If you could only have one smokeless powder forever, what would it be?

[8mmFan]

For the shooting that you do, pistol, rifle, shotgun, target, hunting, plinking, small-game, large-game, upland, waterfowl, cast, jacketed, or whatever else it is that you do...

If you had to narrow all of your powder down to just one, going forward forever, what would it be? A few words as to why would be awesome.

8mmFan

[gwpercle]

Good old smokey , large flaked , flaming dirt.....Unique

You can bad mouth it all you want to but if limited to one powder for handgun, rifle and shotgun ...
I could get by with just Unique.
Tons of load data available , tried and true and truth be known I reloaded with just Unique for decades.
38 Special target loads really do best with Bullseye...but if you can only have one I'm going with Unique.
Gary

[big bore 99]

Would have to be Unique.

[WheelgunConvert]

It’s down a bit on my favorites chart, but unique got me through the great powder famine a few years back.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Would have to be Unique. gwpercle said it all.

[unique]

Unique. Most flexible powder available with attributes of being waterproof, clean buring (relative to Black Powder), shelf life well over a hundred years, and readily available at a good price.

I have used it in 20 gauge, 32 special, 38 special, 357mag, 44 special, 44Mag, 45 ACP, 45 colt, 9mm, 223, 303, 30-06, 6.5x55, 7x57, 45-70, 30-30, well I could keep going on but let's just say you can use it in anything.

Unique.

[Walks]

UNIQUE

I used to use it in Duck & Goose Loads, back when we could still shoot lead at birds.

And lots of Handguns & Cast Rifle loads

[Mk42gunner]

I kind of hate to admit this, but I don't think I ever loaded any Unique. But if I were to be in that unenviable situation, Unique is the one powder I can think of that would do for everything.

I started loading with a Lee Loader for my .410 in 1976, 20 Gauge the next year and rifles about 1981.

Robert

[Driver man]

If I could get Unique that would be my choice also but as Unique is virtually unobtanium in NZ I use ADI AP70 known in the US as Universal which is almost identical in performance. I have had good results in 38 special.357 mag. 44mag, 9mm, 45ACP and subsonic loads in 7.62x39, 303 British, 308 w.

[Wheelguns 1961]

Another vote for unique.

[Cherokee]

231 over Unique, it works in every application for me.

[Rcmaveric]

If only one, then Unique could do it all for me. Only down side it would limit me in velocity in my rifles and would turn my ARs in single shots.

Ideally i would have 4 to cover all my basses.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[sigep1764]

Red Dot/Promo. I use it in the 4 calibers I load for

[WRideout]

I started my reloading career in the seventies with a pound can each of Red Dot and IMR3031. If through some cataclysmic event I could only have one powder, it would have to be Red Dot at this point in time. I think I have loaded cartridges for every gun I own with Red Dot at some time or another.

Wayne

[rking22]

Unique for me as well. Can feed my shotguns,12,16,20,28 with book loads and 410 ultra lights. All my pistols and most rifle calibers I presently have any interest in, that includes putting vension on the table. 20-28 and universal could sub if I really had to, but not as many published loads.

[L Erie Caster]

I would have to vote for Unique. Red Dot in second place and Bullseye in third. I always have all three. I don't load anything regularly with Unique or Red Dot any longer but I still have a supply just in case.

[dragon813gt]

I honestly can’t by with just one. You can’t run the full gamut of handguns let alone rifles w/ one. Even rifles there’s a big difference between the magnums and the rest.

If you want non magnum level loads in handguns and low level loads in rifles you can get by w/ just one. And for that I would choose Promo. Cheaper than Red Dot and only comes in 8# kegs. Now if only Alliant would start using the more appropriate sized bottles that Hodgodn uses.

[jeepyj]

So interesting, before I read even one response in my head I thought how could live without Unique!

[Ed_Shot]

I agree that Unique would do the job but I use a whole lot more Promo than Unique.

[Green Frog]

There's a reason they named it "Unique." It is definitely not the best for each possible load one might do, but it is the all around best for all the different loads one might have to do with a single powder. I haven't heard any real solid results about the new "Universal" but am told it was designed to mimic the versatility of Unique. That remains to be seen. :-?

Froggie

[GhostHawk]

That is exactly the choice I was looking at when I got back into shooting some 4-5 years ago. I looked long and hard at several powders. In the end I chose Red Dot and never looked back.

