Fowler
.401 Bobcat
Posts: 3,670
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Post by Fowler on Feb 12, 2024 14:33:10 GMT -5
Lots of good medium level powder options these days, HS6 is a long time favorite of mine, Longshot is good, 4227 is a long time favorite but over the last few years I have really settled into Power Pistol being my favorite powder for most of my shooting.
YMMV
Bradshaws deep seating works too, I like it so that I can glace at a loaded round and KNOW if it is a reduced load or a full power one (I have been deep seating reduced loads for a while).
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pleadthe2nd
.327 Meteor
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Posts: 952
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Post by pleadthe2nd on Feb 12, 2024 15:36:24 GMT -5
I've been shooting Unique for 52 years. I'm tired of hearing that Unique is dirty, Alliant has cleaned up a lot of their powders. What are you guys doing, shooting your guns in a surgical operating room? If you want to know dirty shoot BP. I've always like Unique, never found it to be dirty myself, the problem is, it's been unavailable for so long, and now that it's making a comeback, the price has doubled, as with all of the Alliant powders, so I'm moving away from them completely, I can get close to the same results with hs6, not grain for grain, but it's my Unique replacement now |
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Post by revolvercranker on Feb 12, 2024 16:22:09 GMT -5
I've been shooting Unique for 52 years. I'm tired of hearing that Unique is dirty, Alliant has cleaned up a lot of their powders. What are you guys doing, shooting your guns in a surgical operating room? If you want to know dirty shoot BP. I've always like Unique, never found it to be dirty myself, the problem is, it's been unavailable for so long, and now that it's making a comeback, the price has doubled, as with all of the Alliant powders, so I'm moving away from them completely, I can get close to the same results with hs6, not grain for grain, but it's my Unique replacement now I know how you feel about not being able to find it. I recently bought an 8LB jug of it. Sorry about sounding so grumpy about the dirty powder thing. Unique does indeed have a UNIQUE name given to it as it is very unique in all the applications it's used in from handgun cartridges, to cast bullet rifle loads, and shotgun loads. |
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Post by blackmamba on Feb 13, 2024 9:07:07 GMT -5
As most other powder prices have gone up and up I started to try the Vihtavuori offerings. They meter well, burn very clean and are extremely accurate. N330 is very close to Unique in burn rate and nearly always available, and now no more expensive than other brands.
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jeffh
.375 Atomic
Posts: 1,749
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Post by jeffh on Feb 13, 2024 9:30:13 GMT -5
If I were going to settle on one powder it would be Unique. I've used it in every handgun cartridge I've loaded for, (a bunch!), and results were always satisfactory if not always the best load. I've used it in probably 20 different rifle cartridges for reduced, cast bullet loads and of course in shotguns. It has been said of drillings that they aren't the best at any one thing but, they are so good at so many things. That's how I see Unique.
Not to argue against any other choice, but this is a well-stated defense for "dirty ol' Unique," as some tend to see it. No, not ideal for everything, or maybe even anything, but it will cover a LOT of bases and 850 fps to 1kfps in a 44 Special/Mag or 45 Colt, with about a 250 grain bullet is incredibly useful, effective and economical.
This is exactly my plan for Unique - the one powder I will never be without and one which I could actually get by with for everything I shoot, with the exception of the 223 and 357 Max, neither of which have I actually shot in years. Otherwise, it's the 222, 30/30, 357 Mag, 44 Special. Seven grains in any of these shoots very well (cast only) and yields 1,000 loads per pound. I a little lighter and a little heavier, depending on the cartridge and application, but seven grains is a good average for planning/stocking purposes.
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jeffh
.375 Atomic
Posts: 1,749
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Post by jeffh on Feb 13, 2024 10:23:40 GMT -5
LOL!
I did it again. I answered after I got to the bottom of the first page and didn't notice a second.
I'm not busting on anyone here about "dirty ol' Unique." I myself agree that it leaves a fair bit of debris in the barrel, especially on lighter loads.
The "dirt" is just one of the compromises which comes with the powder. I'm not saying it ain't dirty, I'm just willing to tolerate it for the more positive things I get in trade.
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Post by revolvercranker on Feb 13, 2024 12:02:37 GMT -5
LOL! I did it again. I answered after I got to the bottom of the first page and didn't notice a second. I'm not busting on anyone here about "dirty ol' Unique." I myself agree that it leaves a fair bit of debris in the barrel, especially on lighter loads. The "dirt" is just one of the compromises which comes with the powder. I'm not saying it ain't dirty, I'm just willing to tolerate it for the more positive things I get in trade. What debri? Are you talking about unburned powder kernels? If so I've never seen Unique leave anything except carbon. Take good ole 2400, it leaves unburned kernels in every caliber, load, and gun. That's just it's characteristic. I think some people blame the powder for the dirt when all along they shoot lubed cast and that is what's dirty. I think highly of Unique as you can tell. |
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Post by sixshot on Feb 13, 2024 13:12:23 GMT -5
Started out with Unique in the 60's & I'm still shooting it. Longshot is also a favorite & 231 & WST for lighter loads. I won't run out of Unique, it goes with the 45 colt like bread & jam.
