Unique in a .308

[kynardsj]

I'm about to start loading cast boolits in my two .308's. The loadbook I have has a lot of powders including loads for Unique. For the 165 gr bullets I'll be loading the load starts at 10 gr for 1368 fps @ 23,400 cup and goes to 15 gr for 1816 fps and 37,700 cup. I'm already shooting Unique in my 38's, 357 mags and 45 LC's. Even loaded it in my mild S&W 500 mags. Anyone else use it with good results in bottleneck rifle cartridges ? I have five of the powders in the loadbook but it would just be nice if I could get an accruate load with Unique in the 308 too.

[462]

My '03-A3 sporter absolutely loves it.

[watkibe]

It worked fine in mine too, until I double charged a case. I had to use a hammer to open the bolt, and a visegrips to get the case off the bolt face. When I got it off, I could see that the case head had a little pin on it, where it had extruded into the plunger hole where the ejector is.

Of course it was my own stupid mistake. But IIRC 7.0 gr of Unique sure gets hard to see in the bottom of a 308 case, and if you can see it, it looks the same as 14.0 grains.

I still shoot reduced/cast bullet loads, but with SR 4759 or H4895. I like to build in safeguards because I just can't tell when I will make my next stupid mistake.
Have fun, be safe.

[Doby45]

Unique is awesome in a 308. They will not be barn burners but they are potent enough for paper punching and small game dispatching.

[WKAYE]

What ? Something's wrong here. Me and a buddy of mine have shot lots of Unique and the 312 180 Lee out of 308 and 303 target rifles. The charge wt. is 15gr. as that was the most accurate. For the condition you described, I think you triple charged.

It worked fine in mine too, until I double charged a case. I had to use a hammer to open the bolt, and a visegrips to get the case off the bolt face. When I got it off, I could see that the case head had a little pin on it, where it had extruded into the plunger hole where the ejector is.

Of course it was my own stupid mistake. But IIRC 7.0 gr of Unique sure gets hard to see in the bottom of a 308 case, and if you can see it, it looks the same as 14.0 grains.

I still shoot reduced/cast bullet loads, but with SR 4759 or H4895. I like to build in safeguards because I just can't tell when I will make my next stupid mistake.
Have fun, be safe.

[cheese1566]

I use 11.0 grains of Unique in my 7.62NATO for my Ishapore 2A. I use gas checked Lee C309-160-R's with Lar's Carn Red. I Lee collet size and use a slight crimp using a Lee Factory Crimp die (otherwise easy to push the bulet in!) My Ishapore has a large chamber and some headspace, so this method works great for me.

Because of the large case and low powder charge, I have the habit now to place the charged case on a small digital scale before bullet seating to check for a variance indicating an ooops.

My Ishapore loves these loads and I can hit a 8" steel plate consistently at 100yds using peep sights. Plus I can shoot all day long and not have a sore shoulder or cheek (usually 50-100 each time when at the range). Plus it is cheap to load!!

[skeet1]

watkibe,

There must have been more than a double charge in your 308 to get those results. 14.0 gr. should be well within the safe limits for the 308 unless you were using a VERY LARGE boolit. You might want to check and see if there was not something else wrong with your load. The other way to avoid double charging is to seat the boolit right after charging the case and not charging all the cases before seating boolits.

Ken

[Hang Fire]

Know some might disagree, but, if I was to be restricted to just one powder for all reloading from scatter gun through rifle and handgun, it would be Unique, period.

[Al_sway]

I used Unique in my .308 with good results. Generally around 12-13 grains with my 170 grain cast bullet with gas check. It didn't require any special alloy to make a good short range (100 yards) target load.
When using these loads in a bottle neck case I check the charge with a dowel. It is very quick to run it down each case until it touches powder, and avoids any problems in looking into the case.

[No_1]

The beauty of unique is it's across the board usage. The REAL old books show loads for jacketed bullets as well as cast. I think you can find exactly what you are looking for using unique if you take the time to experiment with it.