Since then I have built a pretty nice stockpile of Red Dot and Promo. With some other stuff thrown in to be played with should I feel the desire to do so.

But everything from .32sw long, to .45colt from .30-30 and 7.62x39 to .44mag and .444marlin has worked with Red Dot. Ohhh yeah and shotguns too.

Most of my rifle loads are 4.5-6.5 grains. Although I have had awesome success in the .444Marlin with 13 grains and a .310 gr gc cast.

That means easy on the pocketbook no matter what your shooting.

For the .32sw long at 2 grains per load that is 3500 loads per pound of powder.

Red dot is not perfect, it is not ideal at cycling rifle semi auto's, although it does 9mm, .40sw, and .45acp semi's just fine.

It is likely not going to be the fastest choice. But as I aged somewhere in there I lost that need for speed. Slow and steady and trajectory like a rainbow is just fine. As long as it is consistent, and cheap enough so I can learn where that rainbow is.

[44Blam]

Alliant 2400 works or *should work* in all my guns and can up/download pretty well.

[megasupermagnum]

The only powder I keep in large quantities is Bluedot. Velocities in rifles are obviously lower than a slow rifle powder, although it is potent stuff in shotguns, and nearly all handguns. You can always use reduced charges of fast powder, but Bluedot can get top performance, or close to it in pretty much anything. The list of powders that can do that is very short. With SR 4756 gone, Unique is a close second, just more limited in shotguns.

[8mmFan]

Wow! Thank you to everyone. I am really glad I asked. I have never tried, nor even bought, Red Dot or Unique. But now I will. Before this thread I would have guessed maybe Green Dot. Been reloading since about '95. Always so much more to learn at this game.

Thanks again, everyone.

8mmFan

[Wis Tom]

I would not like it in everything, but another Unique vote. Since the scare, it is one powder that is always stocked, with an 8 pounder, in my stash.

[GregLaROCHE]

Years ago I used a lot of IMR 3031. Don’t use it much today. Instead I have a lot of different powders for different rounds. However, if you said I could have only one, I would probably choose 3031 from past experience. If I remember correctly, it used to be one of the more economical ones, if you calculated the price per pound per number of loads per pound. Average loads would use less powder than other brands.

[Cast_outlaw]

I have unique I’m my stash but don’t use it much so I think my vote is for blue dot so far has worked well in all the cartridges I have and is capable of decent velocity in rifle and mild to wild I’m all my handguns to

[sparkyv]

Blue Dot. Primarily because it works so well for me in my handguns, is readily available around here, and reasonably priced. It is a dual purpose powder, designed for shotgun primarily. If need be, I would develop rifle loads with it (plenty of others have done it successfully).

[RU shooter]

Another vote for unique . I can load everything I have with it to usable levels handgun and rifle I don't reload shotgun but it would work for that I assume .

[rking22]

8mmfan, I and probably many others answered the literal question. I will elaborate a bit as it seems you may actually want to standardize on 1 powder. I load many more pounds of powder in upland and target shot shells than rifle or pistol. When I load rifle or pistol, plinkers and light target are 50 to 1 over hunting loads. I have 6 or8 rifles and ,of course several pistols that can get hunting level performance from shotgun powders like unique, herco, and blue dot. I chouse unique because the others( bluedot and herco) are for heavy loads in shotguns, I can buy the 1 box of those I need a year, but not the 1000s of small gage target loads. Unique is not ideal for any one of my uses but usable across the board. I actually could ,comfortably, standardise on promo,20-28,2400,rl7,and 4895. Notice Unique is not in that list, it's a compromise. I do keep 8pounds of unique, most always, and use it in a good many loads.
If you,as you name suggests, shoot lots of 8x57 then you may be better served with another powder, or maybe, just maybe 2 :cbpour:

[scattershot]

Gotta be Unique. It will work in just about anything you can name, within reason..

[Outpost75]

I guess none of you Unique lovers use Dillon machines?

If narrowing down to one I could be content with either Bullseye, TiteGroup, WST or 452AA.

[bob208]

unique. nothing like the smell of unique.

[ShooterAZ]

I'd have to say Red Dot for me too. Unique is a good powder for all around use, but I like Red Dot even better.

[MyFlatline]

Unique, rifle,pistol and shotgun. What's not to like. As for brand of press ?, if it gets to where you can only have one powder, what does it matter? What is the most versatile powder for what you load for.

[Taterhead]

I have more than thirty types of powder on hand. If you were to force me to let go of all but one... yep. Unique.

