As much success as I've had with Unique in revolvers chambered to old cartridges, my 696 S&W does not like Unique under any bullet. Perplexed and disappointed I was!!! After a lot of shooting the 429421 over different powders I did find that the revolver likes 5.3 grs. of Bullseye under that bullet.
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That's interesting, sharps. I meant to say in my last post that I've never found one powder to me "more accurate" than another in my .44 Specials, when they're used as intended, that IS NOT using light charges of slow burming powder, etc. But then again, I've used Bullseye, Red Dot, Unique and Power Pistol almost exclusively.
35W
The biggest waste of time is arguing with the fool and fanatic who doesn't care about truth or reality, but only the victory of his beliefs and illusions.
There are people who, for all the evidence presented to them, do not have the ability to understand.
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4.5g to 5.0g of anything fast: BE, HP38, 231, Tite Group under Accurate 210g full WC. Comfortable all day.
Speaking of Unique and old load data I happen to have a couple cans of old Unique. They have the red and gold label.Originally Posted by atr
buzzard`s gotta eat, same as the worms
Josey Wales
So if I stick with 6.0 to 7.5 of Unique I should be ok.
buzzard`s gotta eat, same as the worms
Josey Wales
I would surely think so burch. Start low, work up and let the revolver tell you what it likes.
35 Whelen, frustrating as all get out is more like it. I tried about everything I could lay my hands on, 2400, H-110, 231, SR-7625, Unique, Blue Dot and maybe some others I've forgotten. A healthy dose of Blue Dot was pretty good. I had a couple pounds of Bullseye and tried it more out of frustration than with any expectation of success. First load out showed promise and I tweaked it to 5.3 grs.
Unique has been my "go to" powder for revolver cartridges such as the 44 Spl. for....I guess over 40 years. My Colt New Frontier in 44 Spl. loves it and the old Ruger I had in 45 Colt was deadly with it out to 500 yards...the Colt doesn't do bad out that far either. Oddly, my Freedom Arms Mod. 97 in 45 Colt also does not share the same love affair with Unique that I do. I did finally get a load with SR-7625 that it does love. Good thing I have a surfeit of 7625. Unique wasn't far behind but it didn't shoot with 7625. That's with a cast, 255 gr., RCBS SWC of 50/50, lead/lino alloy. With heavyweight bullets, 300 grs. plus, 296 and H-110, (aren't they the same?), shot scary accurate out of it. Years and miles have considerably reduced the power level of my handloads in revolvers.
"In general, the art of government is to take as much money as possible from one class of citizens and give it to another class of citizens" Voltaire'
The common virtue of capitalism is the sharing of equal opportunity. The common vice of socialism is the equal sharing of misery
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As long as you are using a similar boolit that those loads were intended for, yes. When changing to a different boolit that might sit lower in the case, as in the case of a full wadcutter where the base of the boolit is seated considerably lower in the case, you would need to compensate for that variance. Even though the boolit weights are the same or close, it matters most how much volume there is in the case below the base of the boolit.
This would certainly have me looking at something besides the powder. Can't blame the powder if the gun has tight cylinder throats or a wonky forcing cone.
Last edited by DougGuy; 03-08-2019 at 10:02 AM.
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The Lyman 429215 GC over 5 grs of Titegroup yields 825 fps from my Ruger 4 5/8 Blackhawk. It's my go to bullet for competition plate shooting. Also The 429421 over 7.5 grs of Unique for 950 fps is very accurate. Lastly the Lyman 429383 over 7.2 grs of Power Pistol yields 880 fps. All bullets 15 bhn and sized at .429".
Unless you know the "EXACT" history of this old Unique gun powder I would suggest using it to start campfires!
A buddy ran into trouble with some "OLD" powder.
The bullets just barely left the barrel!
Better safe than sorry.
Here is the link to the Brian Pierce article on .44 Special loads. Very informative and something that anyone who loads for the “special “ should keep handy.
http://www.goodrichfamilyassoc.org/4...%20Special.pdf
Enjoy!
Ken
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The revolver cylinder throats and forcing cone are fine as is the bore. Not only did I check them, repeatedly, I had my 'smith check them suspecting perhaps I was missing something.
"In general, the art of government is to take as much money as possible from one class of citizens and give it to another class of citizens" Voltaire'
The common virtue of capitalism is the sharing of equal opportunity. The common vice of socialism is the equal sharing of misery
NRA Benefactor 2008
Larry Gibson said it best earlier. His loads mimic mine that are currently loaded on my shelf. I reduce my 700x and bullseye load a bit though. In the 4.8 range. The 44 special is so special, many loads work, and work well. You decide what you like. My current cowboy load is 4.2 700x and lee’s 200 FP bullet. These are fun to shoot one handed. Even the standard 246 grain 750 FPS load is fun one handed. It’s all fun.
Well ****. I was hoping I had a good supply of Unique.
buzzard`s gotta eat, same as the worms
Josey Wales
Hey, I'm finishing off one of the old cardboard cans of Unique and it works fine. As my sweet mother used to tell me "Don't borrow trouble." Use the ****ed powder.
35W
The biggest waste of time is arguing with the fool and fanatic who doesn't care about truth or reality, but only the victory of his beliefs and illusions.
There are people who, for all the evidence presented to them, do not have the ability to understand.
NRA Life Member
I have two all time favorite 44 spec molds. the 429215 lyman and the rcbs 240 swcgc. Both do need gas checks though but what ive found in all my 44 specs and magnums is that if neither of those two bullets give you excellent accuracy then bring it to a gun shop and swap it. Ive owned probably a dozen 44 specs and at least twice that many 44 mags and those two bullets are in the top 3 in accuracy in all of them with bullets under 250 grain. The #3 is again a gas check bullet. the lyman 429244. Load 7.5 grains of unique with any one of those bullets and id bet you will smile.
The 210 round nose mentioned earlier is the modern version of the original known as the Anderton bullet. Anderton used it successfully to win matches around the turn of the century..not this one. It held more lube and had a slightly different nose profile. I do like the rcbs version of Keith's bullet but use Lee's 240gr. roundnose more often. Using range scrap and a modest amount of hp38 gives me an unusually accuate load in my Smith m24-4 (classic) and a ruger
44 spec. flat top. Just sayin.
Much as I like the Keith, most of my .44 shooting is light, light and pleasant. I shot mostly the 200gr Lee RNFP over 3.5 gr Bullseye. Accurate, pleasant, and cheap to load. And even though it is a conventional boolit (not micro band) I shoot the as cast, lubed with thinned LLA.
I think even Elmer would approve of that bullet really nice.ARSENAL H&G 503 elmer Keith mold.
clear coated with "smokes"
Here's a good load I use in my Colt New Frontier 7 1/2 inch .44 Special.
Bullet: Lyman 429244 255 gr. (WW/.432/SPG/Hornady GC)
Powder: Alliant Power Pistol 6.9 grs.
Primer: Winchester Large Pistol
Case: R-P
Velocity: 882 fps
I'm a little more adventurous with my Ruger Bisley Flattop .44 Special 5 1/2 - but I haven't checked the velocity yet...
RCBS 44-250K (.430/LBT Magnum Lube)
Powder: Alliant Power Pistol 8.0 grs.
Primer: Federal 150
Case: Magtech
Last edited by pbcaster45; 04-03-2019 at 10:14 AM.
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| 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 |
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