Hodgdon Universal

[EMC45]

I have had a lb of this powder for God only knows how long - 10 years maybe. I recently have loaded .32 Mag, .44 Spec. and .38 Spec. with it. All book loads. This is the dirtiest powder I have ever used. Tons of unburnt powder (mostly in the .38 loads). The loads were all accurate, but I was stunned when I would pull the trigger on the .38 loads and a donut of confetti (unburnt powder) would exit the barrel. I was using CCI SPP standard primers. I had unburnt powder all over everything. I will relegate this to shotshell loading for the future, and stick to Alliant powders.

[kungfustyle]

It's funny, the Clays line of powder is supposed to be the cleanest burning powder. I get the same thing with unburnt powder. Try crimping a bit more that might help. I've tried it in 45acp, 44mag, 357 mag,38 special, 380 acp, lots of unburt powder. Clay's works great for all shotguns. FYI

[Lloyd Smale]

ive only used universal clays and its very clean burning. Only thing in that burning rate that is maybe a tad cleaner yet is power pistol.

[dragon813gt]

Sounds like light for caliber bullets, not enough crimp, lower end loads or a combination of all three. I use the powder for heavyweight 9mm loads. None of them are the starting charge. Like all powders if the pressure isn’t w/in “x” range you get an incomplete burn.

[EMC45]

I may just up the charge in the 38. I will admit it did great out of the .32 mag and .44 special. The .44 was brisk.

It does load 9 pellet buck loads nicely however.

[jaysouth]

I get good results with Universal in cast rifle loads. 8-9 grs in most .30s from 150-180 is very accurate and clean.

[BigAlofPa.]

I had problem with Accu 9 not burning all the way in 10mm in my carbine. Magnum primers fixed it. Interesting on the universal on 30 cal. What kind of velocities are you getting? Jay.

[rsrocket1]

The Clays line of powder (Universal, International and "Clays") was made by ADI in Australia and are typically cleaner burning than the Alliant counterparts (Unique, Green Dot and Red Dot). When loaded at too low pressures, typically below 10,000 psi, they are smokey like all powders. My experience has been that even at low pressures, the powders left less residue and soot than the Alliant powders. I did a lot of A/B testing with Red Dot and Clays in 3/4 oz 12 gauge target loads and Unique and Universal in 45 ACP loads at equal MV's.

If you try it in 9mm or 40 S&W where the pressures are up in the 20's and 30's you'll see that they burn very cleanly. Even with your .38, if you load 5g under a 158g bullet (+P level), you'll see that it burns quite a bit cleaner and certainly cleaner than Unique and (heaven forbid) Bullseye. When I used to shoot Bullseye in my Stainless Ruger Service Six, after 50 shots, the gun looked like it was a blued gun rather than a stainless steel gun. It all cleans up just fine so no harm, no foul other than blackened hands at the end of a session.

Universal, International and Clays is now produced in Canada at a plant owned by General Dynamics. I haven't purchased any of their new powders since the move from Australia.

[Gray Fox]

I used to load a lot of a friend's .38-40 for cowboy action shooting in a pair of original Colts and original Win 92. They were lower than max loads, but had a firm crimp using a 180 grain RNFP boolit. There was no noticeable unburned powder, and if you examined the inside of fired new brass it looked unfired. He shot these loads for several years in competition with great success. He passed on couple years ago and I sure wish I had had the cash to buy the guns when his widow sold them the next year. GF

[ole_270]

It's probably my most used powder. Use it with 1 oz loads with my 16 ga., and plinking loads in the 308 and 38-55 with cast. Occaisionally use it in the 45acp as well. The shotgun and rifles are clean, the acp with the light bullet loads I like is a little dirty.

[35remington]

Universal is one of the miserably inconsistent, powder position sensitive powders extant in cartridges like 45 Colt, 44 Special, 38 Special, and 32 Long when held to SAAMI pressure specs and using standard bullet weights for the cartridge in RN and SWC configuration.

You could not run fast enough to foist that powder on me. It may be one of the worst possible choices for such use.

In 9mm and 40 it is fine, but then there is not much room for the powder to shift around and it is running at double the pressure or more than the larger case revolver rounds.

Discontinuing its usage in the applications I indicated it performs poorly is very wise.

[wasa]

I find Universal to act the way you say with light loads, but not with heavy loads. 38 Special with SWC are dirty (lots of unburned powder). But 38 Special +P or 357 Mag with the same bullet (with more powder) are fine. I don't have my loads handy (I'm at work!) but with Universal I find you need to load closer to the maximum. YMMV of course...

[35remington]

Try that load with powder near primer then powder near bullet over the chronograph. Prepare for unpleasant results. Max loads are bad as well.

Plus P 38 has a SAAMI pressure spec. Sorry to say Universal is bad news in that usage as well.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I just bought a couple of lbs. of Universal. Is it supposed to look like pulverized red building brick?

[slughammer]

I just bought a couple of lbs. of Universal. Is it supposed to look like pulverized red building brick?

No, it looks like a gray version of unique. Slightly smaller flakes.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Attachment 235356
Well, I can agree with the sort of like Unique, but it sure isn't grey -- unless I've got more eye trouble! I've already loaded 3 boxes of ammo with it, so I'm looking for some reassurance here! It's redder than the photo shows-- almost brick red.

DG

[dragon813gt]

Where is it made? I only have the version that ADI produced. There is no red tint to it. I’d contact Hodgon to be safe.

[slughammer]

Mine is probably 25 years old made in Australia. Absolutely no redness to it.

The Universal is approximately .050 diameter vs Unique at .060.

Can you sprinkle some on white paper and take a clear close up picture?

https://i.imgur.com/0NZdP1D.jpg

[Der Gebirgsjager]

This batch is "Made in Canada - Packaged in USA".

I sent an e-mail to the Hodgdon tech department and received back a very nice reply. The tech advised that the color is the graphite coating, and that it changes in hue from batch to batch. He also sent a color photo of some powder which had deteriorated (not Universal) and said that bad powder looks like ground cinnamon in color and consistency -- which the stuff in his photo resembled.

So, I think my powder is O.K. to use, but thought I'd give you all an update in case you buy another pound and find it to be reddish.

[Lagamor]

Universal was made for heavy load that need to get up to speed. Think 12 gauge 1 1/4 ounce hunting loads. Doing at least 1100 FPS.
1 1/8 oz works too but it’s gettIng on the light side for Universal. Now go load up some twelve gauge and smash some clays with it(your shoulder won’t thank you for it).