What powder meters better than Unique

[hylander]

.45ACP, 200SWC
I worked up a good load with Unique, throwing each load by hand.
Now that the load is good, I fill the RCBS despenser and start throwing loads.
However Unique does not Meter well.
I am getting fluxuations as much as .2 Low to .2 high, that is a veriance of .4 grains, which is way to much for the .45 ACP
So my question; what is a good Powder that meters well ?
Weighing each load gets old real quick, especially when you need to load 200 rounds at a time. I am using single stage press, can't afford a Dillon :bawling:

[GrizzLeeBear]

Ah, yes good old Unique. If you are trying to meter it to within .1 grains, forget it. The variance you are seeing is probably pretty average. Unless you are loading right to the max. with it, try the loads and see how they shoot. I usually load Unique a bit below max. so that the high side of the fluctuation stays below max. Even though it does not meter real well, it is usually very tolerant of charge variance as far as accuracy.

[405]

Sorry not a lot of help.... I meter quite a few powders but rely on the drop-trickle-weigh method whenever I need precise loads. And, like you, have found some powders or powder/measure combinations just don't do well. It may have something to do with the type of measure vs the type of powder. I'm sure someone will jump in who has tried most types of measures with most types of powders.

Unique has always given me fits in metering- maybe one of the worst. It binds up in the meter while the long grain extruded powders just chop! Again may be the type of measure I have. Pistol type ball powders have some fans who'll recommend them- I just don't use many ball powders. On the other hand the fluffy flake Trailboss is a dream through my measure. Very repeatable and precise. Trailboss has some application in the 45 ACP and all the short fat, high expansion ratio cartridges. It's a fairly fast powder so is not used for the highest velocity-top end loads.

[dromia]

Vihta Vuori N330, a smidgeon slower but meters very well.

[KYCaster]

Accurate #5, Win Super Lite, Win Super Field, Hodgdon Universal, SR7625, Alliant Power Pistol.

Any of these will work fine in 45 ACP and will meter much better than Unique.

Jerry

[NoDakJak]

I have replaced Unique with PB in most of my loads. It measures as well as anything that I have ever used and burns slick as a whistle. I haven't tried it in anything larger than a 30.30 and probably won't as I am very leery about using pistol powder in rifle cartridges. The only problem that I have with it is that it works so well I just can't buy it fast enough. Neil

[shotman]

If you are loading the 45 try Tite Group 5gr and will meter well and uniform it also is position insensitive rick

[imashooter2]

Winchester Super Target, Bullseye, Winchester 231, Hodgdon Clays...

[REDTAIL]

HERCO is also a good & easy powder to throw

[Heavy lead]

what type measure are you using? bushing or adjustable rotor?

[hylander]

what type measure are you using? bushing or adjustable rotor?

RCBS Uniflow

[Heavy lead]

that's a great measure. So that's not a problem. I use unique, quite frankley never measured for consistancy a whole lot. I weigh all powder charges (except H380 in 22-250 in rifles, I only check pistol charges 5 out of a hundred. They (with unique are usually plus or minus 1.5, consistancy is there so I don't worry about it. I know Universal Clays meters better for instance, but for me it doesn't work as well. What I would recommend is you load 50 with thrown charges (as long as they're not max loads) and chronograph every one. See exactly what your extreme spread and standard deviation is with the thrown charges. This actually can be higher with weighed charges than with thrown charges with some powders.

[carpetman]

This question tells me you are not using a Belding & Mull powder measure. Never found one type powder it doesn't meter. But it aint broke in yet--only had it 41 years or so.

[wiljen]

Titegroup, clays, w231 and AA#5 or #7 all are good powders in the ACP.

[Bill*]

+1 for Bullseye

[yondering]

Another vote here for just shooting those Unique loads, and don't worry about the charge variation. Unique is pretty forgiving for that, and always gives me good accuracy. I just weigh the first few charges, and just load the rest.
Sometimes we tend to get too picky with precise powder charges, when it really doesn't affect accuracy much with certain powders and loads. A good load should be able to tolerate variations in powder charge weights without affecting accuracy.

That said, I use Bullseye for most of my 200gr SWC loads in 45 ACP. 4.0 gr is a nice target load.
I use Universal for most of my 230gr RN loads, as I found it to give best accuracy in my gun.
For full power heavy loads I use Unique.

[carpetman]

Yondering--I cant agree with Unique being forgiving. A little goes a long ways. 158 grain cast bullet in .357 mag had a min of 4.0 grains and max of 8.0 grains in the Lyman manual----from 7.0 on you could feel a difference even in 1/10 grain increases.

[94Doug]

+1 WW231... wasn't there just something written up in a magazine that more or less showed that the small variance of powder using a powder measure VS weighing each load didn't make that big of a difference anyway?


