semi auto caliber I use 3N37 for is for loading 9mm with 147 grain bullets. where the performance is marvelous. For my 124 grain loads I use the SR7625.

One of my favorite handgun powders is Win-231/HP-38. It meters great, and it's at a versatile burn rate.

Without getting to the big bore Win-296/H-110 for revolvers I use a fair amount of H-Universal then some Titegroup.

I've also been using Unique for a few years now. I've used it from the start and have had consistently good ammo with 124gr rounds. I've thought about switching as it is a bit dirty imo, but haven't felt the need to actually make the move.

I was developing a target load for my 10MM DW Razorback and one manual recommended Unique as accurate. I loaded just enough to cycle the slide and no further development was needed. Very accurate load.

I think the load is a little bit more pressure than target loads like 38 special bulls eye loads, and I assume that's why they are so clean.

Unique meters so poorly I no longer use it. I switched to WSF which is very close to the same burn rate as unique but is a ball powder that meters superbly. W231 is a good choice too.