[David2011]

I guess none of you Unique lovers use Dillon machines?

If narrowing down to one I could be content with either Bullseye, TiteGroup, WST or 452AA.

Sure do. I load Cowboy Action loads on a Dillon with Unique. The lighter the load the more likely you will get inconsistencies but at 6.0 grains it’s consistent enough for Cowboy loads.

Another vote for Unique. I don’t use it for a lot of loads but it is very versatile.

[jimb16]

Another Unique user here. I load almost everything I've got using it, rifles, pistols and shotguns.

[johniv]

Another vote for Unique. Works well in all of the pistol cartridges I load for, can be used in reduced rifle loads (I don't do shotguns). I don't have any trouble with it in my Dillon.

[Gewehr-Guy]

I'll go with Unique because of tradition, but lately I've been loading IMR RED and Herco in pistol and cast rifle with excellent results. So it would be a hard choice between any of the flake shotgun powders. Oh by the way, I cheated and hid a jug of 4064 with my barrel of Unique!

[8mmFan]

8mmfan, I and probably many others answered the literal question. I will elaborate a bit as it seems you may actually want to standardize on 1 powder. I load many more pounds of powder in upland and target shot shells than rifle or pistol. When I load rifle or pistol, plinkers and light target are 50 to 1 over hunting loads. I have 6 or8 rifles and ,of course several pistols that can get hunting level performance from shotgun powders like unique, herco, and blue dot. I chouse unique because the others( bluedot and herco) are for heavy loads in shotguns, I can buy the 1 box of those I need a year, but not the 1000s of small gage target loads. Unique is not ideal for any one of my uses but usable across the board. I actually could ,comfortably, standardise on promo,20-28,2400,rl7,and 4895. Notice Unique is not in that list, it's a compromise. I do keep 8pounds of unique, most always, and use it in a good many loads.
If you,as you name suggests, shoot lots of 8x57 then you may be better served with another powder, or maybe, just maybe 2 :cbpour:

Hi RKing, thanks for that. Over the years I've used and/or tried quite a few different powders. I do use a number of different powders for several cartridges, gauges, and purposes. I agree with what you're saying--narrowing down to only one powder it current conditions would be unnecessarily counter-productive to perfect load development across all scenarios. My main curiosity in posting the question was simply what the choice would be for the single, one do-all powder choice of this really knowledgeable sample of reloaders that frequent the cast-boolit forum. And yes, I do love the 8x57. I've done some casting and shooting for it but my primary shooting with 8mm's has been reloading jacket bullets for it for hunting. I won't publish the load I finally worked up for my scoped Yugo pushing Nosler 180g Ballistic Tips, but it's a (nearly) tack-driving cannon. I'm currently working on getting a "good enough" load for it using the LEE 175g and Karabiner bullets. Some little success with those but not good enough so far.

I'm just dumbfounded that I never tried Unique or Red Dot over the last couple of decades. If for no other reason than broadening my horizons and experience, I am going to get some Unique and Red Dot and try them in several applications in 2019. In the future, if powder choices become scarce again, but a guy wants to stay in the game with all of his/her various shooting hobbies, these two powders really seem to be a good choice to have a few containers on hand.

I'll say it again: a big thank you to all of you for educating me on my favorite hobby.

8mmFan

[Taterhead]

I guess none of you Unique lovers use Dillon machines?

If narrowing down to one I could be content with either Bullseye, TiteGroup, WST or 452AA.

452AA is fantastic. Alas, my supply is down to dregs. I inherited a very nice supply a few years ago. I've made great use of it in 40, 10, 38, and 45 auto.

Regarding Dillon presses, I don't specifically have a Dillon, but I have loaded thousands of rounds on my Pro 2000 press. True that Unique does not meter as consistently as others (like 452AA), but it has never been enough to notice on steel or paper. In my experience, at least.

[EMC45]

Unique

[lightman]

I don't think any one single powder will cover the spectrum of cartridges that I load. But, Unique will cover more than any other. It would be a compromise in some calibers but would shoot.

[fredj338]

Well that would suck when you say rifle, pistol & shotgun. Just about any powder can be adapted to work across the diff calibers but I honestly think it impossible to get good results adapting pistol powders for high vel rifle rounds. So I would need two as a minimum. Probably Unique or an equivalent for pistol & 12ga if I reloaded sg, & something like RL15 for rifle.