Dick
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Post by revolvercranker on Feb 13, 2024 13:29:38 GMT -5
Started out with Unique in the 60's & I'm still shooting it. Longshot is also a favorite & 231 & WST for lighter loads. I won't run out of Unique, it goes with the 45 colt like bread & jam. Dick Dick me and another fellow shooter both bought an 8# jug of HP 38, which everyone says HP 38 and Winchester 231 are one and the same. I use to shoot a lot of the original Winchester 231 that use to come in the metal cans that looked like a big brake fluid can, you know with the tapered neck. Well I remember how that powder look. Kind of a lighter grey color round flakes that weren't shiney. HP 38 is more of a graphite color and shiney. Both my friend and I have vowed to pitch the whole 8 pounds out on the garden, it's trash! I haven't bought any of the new Winchester the plastic containers to compare it to the HP 38. Hodgdon has just about bought up everyone. Their recent purchase is Accurate powders. What is is your take on the current HP 38 and WW 231? |
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Post by sixshot on Feb 13, 2024 15:43:51 GMT -5
The current HP 38 & 231 are the same powder & come out of the very same spout. If you look in the newer reloading manuals you will see them both being used at the exact same charge with the same bullets & pressures in several calibers. That wasn't always the case, they use to be slightly different.
Dick
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Post by revolvercranker on Feb 13, 2024 15:55:48 GMT -5
The current HP 38 & 231 are the same powder & come out of the very same spout. If you look in the newer reloading manuals you will see them both being used at the exact same charge with the same bullets & pressures in several calibers. That wasn't always the case, they use to be slightly different. Dick Mainly because the original powder companies don't make powders anymore. Dupont IMR isn't the same company and powder it once was. Winchester powder isn't the same company and powder it once was. Now Hercules under different name changes now I believe it the same, BUT they tweaked the compositions of the powders they once made. Another powder that changed is 4831, it's definitely not the same orginal stuff. Then on top of all that we have all these new powders. I remember too when I was a teen using Alcan powder (and wads plus primers) to load my 12 gauge shotshells. Along with the powder changes we've watch the containers change too. |
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jeffh
.375 Atomic
Posts: 1,749
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Post by jeffh on Feb 13, 2024 20:35:38 GMT -5
W213/HP38 is another favorite in all the same cartridges I mentioned above, until I want to poke at things just a little bit harder.
It would actually be superior in a lot of the loads I task Unique with, especially the sub-sonic/suppressed loads, but I've focused on Unique for a reason.
I'm not obsessed with Unique - I've been playing with it for... a really long time now to see how much I can DO with it if it were all I had. Part of my "retirement plan," so to speak. I can get some really slow/quiet loads, which leave a little litter in the bores, some "stiff enough" loads for other applications and then everything in between. I'm figuring that I won't be buying any more guns, may even sell a few more and am planning for the eventuality that I might not be able to buy any more primers or powder at some point after I retire. Maybe it won't be that bad, but I'm planning for the "worst" and am set up for it.
So, Unique is the "one," according to that scenario. W231/HP38? I have enough to last me a good while and I like it and use it, but if it happens that primers end up hitting a buck a pop and powder is sold on a three-year payment plan, I can always still do what I want/need to do with Unique.
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Post by stubshaft on Feb 13, 2024 23:53:33 GMT -5
My favorite powder for the 45LC is Green Dot. However, you can NEVER go wrong with Unique!
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Post by bigbore5 on Feb 14, 2024 4:18:12 GMT -5
I much prefer Universal to Unique. It's cleaner and gives slightly better accuracy in my guns.
However, since two of my favorite cartridges don't play well with heavy bullets and either powder, I will have to pass on them as my one powder. The 357max and 500L.
I'll have to choose 4227 as my real one powder choice.
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Post by 45MAN on Feb 14, 2024 8:36:38 GMT -5
1 MEDIUM LOAD POWDER FOR THE 45 COLT and THE 454: EASY DECISION, UNIQUE, SAFELY GETS YOU TO MEDIUM LOADS WITH LESS POWDER. SOME GUYS USE WLP's, OTHERS CCI 300 OR FEDERAL 150, AND WITH JUDICIUOS CHECKING/LOADING YOU CAN ALSO USE "MAGNUM" PRIMERS.
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