Powders Better Than Unique for Medium 357 Loads

[Kawriverrat]

Bluedot. 9 grains behind a 160 gr. cast SWC gives me 1200 fps. from my 6" Rugers (Security Six and GP100)

Thanks for giving gun & barrell length with that load. That load will be one I'll try. The load density is good like with HS-6.

[Grmps]

Downloadable Complete reloading manual for the .357 mag

https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%...%21238&o=OneUp

[texassako]

I really like the Vectan line of powders these days, Ba9 or A0 for this use. A0 is my favorite for consistency and accuracy even though it doesn't meter as smooth as Ba9. Cheap at Grafs too.

[Hick]

4 grains of Titegroup is what I use for all the cast bullets in my .357 magnum. 125 grain FN, 150 grain RN, 156 grain FN (Ideal 358156)-- they all come out around 950-980 fps from my Ruger blackhawk (6" barrel).

[runfiverun]

BE-86 flips back and forth between unique and herco in burn rate, and it's flash suppressed.
power pistol lies right on top of be-86.
if I ever empty that red metal can of Herco the jug of 86 sitting there will be going in the 357 cases.

[wcp4570]

Ed
Here is a web page with a lot of Skeeter articles. The article you refer to is on the page. http://www.darkcanyon.net/skeeter_skelton.htm

wcp4570

I can't find a a copy of Skeeter Skelton's "My Friend, The .357" to post but Red Dot 5.0 gr under a 158 gr. boolit in a .357 case is right at 1K fps and very accurate. For me, Red Dot/Promo 5.0 gr under any 120~160 gr boolit in a .357 case has proved to be a winning combination.

[gwpercle]

Probably nothing " better" than Unique...all of them are out there trying to make a powder to get some of Unique's share of the market with similar sounding names...Unequeal , Universal etc.
But due to the recent shortage , I picked up some Accurate Arms #5 and had some really nice tight groups with gas checked cast boolits in 357 magnum at that velocity. I'm glad the dealer had it and going to work with it some more as it shows promise.
Gary

[Grmps]

.357 downloadable load manual
https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%...%21238&o=OneUp

[Greg S]

Alliant Blue Dot as mentioned above. Cane get alittle spikey at max loads.

[smkummer]

I am going for 1100-1150 FPS for my Lee TL 158 SWC bullet. Unique does that well and below max pressure so I can swap primers and cases. I see that 700x gets close to that with of course less powder but the pressure is higher. But for now, I am not going to fix something that isn't broken so I'll stay with unique. Hoppes 9 cleans the barrel and powder residue just fine.

[Ed_Shot]

Thanks!

[rintinglen]

For low end 357s down to 38 +p, you can hunt far to find a better choice than Power Pistol.

[Texas by God]

To answer your question- no.
There's no better powder than Unique for what you want and so much more. I've been using it since the 1970's for .38 Special +P, .357-P, and .41 magnum Police load. I've never had a problem with the dirty aspect. It's also very handy for shotgun & rifle cast loads.

[Kawriverrat]

Probably nothing " better" than Unique...
Gary

I agree. However I've not used every powder available with close to the same burn rate.

Always good too hear from those who've used different powders than myself

[Rainier]

FWIW - 6 to 7 grains of W231 makes a nice .357 load for 160gr boolits

[Budzilla 19]

If I ever use up the second 8 pounder of Herco I bought, then I'll go back to Unique! Had no Unique but had Herco, so pulled out the old reloading manuals and went to loading! No problems so far. Just my .02. Be safe.

[OS OK]

Stopped in the gun shop yesterday to see what he had that would give better load density in the .45ACP. I've been using 700X @ 4.8g.'s under 200g. PC'd casts...that's not much fill for that stubby little case.
Anyway he suggested Power Pistol, said it burns clean too...we opened a canister and looked at it, looks like it'll meter well, it's pretty small.
It's on the slow side of Unique and the fast side of Herco....almost right in the middle.
Well see, I bought 2 lbs. that oughta be enough to give it a fair try.

[derek45]

CFE-p, 231/hp38, power pistol, universal

I still love UNIQUE . . . aka combustible dirt

[Kosh75287]

For me, Red Dot/Promo 5.0 gr under any 120~160 gr boolit in a .357 case has proved to be a winning combination.

Same, here. I'm also a major fan of Unique & Herco. If data for Herco is scarce, use data for Unique and expect a slightly longer work-up.

[ikarus1]

Use WSF for herco-like velocities in .357