Help: Reloading 38 Special, with Unique

[edgerly779]

OP must be a druggie only they weigh things in grams (LOL)

[pacrat]

When I have a lot of empty space in the case I put a tuft of polyester filler in it to hold the powder against the primer. It gives more consistent ignition. This is mentioned in reloading manuals.

TOTAL waste of time with pistol loads.

Unique sucks!? No, it doesn't. It may not meter well in a lot of devices, but, it is a superb powder. Been around forever; has to be a reason.

MLC

I've been loading Unique since 1968. Will continue to do so.

An RCBS Li'l Dandy measures Unique just fine.

^^^QFT^^^

Of the hundreds of millions of cartridges loaded commercially each year. NONE of them have "weighted charges". All are charged by "volume" calibrated to meet the requirement of the particular cartridge being loaded.

[hambam105]

Unique does work with .38 Special. There are half dozen more suitable powders for .38 Special.

I think that I still have half a pound of Unique remaining in the original container I purchased new in 1978.

[bruce381]

How do you measure Unique accurately? I have a Dillon Square Deal and I can't get the kind of precision powder measure with Unique that I just found I can get with Bullseye.

cause Unique metters lousy.

[David Jackson]

With my Dillon Square Deal I think I will only use Unique with .45 ACP loads which have a great variation between start and max. If I shoot for the middle and get most to show that weight the .6 or more gr variation between charges does not seem unsafe. To try to use it with .38s with only a .4 gr tolerance seems kind of a bad idea to me.

[bigbossman]

Same powder, different caliber......10gr of Unique is a pretty well-known and standard load for folks shooting cast lead bullets in rifles. I use that charge under a 240gr lead bullet out of my 38-55, and it is a match-winner.

[bigbossman]

An RCBS Li'l Dandy measures Unique just fine.

^^^QFT^^^

To add to that..... The RCBS Li'l Dandy measures every "hard to meter" powder I ever tried, accurately and consistently. Unique, 700x, 800x, etc. It is a GREAT tool to have on the bench for pistol loading.

[David Jackson]

To add to that..... The RCBS Li'l Dandy measures every "hard to meter" powder I ever tried, accurately and consistently. Unique, 700x, 800x, etc. It is a GREAT tool to have on the bench for pistol loading.

RCBS "Lil Dandy" I will have to see how much those are. Even with my progressive press I suppose I could load powder into each case at state 3 and go on from there.

[bigbossman]

RCBS "Lil Dandy" I will have to see how much those are. Even with my progressive press I suppose I could load powder into each case at state 3 and go on from there.

$45 from Midway, and then you buy the rotors you need. Rotors are about $12, also from Midway. You can also find them for around $10 on eBay.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1012936930

[pacrat]

The mechanical advantage of the Little Dandy. Is that flake powders such as Unique, Bullseye, Red Dot, and a plethora of others. Don't do well with LARGE DIA. adjustable spindle measures.

When adj to proper charge weight. The cavity is very large in diameter compared to the depth of the cavity. There is a lot of surface area which [shoves and shaves] kernels as the drum turns.

The Lil Dandy has rotor cavities specifically designed for SMALL capacity charges. With a limited surface area. Of the cavity. Mitigating the [shoving-shaving] problem.

The very WORST powder measure I ever had was a Lyman 55. Which has an adjustable cavity that sits horizontal in the drum. Creating a huge surface area of the cavity.

NOTE...... Even BALL powders meter more accurately with a Lil Dandy.

[Fishslayer]

Unique is indeed an old dawg in a new era of Tacticool I need the newest most overhyped stuff on the market.

Try BE86. Not sure about overhyped but I've had good success with it. Never owned anything before that needed medium speed pistol powder so I never needed Unique. According to Alliant is almost the same burn rate as Unique.