Back to Unique.45 Colt

[Scott Tschirhart]

When I ran out of Unique I started looking for a substitute. I found some good candidates including Red Dot, WW231, TiteGroup etc. but none were any better than Unique.

So I decided to return to my old load of 8 gr of Unique.

Funny thing is that the 1964 Speer Manual said this.

[Walt]

Scott, did you actually experience anything erratic with the other loads?

[OldWin]

All I've ever used is between 7 and 8gr of Unique in the .45 Colt. I'm not very adventurous.

[Scott Tschirhart]

No, some of them had better consistency on the chronograph. But none of them shot as well as Unique at 50 yards.

The Speer manual from 1970 showed more choices but Unique seems to have still been a favorite.

[Scott Tschirhart]

My USFA gun has .452 diameter throats.

8 gr of Unique pushes the Rim Rock 250 gr RNFP to 855 fps and 1131 fps in my 16 inch Marlin.

Interestingly that same 8 gr of Unique pushes a Rim Rock 270 Keith at 892 and it penetrates like nobody’s business.

[High Desert Hunter]

I pretty much replaced Unique since I can't find any locally. I use Longshot almost exclusively for the 45, gets me in the same neighborhood as Unique with just a slightly higher charge weight.

Dave

[Scott Tschirhart]

Dave,

I had good luck with Lomgshot. But I lucked into around 8 pounds of Unique so it will take me a while to use this up.

[GunnyMack]

Let's remember, the older powders and today's powders slightly differ in composition AND there weren't the liability lawyers working for the powder companies then.
Use current data is important.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Works on cows.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Works on deer.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Let's remember, the older powders and today's powders slightly differ in composition AND there weren't the liability lawyers working for the powder companies then.
Use current data is important.

I’ve been using 8 gr of Unique for more than 30 years. Sometimes 9 gr. I’m not worried about it.

[High Desert Hunter]

Dave,

I had good luck with Lomgshot. But I lucked into around 8 pounds of Unique so it will take me a while to use this up.

I absolutely love Unique, it is far and away my all time favorite powder. I have used it in 80% of the cartridges that I load for. I honestly could probably get by with 4 or 5 different powders and cover the entire spectrum of my 22 different cartridges I load for.

Dave

[piller]

The .45 Colt with a good Keith style bullet is plenty for most things, and with my loss of balance to the Covid Vaccine caused TIAs and Major Strokes, I have scrapped plans for needing more than it can do.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Frankly speaking me friend, I’m just not up to more recoil these days.

And if it will drive a 270 gr SWC through a large cow, what would be the point of more?

[High Desert Hunter]

Frankly speaking me friend, I’m just not up to more recoil these days.

And if it will drive a 270 gr SWC through a large cow, what would be the point of more?

Amen to that Amigo!

[Steve in MO]

I could use Unique and 748 for all of my uses if I didn't have anything else available.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I bought four pounds of Bullseye two weeks ago for .99 cents a pound. I would have bought more if they had it.

I can make Bullseye work in most of my handgun loads as well.

But Unique is scarce these days.

[Ysabel Kid]

Frankly speaking me friend, I’m just not up to more recoil these days.

I'm with you there, Scott.

Y2K is me 35-40 years ago. A recoil junky.

Now? I'd rather be nice to my wrist and my guns!

[marlinman93]

I've used Unique in numerous cartridges for decades, and love it. But I've also used lots of Green Dot too, and found it to be a very good handgun powder. Slightly slower than Red Dot, so it gets a little more in a case to be equal FPS

[JimT]

I am with you on the Green Dot. I have used it in .38 Special .. .44 Special ... .45 ACP .... .45 Colt ... all with good results.

[wvfarrier]

Unique is, by far, my favorite all around powder. I have used or do use it in aarn near everything at one time or another

[bmtshooter]

Green Dot has been my favorite for years.

[Griff]

I used to use Unique in just about everything handgun... then frugalness (instituted by SWMBO), invaded and I switched to Red Dot for many years, but in the last 7-8 years I went to TiteGroup for 40S&W, 38Spl, 44-40 & C45S and 45 Colt.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I used to use Unique in just about everything handgun... then frugalness (instituted by SWMBO), invaded and I switched to Red Dot for many years, but in the last 7-8 years I went to TiteGroup for 40S&W, 38Spl, 44-40 & C45S and 45 Colt.

I was tempted by your TiteGroup moderate load suggestion but I never actually got around to testing it. The low variation in velocities was intriguing.

[MingoKid]

I have found Universal to be pretty close to Unique and a bit cleaner. MK

[Walt]

I wish I could find Universal. I do use Unique but pretty sparingly. I use #9 for high velocity .41 mag loads and Titegroup and 231 for almost everything else. I do use Power Pistol (7.5 gr behind 240 gr machine cast bullets in .44 Spl) and consider it to be an excellent powder. Oh, and I still use 2400 for full-power .357 mag loads and .44 mag loads.