[1Shirt]

Seems to me that Unique can be used sucessfully in just about anything that shoots in a brass case. I choose to use it as a primary powder for handgun ctgs, and a secondary fast pdr for rifle loads. Am very serious about avoiding double charges and in rifle cases a double charge of unique is fairly easily overlooked.
(Same can be said for most all of the fast powders). I weigh all loaded ctgs that are charged with powders that do not fill the case at least half full. That is one reason I am now shooting a pretty fair amount of Trail Boss.

Anyhow, Unique does work for 308, and have had accurate loads with it, but it is not one of my go to powders for that ctg. Good Luck!
1Shirt!

[watkibe]

OK, OK, OK ! It happened about 1980, so please forgive me if I forgot the exact load. (that's why I keep extensive notebooks on everything I load so I don't have to trust my memory) Actually, 15 grains was mentioned above and that sort of rings a bell. Hmmm...
While I was using Unique in rifle loads, I loved it in the 223 and the 308...(hey wait a minute, maybe 7 gr was the 223 load ?). I don't hate the powder, I love it and use more of it than any other - just not in cast boolit loads for rifles, when SR 4759 does the same job more safely.
I would also choose Unique if I could only have one powder; most of my revolver loads use Unique; and I love the smell of it in the morning while duck hunting...it smells like...limiting out !
As the picture shows, Unique is the only powder I use enough of to buy 4 lb canisters of.
My point was actually that if you are using very small powder charges in relatively large cases, you have to be very careful not to double, or as someone was kind enough to suggest, triple charge a case. The pic of the cartridge heads shows the double charged one next to a normally charged one for comparison. The pic of my notebook page shows it happened in 1986, not about 1980, and that the usual charge was 12 grains, and so the double charge would have been 24 grains.
A guy's gotta watch it around here, you are a sharp-eyed bunch of old curmudgeons and not afraid to call ******** ! Thanks for the correction

[groovy mike]

Do you guys use any sort o filler or wad with your Unique loads in 308 or is it not position sensitive in the big rifle cartridge? If you do not use a wad or filler, have you had any ignition issues?

[RU shooter]

I've used quite a few pounds of it in the 30-06 and never used a filler or wad of any sort

[Martin Luber]

Funny, l was just testing the op load 10 gr @1368, that's what I got too.

[fcvan]

I have not loaded 308 W with unique as I have a Springfield M1A, a Sig 716 Patrol Rifle (AR 10), and a Mossberg Scout Rifle. I have considered loading some just for the bolt gun and powder coating a specific color just to identify bolt only loads. I have used Unique in a Springfield 03A3, initially with a Lee C309-150 RF.

I don't own the 03A3, but am 'babysitting' Dad's rifle. With his permission, it was the first rifle I ever cast for. I later purchased an NOE 309-150 SP 3R, but have only loaded those with the same powder I use for cast loads in 223/5.56, 300 BO, 308 W, which is IMR 4227. All of those loads are now powder coated.

I was recently gifted a 7.65 x 53 Argentinian Mauser, very similar to the 308 W, and may use it with Unique exclusively. This thing looks basically unused, original owner bought it for $12 as a surplus rifle back in the 1950s. He had said it was unfired when purchased and had reportedly only seen about 40 rounds of factory. I traced the numbers (matching numbers, BTW) and it was from the original lot sold to Argentina, produced in Germany. This may become the cast boolit only rifle I have wanted for 35 years, maybe dedicated to Unique. New to me, I have
a Lee C312- 155 R, but I still have to acquire dies. I'm looking forward to this experiment.

[Texas by God]

I've used Unique in 22-250, 30-30, 8x57mm, and soon will use it in 30-40 Krag. Love it, love it. Oh yeah, 44 WCF is a bottleneck case and that's basically ALL I use in it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[charlie b]

Do you guys use any sort o filler or wad with your Unique loads in 308 or is it not position sensitive in the big rifle cartridge? If you do not use a wad or filler, have you had any ignition issues?

No it is not position sensitive.

