So I have tried Unique loads in every straight walled cartridge/ I have from 38 special to 45/70 and always end up with this nasty corn meal looking residue in the barrel, chambers, spent cases, etc. I seem to get it weather i use standard and magnum primers and ive tried very light crimp to heavy enough crim to start swelling the base of the case with no change to this crumy stuff. Am I doing something wrong or is this just whats to be expected with Unique?
More juice if not at or near max loads. If at or near, switch powders or get used to it.
Max loads/ starting loads still does it. I just see alot of people recomend Unique but I cant stand how dirty it is so I was jusy wondering if maybe others results have been different than mine.
/\ Ditto /\Originally Posted by Love Life
Unique has its place and I use it in some applications but find other powders fill the same roles and often better. My big complainant about Unique is the way it meters (or rather refuses to ) in most powder measures when compared the other powders.
Now, as a "one powder does it all" type propellant, it has some real strength. Because of its ability to always fill some need when it comes to handgun cartridges, there will always be at least a pound of it on my shelf.
Mine have been different and the same depending on what I was loading, but I also don't really put much real thought into how dirty a powder is. When I get home, I clean my guns. Hoppes cleans out any residue without issue.
Try AA#7 under 230gr ball in the 45 ACP. You'll have unburned powder all over the place. Accurate though!!
I go along with Love Life. First off cast bullets especially with soft lubes dirty auto loaders. I don't perceive Unique as filthy dirty. It's such a great powder that I can over look any of it's short comings. Hodgdon hailed Universal as almost straight cross over for Unique. Yes it's close, yes it burns cleaner, but not the accuracy isn't there in many calibers.
SR4756 is a dandy replacement for Unique. Meters great and burns super clean. Sadly I think it has been discontinued.
Currently casting and loading: .32 Auto, .380 Auto, .38 Special, 9X19, .357 Magnum, .257 Roberts, 6.5 Creedmoor, .30 WCF, .308 WCF, .45-70.
I have lots of other powder options... Just have lots of unique too, I only clean my guns when they need it and by that I mean I dont like being forced to clean after every use, I have a sp101 with tight head space and if I get any crud under the ejector it locks up on me.
The entire "it burns dirty" argument has always left me scratching my head a bit. While some powders clearly burn cleaner than others, I expect to have to clean my guns after shooting them.
I don't know how many pounds of ww231 I've burned in 38 Specials but it's a lot ! That powder leaves a lot of soot on the gun and my hands after a few rounds but the bore is generally pretty clean. So I must clean the gun and my hands when I done; OK.
Some people would say 231 is "dirty" but for me it is just normal.
I use WSF in 9mm and it burns far cleaner than my 38 Special loads but I wouldn't call the ww231 powder bad because of that.
It is very subjective.
Soot is expected and exceptable this is like kernels of unburnt powder but it doesnt look like unburnt powder almost like its had a popcorn effect and has turned into scuzzle butt crudd I dont even know how to explain it better than fine corn meal looking stuff.
I wish I had a picture but im out of town for the holidays and bored, random, wandering thoughts has me posting here. Ive just kinda written it off as a powder I wont likely use unless I get hard up but I see so many recomend it just wondering if theres a trick to loading it and having "normal" ammo.
Without seeing it my first guess would be you are way under standard pressures.
As to that SP-101, I've had a small pile of them. I had one that just did not like cast bullets and although I improved it, I never got it the way I wanted. It went down the road. That one SP101 was an aberration and the rest of them were great guns.
The way I run Unique in my 243 AI and 270 Win. It burns very clean. Pressure is your friend as LL stated. I push 84 and 122 grain bullets respectively to max cast bullet velocity in those with Unique. I get just enough pressure to seal off the case necks to keep chambers and brass clean also.
“AMERICA WILL NEVER BE DESTROYED FROM THE OUTSIDE. IF WE FALTER AND LOSE OUR FREEDOMS, IT WILL BE BECAUSE WE DESTROYED OURSELVES.” President Abraham Lincoln
I've shot lots of unique in several different guns over the years. I've always believed it performed best toward its top end. A little dirty yes but I've never seen unburned kernels before.
I try to clean my pistols at least once a year whether they need it or not. Unique is my go to powder.
Some people live and learn but I mostly just live
I've also been burning Unique for some time now. I use it in all my straight wall revolver cartridges for mid level loads and for rifle rounds on the light side for cast boolits.
I've never seen what you are describing with it. Can't even think of a reason it would be doing that to you. Perhaps you can post a photo of the phenomenon for us.
Keep your powder dry,
Scharf
OP.....you now know why I gave away over 3# of the filthy stuff a few years ago. Unique is the dirtiest filthiest burning powder I have ever seen......lite loads or full loads. An old formulation that should have been discontinued decades ago.
I standardized on TightGroup after that. Excellent powder. But is will tend to soften the PC on the base of coated boolits after several months. No big thing.
And now my standard for ALL pistols (and plinking rifles) is ETR7, the cleanest burning, "forgiving-est" load powder I have ever used. Hope you get a chance order some from Expansion Industries or find a local buddy that has some he will "loan" you for some tests. If you were closer I would give you a medicine bottle full of it to play with!
I am not affiliated with EI, I just reeeeeeeeally like their powder and have repeat-ordered from them.
BTW........PC also helps with clean gunk-free barrels! Give it a try!
bangerjim
Man, after shooting black powder most of my life in cap and ball revolvers and rifles, any smokeless powder seems like manna from heaven!
Unigue and 2400 both leave a speck of residue in my handguns, but hey, either the next boolit takes care of it or I do when I run a patch through the barrel.
Maker of Silver Boolits for Werewolf hunting
I just put up with it...I like Unique and have for years...I have been using Hodgden's Universal when I can find it...Recob's has had some and I got some on the way....it's similar in load and characteristics to Unique...meters great and is much less sooty...With Unique if I load a bit lighter in my 45 Colt I look like I've been in a minstrel show.
They don't call it flaming dirt for nothing.
I got the same thing when I used it in pistol loads. Don't have any problems in bottle neck cast rifle loads. Good powder, it has quirks.
I am a bit like bangerjim in that whenever I run out of Unique I swear I will never buy again - oops, there are two containers close to me now. Dirty - perhaps, a bit tough to meter - yes, but it does shoot cast boolits reasonably well in all of my straight wall cases, and without a lot a fiddling with loads. Are there better - you bet, and I use them. It just is sometimes handy to have around to "throw together" a bunch of plinking loads without much fuss. I have not yet seen ETR7 in any of the stores in my area - not even sure if they retail this powder.
Posting Permissions
| BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
| BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
| BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
| C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
| HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
| PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
| LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
| GC | Gas Check |
Reply With Quote