Unique in the .45 acp 1911

[JWFilips]

Hi Folks,
Have been shootin my new 1911 with BE under a 230 gr boolit ( 4.5 gr to 4.7 gr) & things are working well. However I always am willing to "rock the boat" & I have seen here on this forum from my favorite "Big Hat" people that Unique works well & maybe better in the same set up.... Well I'm asking what is the deal with Unique vs. BE in the 1911 ? (I can go any way & am a slave to alternate ideas. .... I made my BE loads shoot great but I'm fishing around for my brass! Is there some magic Unique load that lets the brass land in one's pocket & put them all in the X with a 230 Gr Slug;)

[jaysouth]

5 grs of Unique or 4 grs. BE with a 13 pound recoil spring puts empties right by your shoe.

[dilly]

Can't say anything bad about bullseye but I know I love my unique loads.

[Larry Gibson]

The secret is; Unique up on the brass.........:lol:

Larry Gibson

[btroj]

Well done Larry.

I use mostly Clays in my 1911. I find that how I hold the gun makes much more difference in brass location than anything else. Far more so than with my CZ 75 in 9mm. The 1911 is just that critical of hand position, how hard it is held, and tons of other things.

I bet most good loads will place brass in a consistent location if the shooter is capable. I am not capable.

[TXGunNut]

My first 45acp load was 7.2 or thereabouts under a 200 gr SWC. It had to cycle a duty gun with 20# springs so it was a little snappy. And yes, lost lots of brass!

[Minerat]

I've used Unique too but a little dirty. Still looking for something better, as for chasing brass I found a neat trick when shooting for my CCW permit. The trainer put a blue tarp down so that the shells all landed on it, then it was just a matter of picking up the tarp. Saves a lot of work when policing the range. I started doing it and have found a cheap 10x12 from Harbor Freight works great even when snow is on the ground.

[bobthenailer]

some people use a golfing, large style umbrella open it upand use the pont to anchor it in the ground. and postion yourself so the brass drops in the opened umbrella.

[Old Coot]

I have shot thousands of round with Unique 5.5gr. and a 200gr. SWC cast bullet. I have never been able to beat it for accuracy or function and if your grip is constant the pile of brass can be covered with a cowboy hat. Unique is dirtier than BE , but you need to clean the gun anyway. Brodie

[Grump]

My load was about 6.0 of Unique.

Then I ran out of it.

Still chasing the accuracy demon.

[Airman Basic]

6 grains of Unique is my sweet spot with 200 or 230 grain boolits. Less than that, get sooty brass. This out of a Combat Commander and a Sig P220.

[Dan Cash]

6 gr. Unique, 230 gr cast TC from Accurate Mold. As good as it will ever get.

[DrBill33]

5.4gr Unique is what I have found to work well in my .45s (111 and MiniFirestorm).
This load shoots accurately in both firearms.

[Char-Gar]

Bulleye is far and away my first choice for the 45 ACP round. I have used Unique, AA5 and 231 with satisfaction.

[tomme boy]

The thing I didn't like about Unique was all of the unburned powder all over my arms and face. It has produced two very accurate loads for me.

[pworley1]

I have spent about 40 years trying to find something better than unique. I am sure that there has to be one any day now.

[KYCaster]

Position of spent brass is a function of extractor/ejector geometry and slide velocity.

If recovering brass is your goal, powder selection is way down on the list of variables.

Jerry

[TXGunNut]

I could care less about recovering brass, can pick up all I need pretty easily. I prefer 231 for the loads I shoot but that may be because I load them on a 550 and 231 works better than Unique in the Dillon measure. I also bought it in bulk when I was using 231 in my PPC 38 loads. My earliest handloads were Unique in 9mm and 45ACP so I guess it will always be a sentimental favorite for me.

[cwheel]

When I first started loading 45acp 40 years or so ago, my go to load was 4.6 gr. of Bullseye under a 185 wad cutter. Fine round for paper, lousy on game. Years later I moved to a 230 round nose over 6 gr. of Unique, and still with that load. Bullseye shot fine on paper, left a very dirty firearm after 100 rounds +. Unique seams to be just as dirty with some of the lower powered loadings. At 6gr. though, seams to burn much cleaner and with a 230 gr. round nose cast, burns quite clean in comparison. I wanted my loadings to duplicate the power of 230 gr. hardball, and not to train with a low powered round that wouldn't duplicate typical factory rounds regardless of how well they printed on paper. Still load this way, and when I shoot factory standard pressure hollow points, point of impact is almost the same. Can mix the in the mag and you can't tell what you have fired. If you are never going to fire off range, hunt, or use your 45 acp as a CCW, then I guess low power stuff should be just fine for you. Brass in a nice little pile, low power is the ticket. With a full power round you are l not going to have your brass in a nice little pile like you could have with a nice low powered target load that just will cycle the slide this way. You gota ask your self if you are just there to cut holes in paper, or train for something else. Guess I don't mind looking for the brass, but not at a range out here in the desert. I'd highly recommend Unique over Bullseye, but only 6 gr. and above.
Chris

[fcvan]

I got my Springfield 1911 plain Jane parkerized in 1987 for $269 out of Shotgun News. Loved it so much my S&W 459 started collecting dust. Anyway, I cast the Lee 452-228 1R, lubed with Javalina, and loaded it over 6 grains of Unique. I shot at least 500 rounds per week for the next several years.

I started out with 500 pieces of brand new brass stamped Midway and of course have not worn it out. I've also collected quite a bit of range pick up brass with the oldest being GI brass date stamped 1942. I haven't worn that out either. Heck, I've got some brass that was so worn the head stamp is very faint - but the brass is still doing great. The 6 grain load is. Rey easy on the gun and it's components.

The gun has benefitted from a heavier recoil spring at about 18lbs. Only recently have I been playing with some warmer loads using a 200 gr RNHP with a plain based gas check and also with powder coating. The mold is actually a Lee 450-200 conical mold for the Remington 1858 BP revolver so it is tapered from about .450 at the base to .452 ish at the front band. With a PB GC and sized to .452 the boolit does great.

When cast from softer range scrap and PCd, the boolit does extremely well. Oh, I have loaded and shot the 200 RNHP with 6 grains all the way to 7 grains, albeit with newer brass. I still keep going back to 6 grains even though accuracy with both loads is extremely good, capable of minute-of-soda-can at 100 yards. The old eyes are more of a problem than the capability of the weapon and ammo.

My biggest problem with the .45 ACP is that of all the guns I own, I own more molds for the .45 than any other. I haven't had one mold that didn't work very well in this gun and dang it if there aren't 2 more on my wish list - so far :)

[Abenaki]

I use Unique in my 1911.
It works for me.

As far as Unique being dirty? No big deal. I also shoot flintlocks. Blackpowder is dirty!!!!

Take care
Abenaki

[BNE]

The secret is; Unique up on the brass.........:lol:

Larry Gibson


I had a ROTTEN day at work today. This made me laugh. Thanks!