Is it time to move away from Unique?

[TurnipEaterDown]

If you check the labels on newly purchased Hodgdon powder( Hodgdon, Winchester, IMR) you’ll find a lot of them that are reasonably priced are not 1 pound (16 oz). I bought some Titewad at a LGS and I noticed that the price was pretty close to what it was a couple years ago, before the current drought. When I got home I looked closer at the label I found out that it was not 16 ozs it was 14 ozs! I went back to the store to complain and that’s when I noticed that there were very few Hodgdon powders that were actually 16 ounces ! Most were 14 and quite a few were 12 ounces! I don’t know about anybody else but I can load a hell of a lot of pistol rounds with either 2 or 4ounces of powder! When you do the math it turns out that the Hodgdon powder is roughly the same price as the unique! The difference being unique is still 16 ounces while the Hodgdon powder is either 12 or 14 ounces !

Nice to know that Hodgdon is using the potato chip price control method -- make the bag smaller when people react to price increases...
So effective...

[TXTad]

I bought 2x8 a few years ago when cheap just because everyone runs on about it, figured good to have stocked, but have yet to break the seals. Guess I’m waiting for a unique application.

Sadly, I wasn't very active a few years ago when things were good again. I do have some stashes of various things, so I'm OK now, but definitely not where I want to be.

[TurnipEaterDown]

Looking on powder valley listing it shows every powder I checked from Hodgdon as 1 pound minimum except for Trailboss (that is 9 ounce).
Even shotshell powders I had not seen before.

[Charlie Horse]

A friend got some Unique this week from Midway.

[poppy42]

Nice to know that Hodgdon is using the potato chip price control method -- make the bag smaller when people react to price increases...
So effective...

Exactly what I thought of when I first found out!

[poppy42]

Looking on powder valley listing it shows every powder I checked from Hodgdon as 1 pound minimum except for Trailboss (that is 9 ounce).
Even shotshell powders I had not seen before.

They might be 1 pound jugs but they don’t have 16 ozs of powder in them!

[poppy42]

same size Container when you looked in the back it no longer has 16 ozs in it! So I ask you which one is the better deal? 1 pound of unique for $45 or 14 ounces of tightwad for $39?

[deces]

That is pretty sleazy of Hodgdon.

[rbuck351]

I bought a 4lb cardboard container of Unique in the 70s. I still have 2 or 3 lbs of that left as I bought several lbs of w230 that a fellow shooter was getting rid of as it was being discontinued. When I used most of that I got some of the newer w231 which it and its twin HP38 were my go to powders for 38spl and 45acp. About 15/20 years back I tried Universal Clays. Now I still have the Unique but I use either 231 or Universal as they work as good or better than Unique for me.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

The last gunshow I was at, there was one table with four vintage cans of powder, small square steel cans, all sealed. One was Unique, one was 2400, one was Bullseye, the other, I forget? all were priced at $25 each. I made a reasonable offer and walked away with all four.

So anyway, I won't be moving away from Unique, it will always be around.

[Froogal]

Sadly, I wasn't very active a few years ago when things were good again. I do have some stashes of various things, so I'm OK now, but definitely not where I want to be.

Same here. I have enough, but not enough to be comfortable with experimenting. I have to be content to load what I know works.

[Saxon]

pppppssssssttttt hey man you got any of that TIGHTGROUP i'm low on unique
no really it good for 45 acp

[muskeg13]

Is it time to move away from Unique? Akkkk! Is this a trick Demm-o-Commie question? Unique is probably the most useful and versatile smokeless powder ever developed.

[TXTad]

Is it time to move away from Unique? Akkkk! Is this a trick Demm-o-Commie question? Unique is probably the most useful and versatile smokeless powder ever developed.

No trick. It is of the best and most useful powders ever made. That's why I'm upset that it's been hard to find and expensive when you do find it. As long as that's the way it is, I will use alternates when I can. If the situation improves, I will buy about 150% of what I think I'll need for the rest of my life.

[Texas by God]

It is my main powder for 44-40 WCF, but it’ll make pretty much any gun go bang.
I just checked- I’ve got about 3-1/2 lbs left of an 8 pound keg under the church pew.


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[P Flados]

Unique is "versatile". It is not really optimal for much of what it gets used for.

I have used it off and on. I bought a jug when it was cheap enough (shortly after the Obama shortage ended). I was not really that happy with it for a number of loads I tried. I also restocked on Promo at the same time.

I considered Promo closer to optimum for most any application where I can use it to get the desired results.

I am cost sensitive, and I do like good complete load data (both data for lots of cartridges and good detailed data with pressure values). Where I would have rated Alliant "as good as any" at one time, they have been disappointing more often than not in recent years.

If you care about both cost and availability, there is a trend that seems to have become evident during this shortage. It looks like cost and availability are better with ball powders.

I think this overlaps with the "green powders" discussion. I recall reading that makers of traditional flake and extruded products are facing regulations that are increasing cost and/or interfering with production. If true, I seriously doubt that this pressure will just "go away". If making ball powders is "just easier", it will affect cost. In turn, powder cost is a real consideration to ammo makers. And remember that ammo makers "drive" the powder making business not us measly reloaders. If the fraction of commercial / military ammo made from ball powders is "ever increasing", the relative availability and cost of ball powders to reloaders will improve while flake and extruded will do the opposite.

Again, I do not really care for Unique but I do like Promo. However, unless I see more cost competitive offerings from Alliant I may have bought my last jug of their product. I do intend to carefully evaluate my options when my supply is gone (in a couple of years?).

[B1GB1RD]

I was able to get allocated 6 - 8# jugs of Unique, I said send um, then I got them in, my cost was over 250.00 an 8, wow, WTH happened Alliant?

[Hanzy4200]

I use it pretty exclusively in gallery rifle loads. I have turned to W231 and TG for most all other pistol loads. I have also started loading a good bit of Ramshot for these very reasons. Much cheaper.

[TXTad]

I was able to get allocated 6 - 8# jugs of Unique, I said send um, then I got them in, my cost was over 250.00 an 8, wow, WTH happened Alliant?

$31.25 / lb isn't bad at all. I wish that was the single pound price, with 8# going somewhere closer to $200.

[45_Colt]

same size Container when you looked in the back it no longer has 16 ozs in it! So I ask you which one is the better deal? 1 pound of unique for $45 or 14 ounces of tightwad for $39?

On a per ounce basis they are nearly the same price. The less then 16 oz isn't really new. Back in the '90s AA Nitro 100 came in 12 oz containers. Still does, but it isn't $10.50 a container like back then either.

45_Colt