I love the really light loads in my .308. Since I have a bunch of it I use Blue Dot. 7-8gn gets me around 1000-1100fps. If I take care with the bullets, ie, sort by weight and such, then it can shoot less than an inch at 100yd. It is pretty good even to 200yd (180gn bullet), but, at 300yd it is a bit more difficult. The wind really tosses the bullet around.

It is the only load that makes me laugh at the range. Shooting a pipsqueak load and hitting a 2" dia target at 200yd is just plain fun.

Here are some tests with other powders, loads and cartridges (I started with the mid level .30-06 charges for my .308)
http://www.gmdr.com/lever/lowveldata.htm

[lar45]

I use 11.0 grains of Unique in my 7.62NATO for my Ishapore 2A. I use gas checked Lee C309-160-R's with Lar's Carn Red. I Lee collet size and use a slight crimp using a Lee Factory Crimp die (otherwise easy to push the bulet in!) My Ishapore has a large chamber and some headspace, so this method works great for me.

I had to work on one of the Ishapore 7.62s awhile back. The guy was shooting factory 308 Win ammo and was getting head separations and the occasional lengthwise split. I set it back one thread, cut a fresh chamber, test fired it and sent it back. A couple weeks later I get the same rifle back with the same issues. Only this time I had to set the barrel back 2 threads, without cutting a new chamber, to correct the excessive headspace.
So I send it back with a note this time telling the owner that he had a soft action that was stretching and should not shoot 308 win in it again. I guess the guy got fairly bent about the note saying that if he bought a 308 rifle then it should be able to fire 308... and wanted me to buy it because I was the one that worked on it...

If your rifle has an overly long chamber, then you might have a soft action also. So running low pressure cast loads sounds like the only thing that should be shot in the rifle.

[fcvan]

[/QUOTE]If your rifle has an overly long chamber, then you might have a soft action also. So running low pressure cast loads sounds like the only thing that should be shot in the rifle.[/QUOTE]

Exactly! 30+ years ago, I asked a buddy with an FFL to order for me a 96 Spanish Mauser re-barreled in 308 W. He said 'the action won't hold up' or something to the point. I told him I wanted the rifle for cast boolits only. Still, he didn't oblige. Flash forward 30+ years, a friend recently gifted me a 7.65 x 53 Argentine Mauser that was basically unfired when purchased by his BIL back in the 1950s. Matching numbers, bore pristine, but some wear on the bluing and surface imperfections. I have a mold, I just need the dies. This will be my cast only bolt gun I have wanted for DECADES!

Ok Frank, curb your enthusiasm. Blank that! I have 3, 308s I have purchased in recent years, 1 new (bolt gun) and 2 semi, and AR 10 with 20 rounds through it, and an M1A that was a field gun, used, not abused. I have a load that has worked well in each, using an NOE C309-150 SP and H4227, a load that gives me 2250FPS when PCd. The bolt gun is a 16" Mossberg Scout Rifle that has yet to see a J word. Okay, maybe 5 for function, I don't recall. The main thing is I really like cast loads that run way less pressure with cast loads and perform.

I have noticed that the loads I use do not over work the brass or the action. I know that similar loads will not overwork the Argentinian Mauser. I like iron sights, I hate tin cans, I think I will be in heaven. The only mold I have suitable is only the Lee C312-155 2R and may want a heavier boolit, maybe. I'm only killing tin cans so more weight may not be required. The longer barrel length and the decent sights should be all I need.

Will I abandon the 308s? Sad to say possibly, I bought them for my wife to choose her weapon of choice for CO Mule deer. The M1A is still a dandy, and the Wife likes her black rifles. We shall see, she gets territorial over things, like this old J frame I had but she won't give back. The nerve! She told me to get my own! It was mine! SWMBO I guess.

I've got my tin can killer, I'm going to just keep grinning And, shoot low pressure cast loads through and old Mauser. I just need to steam out some small dings in an otherwise un-blemished stock. I'm going to leave the metal alone, it's part of the history of the thing. Did I mention I like shooting cast in rifles?