Doug

[hylander]

Got some HP-38, Meters great :)
Now if I can work up an accurate load that isn't a Powder Puff.

[Echo]

To answer your question - practically everything! I hardly use Unique any more.

+1 for PB - I use it for nice little .38 loads. It burns cleanly - I like it.

And +1 for 231 and Bullseye. They work great in a .45...

[chaos]

I've loaded the .45acp for 20 years now and NEVER used anything but WIN 231 in the acp

[hylander]

Well I tried Unique and it is pretty accurate, however
it does not meter well.
So I tried HP-38, Meters great and seems accurate enough.
Settled on 5.4 of HP-38, Average Velocity is 857fps, so it will make PF.
5.2 is more accurate, but not quite enough power, 839fps

10yds off a Bench, 5.4gr. fo HP-38 under a 200SWC

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b193/hylander7/Firearms/Modern/Handguns/200SWCHP-38.jpg

[Bret4207]

This question tells me you are not using a Belding & Mull powder measure. Never found one type powder it doesn't meter. But it aint broke in yet--only had it 41 years or so.

Ya can't convince them Uncle Ray. The B&M is too "old school". You and I will have to remain blissfully ignorant.:drinks:

[9.3X62AL]

I don't use a whole lot of Unique any more, and don't run it near top-end when I do. My RCBS Duo-Measure runs Unique with about 0.1 grain of variance either way with the small tumbler/rotor in 5.0-10.0 grain load weights, which is close enough for me. I use A LOT of Herco, which serves as a field load shotshell fuel in 12 and 28 gauge as well as Magnum revolver fuel in plain-based cast boolit loads from 850-1100 FPS.

WW-231 is quite a bit more consistent in the same measure, and has become my go-to powder in 38 Special and 45 ACP cast loads. Bullseye has some property to it that causes it to stick to the plastic sidewalls of the powder hopper, not a big issue but still annoying--and no other powder does that. Bullseye is another powder that has been largely replaced by WW-231 on my bench.

[Dale53]

I have used a LOT of Unique over the years with excellent results. I DID switch to Win 231 a number of years ago. After I finish up with shooting all of the partial cans of powder, my next big powder buy for target use will be "Titegroup". It measures well and burns clean.

Regarding charge variation in powder measures. Take an hour, sometime, sit down with your powder measure of choice, throw and weigh every charge using different throwing techniques. You will be surprised at the variation that is introduced by the operator. Consistency of operation is the key. I am running 5066 in my Dillon right now, and the "bump" of the Dillon measure gives me "spot on" from charge to charge to charge. And THAT is with a Progressive press (Dillon 550B). Again, the key is consistent operation. I try very hard to make every operation of loading smooth and consistent. It DOES pay dividends.

Dale53

P.S. Al, if you take a clothes dryer anti static sheet and wipe the plastic hopper with it - the "sticky" goes away. If your plastic hopper is easily removable, you can wash it in Dawn dishwasher soap and it will also remove the static for quite some time.

FWIW
Dale53

[trickg]

In the short time I have been reloading, throwing powder charges with the humble Lee Perfect Powder measure, I have found a couple of tricks for getting my powder throws more accurate (bumping the knob on both the upstroke and downstroke helps) but I have found that the powder that throws the best of the powders I have used (Unique, Herco, Bullseye and W231) is Bullseye. Herco was the worst followed closely by Unique - I don't understand the folks who say that Herco meters better than Unique. The W231 meters about as good as the Bullseye and works really well for my .38 special loads.

I like Bullseye for .45 ACP, but I'm not looking for really fine accuracy either, although I certainly have no complaints about the performance I've had with mine.

[MtGun44]

W231 (HP38), Bullseye and Titegroup are excellent for .45ACP. Accurate and
low velocity spread. Clays won't quite make full power loads before it overpressures, a shame because it burns so clean. OK if you don't mind lower
power loads.

Unique is accurate in 200 LSWC loads in .45 ACP but will have around 75-125 fps
vel variation in a 5 rd string. How it is accurate with that variation, I do not know.
With 230 LRN and a very heavy crimp, the vel variation comes back into line.
Unique meters reasonably well in a RCBS Uniflow.

I think Unique is a bit on the slow side for .45 ACP with 185 and 200 lead
boolits - might work better with jacketed as they provide more friction and
higher pressures.

Used to chrono hundreds of shooter's loads for IPSC matches.

Bill

[Three44s]

I think that 9.3X57AL hit the point:

The thing about Unique isn't what it does at the top end ....... it's what it does in the middle!

The charge variations are a given ........ you just live with them ....... because a middle of the road charging level and a powder charge variation ...... is a non-issue .......

............ the derived product still justifies using the powder in the right application ........

......... and for those that recognize this and enjoy Unique ....... explains it's popularity!

Three 44s