This forum site came highly recomended by a friend, so I registered and I am writing my first post.
I recently got back into reloading after a few years of raising kids and not shooting that much. Boy it felt good to dust off the Rock Chucker! Got to get me one of those digital scales too !! My question is..........
I last purchased some "Unique" powder when it was still Hurcules making it. (That particular can of powder is now fertilizing my lawn) Has any powder company come out with a product that has a similar burn rate to Unique but a lot cleaner burning? I will be using this for some lead target loads in my 357 & 41Mag. If you have a good recipie for these loads I'd be interested in that too.
Thanks in advance for any and all replies.
:cool:

This forum site came highly recomended by a friend, so I registered and I am writing my first post.
I recently got back into reloading after a few years of raising kids and not shooting that much. Boy it felt good to dust off the Rock Chucker! Got to get me one of those digital scales too !! My question is..........
I last purchased some "Unique" powder when it was still Hurcules making it. (That particular can of powder is now fertilizing my lawn) Has any powder company come out with a product that has a similar burn rate to Unique but a lot cleaner burning? I will be using this for some lead target loads in my 357 & 41Mag. If you have a good recipie for these loads I'd be interested in that too.
Thanks in advance for any and all replies.
:cool:


Are a lot of new powders, some in the Unique burning range..some a good bit slower and others a good bit faster. I happen to still like Unique for some applications, but others like Clays or AA#7...may as well toss in good old WW231 too. None of these middle range powders will let the .357 or .41mag. run at thair top speeds, but they are prtty good for the middle range of loads.

Never really had a problem with Unique's diry natrue...am going to clean the gun anyway...haven't had it gunk up during a range session to the point of not functioning. Oh well..guess that my introduction to shooting was with black powder has tainted my viewpoint....in comparison, ANY smokeless powder is clean.

Sent you a pm look at the top and click on privat messages. I tried to post it here but it would not hold the columns. It shows the burn rate of a lot of different powders, if you pick the one above and the one below they will be the closest to Unique.

If you are going to get back into reloading, more than one or two cartridge types, you might want to look into RCBS disc, it has a bunch of manuals on it so you look up the caliber you are loading and get a veriety of powders,etc. If you are just loading the two I would highly recommend the one caliber load books. They are available online or at most retailers such as Sportsmans Warehouse etc.

Hi E.J.W. Unique is supposed to be cleaner burning. Look around in these links. Alliant makes Unique now and Hodgdon owns IMR.




http://www.alliantpowder.com/
http://www.hodgdon.com/

New Unique is cleaner burning than the old stuff.

A powder that I use a lot and like is Accurate Arms #5. It is very similar in burning rate to Unique, clean burning, and has performed superbly for me.

Has any powder company come out with a product that has a similar burn rate to Unique but a lot cleaner burning? I will be using this for some lead target loads in my 357 & 41Mag. :cool:

The "new" Unique is, cleaner burning than the old; here's an article http://www.gunblast.com/Unique.htm

I have, indeed, found it to be cleaner burning with less unburned flakes and less residue overall. I also think it meters a bit better, since the flakes are supposed to be more uniform in size, but I'm just going from memory; I haven't directly compared metering of the "old" vs. "new" Unique.

Hogdon touts it's "Universal Clays" (there's three different "Clays" powders- look for "Universal") as the ballistic equal of Unique with better metering and a cleaner burn but I've not found it to be anywhere near as versatile. With light charges of Universal I get lots of unburned flakes and wide velocity spreads in .38 Spc and "special" level .357 loads regardless of primer; max to near max loads of Universal in magnum loads work fine though. Unique is VERY uniform no matter what charge I use.

Take it for what it's worth but; I've always had my best luck with cast bullets using Bullseye, Unique and H2400.

Ahhhhh, the days when a Rock Chucker and a can of Unique could load almost anything!

Well, EJW, it's like you emerged from a time capsule. The powder selections are almost limitless. I think it's good advice to get your hands on a couple of reloading manuals that also have powder burn rate charts. Most do. You'll be able to see what powders work for the calibers you're interested in and what are close to Unique.

:) Thanks again for all the replies.
Sure-shot, thanks for the PM, definitely going to look into the RCBS disc.
Lumberjak, thanks for the links.
IDshooter, I've used AA#5 in the past for some loads in my 40 S&W. Seem to remember it working good.
I did some looking around this weekend at the local shops,
Fremont is right the powder selection IS limitless now. I have some reading material to go through and best of all...some shooting to do!
Thanks
:)