[JB]

I've used Green Dot for 45 acp when I still had it for shotgun loading, but Unique was always my favorite for 38 special and 45 Colt loads.

[Scott Tschirhart]

There’s some talk about old vs new powders. I can’t tell the difference.

BUT I have an unopened can of Unique that Jim and I may just have to open.

[Griff]

Some of those were still on shelves of a couple of my reloader friends when I started... but long gone from store shelves... Maybe, it was about early seventies to eighties. Most of the powders I bought were in the circular carboard cans. IMR & Goex in the rectangular metal cans, Accurate powders in the square plastic cans.

[veeman]

Be86 works pretty good as a replacement for Unique for me, easy to find and alot cheaper.

[marlinman93]

Unique goes back to the very oldest smokeless reloading manuals! It's likely the oldest smokeless powder still being made today. That says a lot for how good it is. One of the unique things about it is that as bullet weight gets heavier the charge also increases. Most smokeless powders decrease the charge data as bullets get heavier.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Unique goes back to the very oldest smokeless reloading manuals! It's likely the oldest smokeless powder still being made today. That says a lot for how good it is. One of the unique things about it is that as bullet weight gets heavier the charge also increases. Most smokeless powders decrease the charge data as bullets get heavier.

I’ve noticed that with the same 8 gr charge of Unique 250 gr bullets are faster than 230 gr bullets and 270 gr bullets are faster still.

[marlinman93]

Unique goes back to the very oldest smokeless reloading manuals! It's likely the oldest smokeless powder still being made today. That says a lot for how good it is. One of the unique things about it is that as bullet weight gets heavier the charge also increases. Most smokeless powders decrease the charge data as bullets get heavier.

I’ve noticed that with the same 8 gr charge of Unique 250 gr bullets are faster than 230 gr bullets and 270 gr bullets are faster still.

Using the same charge with heavier bullets move faster because the heavier bullets seat deeper into the case, which increases pressure and that means increased velocity.

[Scott Tschirhart]

9 gr of Unique under a 270 gr bullet is super accurate. From my 7.5 inch Freedom Arms it is very consistent.

[Scott Tschirhart]

A bit less from my 4 3/4 inch USFA

[Scott Tschirhart]

And a little more from the Ruger/Marlin

[Malamute]

I started using Unique very early on, largely because it was said that the bulk helped one notice a double or irregular charge level. It also just worked pretty well in most rounds I loaded. The manuals at the time I started loading 45 Colt indicated 8.5 grs was a factory equivalent load, around 860 fps. I just loaded and shot them. At a cowboy shoot I attended once (one of about 5 total maybe) someone had a chronograph, the loads clocked 925 fps in a 4 5/8" ruger. Good enough. I loaded some other loads, to include Linebaughs heavy 300 and 325 gr loads with h-110, but only for checking zero and as carry loads in the mountains. I think I still have much of the 2nd or 3rd box I loaded of that stuff in the early 90s.

I avoided the lesser than Ruger full size guns for a long time since I didnt want the possibility of the wrong loads getting in the wrong guns, but a couple years ago fell to the temptation of a Cimarron/Uberti 357, then a 45, and have become very enamored of it. It now has Colt eagle grips, my all time favorite SA grips. It smacks the 300 yard rocks after I got it rough zeroed at 15 yards, and has become my most carried and shot pistol for the time being. The 357 may get shot more since Ive got some empty brass loaded, but the 45 is the carry gun most of the time now. i dont go up on the mountain where the bears live much now.

I have some of both Universal and Unique. I havent done any careful testing to see if theres any group size difference, but both seem to smack the 300 yard rocks with the same amount of success.

i load generic 250 gr rnfp commercial bullets mostly, with the Lyman/Keith 452424 for carry loads. I had some I cast Ive used, and just loaded the last few John gave me in a cigar box when he moved to Missouri as carry loads, which will probably get me by as carry loads for the rest of my days.

[Scott Tschirhart]

The vast majority of the rounds I shoot are 250 gr RNFP over6 gr of Red Dot.

Easy on the hands and shoots really well in all my guns.

[JimT]

I would love to open that old can of Unique and try some loads with it. I am willing to bet that velocities will be almost exactly the same as "modern" Unique.

[Malamute]

I have an old 4 lb of both Unique and 2400, both were sealed when I got them, and from the same era the square cans are from. A few years ago I popped the seal on the Unique, it looked and smelled fresh and good. Its been my reserves, which I'll probably start using soon. I keep them in my shed near the floor, theyve always been cool to the touch when Ive checked in the summer.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I would love to open that old can of Unique and try some loads with it. I am willing to bet that velocities will be almost exactly the same as "modern" Unique.

Let’s do it!

Next time we get together, we can pop the seal, see how it smells and looks, split the powder and try it out.

[JimT]

I would love to open that old can of Unique and try some loads with it. I am willing to bet that velocities will be almost exactly the same as "modern" Unique.

Let’s do it!

Next time we get together, we can pop the seal, see how it smells and looks, split the powder and try it out.

I look forward to it!!