Unique, Unique

[JohndeFresno]

...I think I know how it gained the reputation for being dirty.

I think the culprit is a light crimp. With the heavy crimps I use on all my revolver loads, I've never noticed Unique being any dirtier than any other powder. However, in lightly crimped .45 ACP loads, I see significantly more powder fouling and unburned powder...[use] a heavier crimp...

That's interesting. I always use a Lee Factory Crimp die on my .38/.357, .44's, and even .45 Ammo, so maybe I missed all of that fouling.

Good tip, Doc!

[J Miller]

Crimps ....

That is the one thing people seem to want to scrimp on. There has been numerous threads all over the internet about how to prevent bullets jumping the crimp and of course the dirty powder questions. The latter is almost always directed at Unique or 2400.

I think what's happened to a certain extent is people have become programed to believe crimping your cases is a bad thing. It reduces case life. It takes a special magical tool to do it. For years I read in all the magazines how the Redding Profile Crimp die was the greatest thing ever invented. Now it's the Lee FCD. If you don't have one of those you just can't get a good and proper crimp. Yep, that's what I've read.

Strange though, I've been crimping all my straight wall revolver cartridges with the built in crimper in the seat die for well over 35 years. With excellent results too.
My case life is good, no worries there and I do not have dirty loads with Unique or 2400.

Oh, just cos I love posting this pic here is what my crimps look like for those of you who might not know:

Taper Roll crimps.JPG

To achieve a crimp like the one on the right, simply adjust the bullet depth so that the crimper rolls the case mouth all the way to the bottom of the crimp grove. It's that simple, no rocket science needed and no special tools needed.

There are few powders that can be shot from straight walled cases without a good crimp. Unique flat out NEEDS the crimp to get a good burn going.

Joe

[JohndeFresno]

Good, concise post on crimps, Joe.

It's true that dies already come with a crimp that do a pretty good job. But if you use different boolits or bullet weights within a caliber, you have to set the bullet depth on the seater die; then back out the seater die; then fiddle with the crimp; and then reset the depth of the die each time, taking care not to change the depth of the setting when you screw down the seater stem. Then, you might have to use a bullet puller if you have overcrimped a round before reaching the correct setting, and throw away the lead bullet if you aren't a caster (that's what I used to do).

With the Lee FCD, there is less guesswork and setup is much quicker. I set it once for each caliber, regardless of what bullet is used; and I don't have to worry about overcrimping and deforming the bullet. And for bulk loading, the newer progressive and turret presses allow enough stations for you just to plunk in the die, so it is not a separate process to use the die; you still get one stroke, one bullet.

As for the rifle bullets with a single stage press, I like the consistency of the FCD and its apparent safeguards against overcrimping, which could deform the bullet and affect accuacy. The bottom line is that, while an extra die is an extra expense, it gives me more time to crank out the bullets and then get to the range or field to enjoy the results.

[J Miller]

John,

You are correct of course, but then I don't mind adjusting my dies for what ever bullet I'm loading. And, don't tell anybody, I do have three Lee FCDs. One for the 30-30 which is all but useless, and two for the .45 Colt. So I am experienced with them.

I usually seat and crimp in one step only if I'm using brass that's all the same length. If it's not, then I crimp in a separate step and sometime use the Lee FCD. Now here is something that I found out. The crimping part in the Lee FCD is virtually identical to the crimp ring in the seat die of most major brands. It's only real benefit is for the fourth step crimping or crimping cases that are not the same length. I just set it for the shortest case and crimp by feel then.

I rarely crimp my rifle ammo unless it's for tubular magazines or military rifles. I've found that for my 30-30 ammo, the Lee FCD just won't crimp properly if the bullets have a real deep cannulure like the Hornady's do. The crimper in my seating die does much better.

Joe

[COSteve]

Ran In the article Taffin makes a solid case that Alliant's Unique powder, on reloader's shelves since 1900 from one manufacturer or another, is one of the best "all around" powders for the handgun reloader. He lists his favorite Unique loads for .32 H&R Magnum, .32-20 wcf, .38 Special, .357 Magnum, 9mm Parabellum, .40 S&W, .38-40 wcf, .41 Special, .44-40 wcf, .44 Special, .44 Magnum, .45 ACP, .45 Auto Rim, .45 Colt and .454 Casull.

Anything on the 10mm?

Unique (Alliant's) is close to the burning rate of Power Pistol per this graph on The Reload Bench, my favorite 10mm powder for full power loads (hey, why would you shoot anything else in your 10?) so it should work pretty well.

In addition, check out Buffalobo's post in this GlockTalk 10mm Reloading thread. Seems that he got decent results with it too.

BTW, I always use magnum primers with all my 10mm loads and they give me much lower SD.

[Old Time Hunter]

Ok boys, I think that I have tried Unique in every caliber and every weight bullet for the few guns that I do have and... it is a great powder for all my pistol calibers from 7.62 X 25 to the .357, 9mm, .44-40, and of course the .44spec & mag. It has worked fantastic for my .32 Win Spec with a 210 grain cast gc with 16 grains and it'll spit 'em out at around 1700 fps, same as the same weight bullet in 8 X 57. The stuff fires up whether you're standing like a human being or hang'n from a branch like a monkey. I've used it in my .45-70's, .30-30's, .303's, and 7.62 X 54's and I am gettin ready to try it in my .444 with a 270 grain cast (Ranch Dog) GC and my .375 Win. What I have found out though, at least in rifle calibers, that it is best to stay under 1500 fps loads on large cases. I have found the point of diminishing returns on a 8 X 56R Hungarian with the same 210 cast w/gc as above(but sized to .330), that it shoots the same velocity starting at 14.5 grains right up to almost 17 grains (too high of pressure though), so I guess it does have it's limits. But overall it'll fire in anything!

