10grs Unique loads for 30-30, 06, 45-70.

[augercreek]

Would you use a wad to hold powder in place or not?

[sghart3578]

I don't and I load Unique in all of those calibers, plus 7X57.

[Larry Gibson]

No

Larry Gibson

[JSnover]

Shot that load in both. No filler, no problems.

[Scharfschuetze]

I agree with all the above.

For the best uniformity in velocity and extreme spread, you can always quickly flip the muzzle up a bit before firing. That will settle the powder back towards the primer uniformly for shot to shot consistency.

[clum553946]

What everyone has said, no filler needed.

[augercreek]

Thanks much. Does it not make any difference what weight of bullet used? I recently got a Lee 311-100 2 cavity mould that casts lino type bullets at 98.3 grs. Would 10grs be a good starting load for the 30-30 & 06 ?

[sghart3578]

For a bullet that light you can try 7-8 gr of Unique.

I have that mold also and I load it in 30-06 cases with 5 gr of HP38 or Bullseye for fun plinkers for my grandkids.

[HABCAN]

What everyone said, but for a boolit that light, 5 grs. Red Dot in '06 is funnnn.

[Garand]

No filler needed!

[ProudOkie]

How would this perform as a hunting load on deer?

[KenH]

It's my understanding a bullet should have at least 1,000 ft-lb of energy at muzzle for deer hunting. For a 170 grain bullet this is about 1600 fps. A 150 grain bullet should be just a tad over 1700 fps to have the same 1,000 ft-lb of muzzle energy.

With the above info, just check the FPS of the load to determine if it would be good for deer or not.

Ken H>

[ProudOkie]

HEy Ken, Thanks! So is there a calculation there? Im shooting a 183 grain cast bullet.

[Lead Fred]

I have all those calibers, and have and never will use Unique in them.
If I were in the 45/70, Id use a wad and filler, they just seem to shoot tighter.

[KenH]

"IF" I were planning to deer hunt, Unique would not be my choice of powder for a 30-30. While it's a GREAT powder for plinking around with cast bullets at lower fps loads, Unique starts getting close to max pressure for a 30-30 well before 2,000 fps loads. I'd think a better powder would be 3031, or one of several other powders.

For your 183 cast bullet, QuickLoad gives almost 32K psi for only 10 grains of powder. At 1400 fps this is only around 800 ft-lb of energy. Of course that will kill a deer. Remember, it's "generally accepted" (read this from a long range hunting forum) you need 1,000 ft-lb energy at point bullet hits animal, but that's generous - less can certainly provide good kills.

Ken H>

[wadcutter]

How would this perform as a hunting load on deer?

Very poorly. 10 grains of Unique makes a nice squib load, but lacks the power to kill humanely.