[fredj338]

452AA is fantastic. Alas, my supply is down to dregs. I inherited a very nice supply a few years ago. I've made great use of it in 40, 10, 38, and 45 auto.

Regarding Dillon presses, I don't specifically have a Dillon, but I have loaded thousands of rounds on my Pro 2000 press. True that Unique does not meter as consistently as others (like 452AA), but it has never been enough to notice on steel or paper. In my experience, at least.

WST Tater.

[Tom W.]

catastrophic!

[Taterhead]

Yeah, I have WST in the wait. You saw my thread on another forum. I'll be using up some of my WAY too many open containers, then I'll jump into WST.

[RED BEAR]

got to go with unique. as far as metering i weigh every load so that is not a major problem.

[savage308]

isn't 452aa the older version of TRAP100 ? I have 2 pounds left and its the best 45 acp powder I have.
If I only had 1 powder its hands down Unique.

[redhawk0]

I've got to join the Red Dot crowd. Been using it for 25+ years and its my go to powder. Yup...I have about 15 other types in my stash...but by far I've purchased more Red Dot than any other.

redhawk

[redhawk0]

catastrophic!

I agree...it sure would be.

redhawk

[EDG]

Only one powder?
I would consider quitting the pastime. I want it my way or no way.
I think Unique is pretty good for a range of handgun ammo and is good for 20 ga shotshells.
12 ga needs Red Dot for high volume target shooting otherwise buy cheap promo ammo.
A single powder for centerfire rifles is a nonsensical notion.
My range of calibers requires 3 or 4.
Those include
1. 4227 or 5744 or SR4759 or 2400
2. 4895 or 4064
3. 4350
4. 4198

[trapper9260]

For me it will be what powder I am able to get if it comes to that when I am out of what I have on hand. I can not bring it to just one powder right now.I use Unique ,Red Dot,2400 ,IMR 4064 the most. I use IMR 4064 for my rifles and the rest mainly for hand gun and shotgun.

[rking22]

Trapper, that is the worst case that I want to avoid. When things get hard to get, the least useful are what is available. I keep a full 8lb of a fast shotgun , medium shotgun and fast rifle powder all the time. When I open an 8, I start planning to pick up a replacement. Been doing that for decades, kept me from paying scalper prices on components or 22s for that matter. Didn't buy much of anything but Titewad to keep my son in skeet ammo during the drout of 2012 era. Titewad, european shotshell primers, and h870 was easy to find. Unique and 2400 were real scarce! Best to pick a few powders that you can live with and keep a solid supply if possiable. Have a friend that likes to experiment, he went thru lots of partial 1lbcans of misc powders, now buys 8lb of shotgun and 4 lb of 4895. Live and learn!

[mvozz]

I have shot quite a bit of Unique, lots of Blue Dot but during the great powder drought I tried some BE86. I stocked up on that because everything else was unavailable. Not as universal as Unique but gets the job done!

[PBSmith]

Sixteen gauge shotgun and low vel rifle plinker is what I've been shooting most often for the past ten years. Both Green Dot and Unique have worked well in these applications.

[Valley-Shooter]

I have to say Hodgdon Universal. I use it in all my pistols and revolvers.

I hear that Unique is dirty.

[Harter66]

I load rifles from 222-264 and on over to 45-70 .
I load pistols in 380,9mm ,38/357,45 GAP/ACP/S&W/Colts .
I load shotshell in 410,20,16,12,&10 .

Unique would do it all I has done it all . Really though it would take 3 . 410 the 06' clan , gas gun cartridges , and that belted mag drag Unique under the bus . Gas guns run great on 2-3 that would work in well in the 308& 06' family but not so well in the Mag and those that work in the Mag , 06 , 308 family but not so much for the gas guns .

If I throw out gas guns or the Mag , then 2 will get me full range . If I dump them both then Unique is the workhorse , jack o trades .

Little tip on Unique . Get the loads up over 13,000 psi and it cleans right up , at 15,000 , max 12 loads , warm 38s and 45 Colts , and there's almost no soot either .

[Pine Baron]

No matter what I try, I always circle back to Red Dot. I have Unique on the back shelf.

[Geezer in NH]

After 50 years of reloading, Red Dot

[dwtim]

Unique. I went crazy with testing all kinds of powders, but I went back to it in the end. It's my 'gotta-have-it' propellant.

[reloader28]

Another Unique vote here tho I rarely use it because of better performers. BUT it works in EVERYTHING if ****




Are you kidding me??? That is blotted out, a few letters?