[Saltcreek]

In the article Taffin makes a solid case that Alliant's Unique powder, on reloader's shelves since 1900 from one manufacturer or another, is one of the best "all around" powders for the handgun reloader. He lists his favorite Unique loads for .32 H&R Magnum, .32-20 wcf, .38 Special, .357 Magnum, 9mm Parabellum, .40 S&W, .38-40 wcf, .41 Special, .44-40 wcf, .44 Special, .44 Magnum, .45 ACP, .45 Auto Rim, .45 Colt and .454 Casull. Quite an extensive listing of calibers of which we folks seem to be very familiar! His last paragraph editorially declares, "We don't like to play the 'what if you could only have one' game, but when it comes to powder, if we were limited to nothing but Unique, we could get along quite well."

I keep a large supply. Besides all the ones you listed above (I load 8 of them), 10 grains Unique makes about a universal reduced load in just about every centerfire rifle cartridge including 30-06, 30-30, 223 Rem, 45-70 and 6.5X55 Swede and other similar sizes.

[Slick]

I’m a huge fan of Unique – but it took me a while to “get on board”.. I don’t know if the powder used to burn “dirtier” – or if I just learned how to better accommodate it using (ie: stout crimps) and better methods? Either way, I’ve come to love 2400 because it meters so much better and performs with uniformity in the .357 & .44 mag rounds that I’ve sort of “eclipsed” using so much Unique.

On that note, I still use as much (or more) of Unique than 2400, because it seems to fill the dance card of more calibers in a suitable manner. To be honest, I picked up one of my favorite Unique loads from this forum for my .45-70 plinking loads that uses a “puff” of Dacron to keep the powder in position. God, don’t let me stir that debate or the one on “chamber-ringing” – but I been loving the results I get from loading Unique for a long time now.

[morgan in nm]

Ok boys, I think that I have tried Unique in every caliber and every weight bullet for the few guns that I do have and... it is a great powder for all my pistol calibers from 7.62 X 25 to the .357, 9mm, .44-40, and of course the .44spec & mag. It has worked fantastic for my .32 Win Spec with a 210 grain cast gc with 16 grains and it'll spit 'em out at around 1700 fps, same as the same weight bullet in 8 X 57. The stuff fires up whether you're standing like a human being or hang'n from a branch like a monkey. I've used it in my .45-70's, .30-30's, .303's, and 7.62 X 54's and I am gettin ready to try it in my .444 with a 270 grain cast (Ranch Dog) GC and my .375 Win. What I have found out though, at least in rifle calibers, that it is best to stay under 1500 fps loads on large cases. I have found the point of diminishing returns on a 8 X 56R Hungarian with the same 210 cast w/gc as above(but sized to .330), that it shoots the same velocity starting at 14.5 grains right up to almost 17 grains (too high of pressure though), so I guess it does have it's limits. But overall it'll fire in anything!

I am kinda slow to getting around to this post but just out of curiosity, what is a good starting point using unique on 7.62x54? I have been experimenting lately with cast on this caliber using 2400 which did ok but not great.

I love unique for 38-55.

[Old Time Hunter]

I am kinda slow to getting around to this post but just out of curiosity, what is a good starting point using unique on 7.62x54? I have been experimenting lately with cast on this caliber using 2400 which did ok but not great.

Morgan, 15 grains is where I started using a cast bullet from Lee's C312-165-1R. sized to .311 and gas checked, weighed in at 169.5 (average over ten bullets w/Alox lube). Low pressure and just a tad under 1600 fps, went up to 16 grains and the velocity jumped to just under 1700 fps in my M91's and a tad over 1600fps in my M38 and M44. Excellent accuracy.

[morgan in nm]

I am kinda slow to getting around to this post but just out of curiosity, what is a good starting point using unique on 7.62x54? I have been experimenting lately with cast on this caliber using 2400 which did ok but not great.

Morgan, 15 grains is where I started using a cast bullet from Lee's C312-165-1R. sized to .311 and gas checked, weighed in at 169.5 (average over ten bullets w/Alox lube). Low pressure and just a tad under 1600 fps, went up to 16 grains and the velocity jumped to just under 1700 fps in my M91's and a tad over 1600fps in my M38 and M44. Excellent accuracy.

Thanks, that sounds exactly what I was looking for.

[TX Gun Runner]

When I saw what was coming, I posted the query "What if you only had two or three powders" or some such, and after reading the many replies, reading load manuals, etc., I ordered Unique, 2400, and IMR 4895. I still haven't really gotten into the reloading frenzy I need to do, but I think that between those three I can cover nearly all my needs, rifle and pistol.

2400 is a great powder , but in reduced straight wall rifle loads I have seen it ring two chamber with it . It was in a 38-55 and 45-70 . That's why I switched to IMR4227 . The guy with the 38-55 been shooting the same load of 2400 for 10 yrs in that rifle before it rang it .