9mm unique 115 gr fmj

[Rusty Shackleford]

New to 9mm looking to see if anyone would share their pet load using this combo.

[stinjie]

lately I've been hooked on a max load of Blue Dot.

[Dave W.]

Unique is a pretty forgiving powder, it is cleaner at near max loads. Grab your favorite reloading manual and see what it says. I have used plenty of Unique, but generally use 125 grain lead bullets.

You are just starting out, I would trust the reloading manuals more than the advice some internet person gives. I do not think anybody on this site would purposely give bad advice.

[CastingFool]

I like to use bullseye, cuz I have lots of it. Besides you can load a whole lot of shells with one pound of BE.

[Rusty Shackleford]

Alliant didn’t have much data. I own Speer, hornaday, Lyman, rcbs, sierra manuals. I was just if someone here had any experience that they would be willing to share.
Thanks

[1006]

I would start at 5.0 Unique and work up as high as 6.3, as 6.3 is the max charge in the Alliant Reloader Guide for a Speer Gold Dot HP. I have used 5.0 as a target load with several 9mm bullets.

[Rusty Shackleford]

Thanks! Loaded a few at 5.3gr and some at 5.7gr. Fixing to go shoot them.

[gwpercle]

Been giving a WWII era Walther P-38 9mm some load testing and developed a few pet loads :
These loads can be used with 115 gr. fmj or 120 gr. cast Boolit (Lee #356-120-TC) size boolit to .357"

4.4 grs. W231/HP38 (same powder) @ 1086 fps.

4.7 grs. Acc #2 @ 1050 fps.

5.0 grs. Unique @ 1125 fps .(this is my standard go-to 9mm load)

These loads are standard pressure and not maximum but cycle the Walther P-38's action reliably and are accurate ... not punishing to old pistol or shooter .
Hope this helps you out ,
Gary

[Rusty Shackleford]

Been giving a WWII era Walther P-38 9mm some load testing and developed a few pet loads :
These loads can be used with 115 gr. fmj or 120 gr. cast Boolit (Lee #356-120-TC) size boolit to .357"

4.4 grs. W231/HP38 (same powder) @ 1086 fps.

4.7 grs. Acc #2 @ 1050 fps.

5.0 grs. Unique @ 1125 fps .(this is my standard go-to 9mm load)

These loads are standard pressure and not maximum but cycle the Walther P-38's action reliably and are accurate ... not punishing to old pistol or shooter .
Hope this helps you out ,
Gary

Thanks for sharing

[michael.birdsley]

I didn’t use unique a lot in 9mm basically because, it didn’t meter well from my perfect powder measure. so i’ve been running bullseye for my jacketed, plated, and cast rounds.

However, what load development i did do with Unique is as follows. extreme 124 grain plated RN 4.2 grains. hornady 124 grain XTP 5.6 grains and 4.0 grains in 120 grn lee TC TL mold. it worked good enough if i had to use it again i would. I ran these loads in my sr9c and Sr9E.

I still have a bit of bullseye and Unique left. I’ve have slowed down on shooting my pistols but, i’ve not seen bullseye or unique on the shelves in a while.

if i run out of bullseye i might have to go to cfe pistol. if i run out of Unique for my cast rifle loads. i’m not sure what i’m going to do yet.


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[rsrocket1]

As with gwp, 5.0g works very well with 115-124g bullets. It will cycle any pistol and is not going to blow up a gun. That much Unique will definitely overflow a 9mm case with 10g so you won’t have to worry about accidentally double charging.

It’s also high enough in pressure to give you a reasonably clean burn as far a Unique goes.

[Hickok]

Been giving a WWII era Walther P-38 9mm some load testing and developed a few pet loads :
These loads can be used with 115 gr. fmj or 120 gr. cast Boolit (Lee #356-120-TC) size boolit to .357"

4.4 grs. W231/HP38 (same powder) @ 1086 fps.

4.7 grs. Acc #2 @ 1050 fps.

5.0 grs. Unique @ 1125 fps .(this is my standard go-to 9mm load)

These loads are standard pressure and not maximum but cycle the Walther P-38's action reliably and are accurate ... not punishing to old pistol or shooter .
Hope this helps you out ,
Gary

I agree with your results.

My standard load is 5gr Unique / Lee 356-120-TC seated @ 1.065" for 1135fps from Glock 19.

I have to use this seating depth to insure feeding in my CZ, Sigs and Glocks. My CZ-75B has the shortest throat of all my pistols.

[Divil]

I have also used 5.0 grains of Unique with Hornady 115fmj. It worked but it was not my favorite.

[gloob]

6.25 grains, under a 115 gr JHP.

By the looks, I loaded these long. Might be too hot at a more universal length. This comes pretty close to the top of the case mouth, but I'm not sure it is actually compressed. I bet the flakes would settle down with some tapping.

[rogerl7157]

Same here 5.0 Grains of Unique with 115 Fmj

[PBnJ]

Just getting set up to load after a long hiatus.
I haven't been able to find any load data in a 124gn DG Bullet.
So I started at the minimum load for a 120gn LRN. 3grains at 1.2 OAL wouldn't cycle the slide.
Today I worked up 124gn DG Bullets LRN polymer coated 4.2 grains WIN 231 OAL 1.105
The Dillon powder measure doesn't seemas accurate as I would like.
But we are loading again! 10 rounds worked like a champ.
1114 FPS
1115 FPS
1127 FPS
1122 FPS
1139 FPS
1116 FPS
1105 FPS
1108 FPS
1120 FPS
1130 FPS

[jdgabbard]

Interestingly, I just looked up my data for 115gr FMJ, and I've never loaded it with Unique that I can see...

That said, 4.2-4.3gr of Red Dot at 1.100" is my go-to load. But that should be considered ABSOLUTE maximum. Turns out even 0.05" of setback can cause a pretty significant pressure spike according to P Flados here in this thread: https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...-for-9mm/page3

Quickload says you are not over max, as long as you are talking 9mm +P.

Of course seating depth gets real important in the 9mm when close to or over 100% fill. With this charge, QL says the load goes close to 46,000 psi with 0.05" setback.

Cartridge          : 9 mm Luger +P (SAAMI)
Bullet             : .355, 115, Hornady FMJ/RN ENC 35557
Cartridge O.A.L. L6: 1.100 inch = 27.94 mm
Barrel Length      : 4.0 inch = 101.6 mm
Powder             : Alliant RED DOT

CAUTION: Figures exceed maximum and minimum recommended loads !

Step    Fill. Charge   Vel.  Energy   Pmax   Pmuz  Prop.Burnt B_Time
 %       %    Grains   fps   ft.lbs    psi    psi      %        ms
+00.0   93     3.80   1082     299   29284   3690    100.0    0.454
+02.6   95     3.90   1100     309   30799   3770    100.0    0.444
+05.3   98     4.00   1118     319   32361   3849    100.0    0.434
+07.9  100     4.10   1135     329   33970   3928    100.0    0.424  ! Near Maximum !
+10.5  102     4.20   1153     339   35627   4006    100.0    0.415  ! Near Maximum !
+13.2  105     4.30   1170     349   37333   4085    100.0    0.406  ! Near Maximum !

To get a good velocity, any of the following would seem to be more forgiving if a setback were to occur.
Note that the COAL show below does reflect a 0.05" setback from 1.10" as loaded:

Cartridge          : 9 mm Luger +P (SAAMI)
Bullet             : .355, 115, Hornady FMJ/RN ENC 35557
Cartridge O.A.L. L6: 1.050 inch = 26.67 mm
Barrel Length      : 4.0 inch = 101.6 mm

C A U T I O N : any load listed can result in a powder charge that falls below minimum suggested
loads or exceeds maximum suggested loads as presented in current handloading manuals. Understand
that all of the listed powders can be unsuitable for the given combination of cartridge, bullet
and gun. Actual load order can vary, depending upon lot-to-lot powder and component variations.
USE ONLY FOR COMPARISON !

Powder type          Filling/Loading Ratio  Charge    Charge   Vel. Prop.Burnt P max  P muzz  B_Time
                                      %     Grains    Gramm   fps     %       psi     psi    ms
---------------------------------  -----------------------------------------------------------------
Alliant BULLSEYE                    99.7      4.7     0.30    1234    99.1    37500    5052   0.392  ! Near Maximum !
Accurate No.5                       84.5      6.2     0.40    1229    87.6    37500    5376   0.393  ! Near Maximum !
Shooters World Auto Pistol          84.6      6.2     0.40    1229    87.6    37500    5377   0.393  ! Near Maximum !
Shooters World Ultimate Pistol      71.8      5.0     0.32    1227    99.4    37500    4928   0.397  ! Near Maximum !
Hodgdon Longshot                    88.1      6.3     0.41    1224    92.3    37500    5171   0.394  ! Near Maximum !
Ramshot Silhouette                  93.1      5.7     0.37    1223    96.9    37500    5016   0.394  ! Near Maximum !
Winchester WAP                      93.4      5.7     0.37    1222    96.7    37500    5019   0.394  ! Near Maximum !
Hodgdon HS-6                        91.8      6.4     0.42    1218    90.0    37500    5152   0.395  ! Near Maximum !
Ramshot True Blue                   86.3      6.2     0.40    1217    92.3    37500    5087   0.395  ! Near Maximum !
Hodgdon Universal                  104.0      4.7     0.31    1187   100.0    35154    4430   0.416  ! Near Maximum !