Unique powder

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alanwk

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I recently was able to find some bottles of Unique powder. Been looking for a long time. Now I find that in my Lee Manual there is almost no recipes for 9mm Lugar and Unique. I am very disappointed since I really like the Lee Modern Reloading Manual. So then I go online to the Alliant website and pull up some 9mm info. They list the charge weight for a load using Unique. But it doesn't say if it is the min or max load. Just the one wt. I have sent them a question but why would they not have that info on their site? Sorry for the rambling, guess I am just venting.
 
Howa 9700 said:
Lyman, Hornady, Sierra and Speer all have 9mm load data for Unique in just about every bullet listed.
Click to expand...
In my Speer #14 manual there are no listings for 115g lead bullets just GDHP or TMJ RN.
In my Lyman 49th ed. Unique is shown only for 147g TMJ. That's all.
 
Jonny2guns said:
So, what weight do they list?
My standard load for 9mm 115 gr. fmj 5.5 gr. Unique. Been using it for years, not too hot, but it works in everything I've ever run it through.
Click to expand...
They list 115g at 6.3
124g at 5.8
147g at 4.2 all 3 are speer GDHP
speer 115g CPRN at 6g
Thanks for your input.
 
alanwk said:
I recently was able to find some bottles of Unique powder. Been looking for a long time. Now I find that in my Lee Manual there is almost no recipes for 9mm Lugar and Unique. I am very disappointed since I really like the Lee Modern Reloading Manual. So then I go online to the Alliant website and pull up some 9mm info. They list the charge weight for a load using Unique. But it doesn't say if it is the min or max load. Just the one wt. I have sent them a question but why would they not have that info on their site? Sorry for the rambling, guess I am just venting.
Click to expand...

Sorry if I missed it, but what bullet or bullets are you trying to find load data for? Generic load data doesn't seem to help, so what specific bullet are you looking for.
 
Howa 9700 said:
Sorry if I missed it, but what bullet or bullets are you trying to find load data for? Generic load data doesn't seem to help, so what specific bullet are you looking for.
Click to expand...
You didn't miss it. I am looking for loads for 124g Berrys 9mm hybrid HP. Berry says:
  • Cast or jacketed data with the same grain weight and profile will work with our bullets.
  • Also looking for 115g Missouri Bullets coated lead, Truncated Nose.
 
For the 9mm, discussing charges without considering bullet seating depth is not a good thing.

Unique will generally be slightly compressed in the 9mm at SAAMI MAP. These loads can go over MAP real quick if you increase seating depth.

If you want maximum power, I recommend that the first thing you need to do is make dummy loads and determine your max COAL that will plunk. Measure your bullet length, case length and determine seating depth. Then you need to determine how your seating depth compares with the closest reference load data you can find (this can be hard, but we can probably help). Then you need do decide if you need to adjust load data based on seating depth (again, we can help).

On the other hand, if you just want range ammo, start very low and try to work up / down as needed to find the lowest load that will reliable lock back on the last round. Then increase the charge just a little for "operating margin" and be happy.
 
alanwk said:
In my Speer #14 manual there are no listings for 115g lead bullets just GDHP or TMJ RN.
Click to expand...

Because Speer doesn't make cast bullets any longer. The Speer manual is for Speer bullets.

There is plenty of data out there for cast bullets in the 9mm, using Unique.

P Flados said:
For the 9mm, discussing charges without considering bullet seating depth is not a good thing.
Click to expand...

You beat me to it. 9mm is a fairly high pressure handgun cartridge... seating depth can have a major impact on pressures.
 
Took a peek at my Lyman 50th reloading manual this morning and 10 of the 11 bullets it lists loads for in 9mm have data for Unique.....including 3 or 4 cast lead bullets.
 
Seating depth will change pressures and velocities in any powder or cartridge. But unless you start pushing loads up near maximum levels it's not going to cause any issues. It will change things, but not to worry if you're keeping loads at medium or lower levels.
 
mm93 said:
Seating depth will change pressures and velocities in any powder or cartridge. But unless you start pushing loads up near maximum levels it's not going to cause any issues. It will change things, but not to worry if you're keeping loads at medium or lower levels.
Click to expand...

I have run a lot of Quickload stuff and strongly disagree.

A 115 Hornady RN with 5.5 Unique and a COAL of 1.15" gives a predicted pressure that is a nice mild 27043 psi.

The same load with a COAL of 1.05" gives a predicted pressure of 41189 psi.
 
P Flados said:
I have run a lot of Quickload stuff and strongly disagree.

A 115 Hornady RN with 5.5 Unique and a COAL of 1.15" gives a predicted pressure that is a nice mild 27043 psi.

The same load with a COAL of 1.05" gives a predicted pressure of 41189 psi.
Click to expand...
I’m not saying you or Quickload is wrong but……..
That’s a fairly drastic change in COAL tho….
Darn near 1/8”…….IMO
 
Last edited:
The point was that a possible seating depth change can take a load from mid range up into the proof pressure range.

A big problem with the 9mm is the variety of bullet lengths available and most bullets have no easy to find info on the actual length. There is also a wide spread of published COALs and there is the potential for a given gun to need a short COAL to plunk. I know 0.10" is a bunch and an extreme example, but it is not out of the question.

A lot of loaders understand that seating depth changes do make a difference. I have know this for a long time. However, there is very little info out there "from the industry" that provides any real method for the end user to deal with this in a systematic method. The "start low and work up" really does not provide near as much "protection" from exceeding rated pressure as many seem to think.

When I started using Quickload, I found the ability to quantify the impact of seating depth changes to be one of its best uses. I do not trust it to be "super accurate" for actual pressures for a given load, but I have come to trust it to be darn good at "comparisons" where either only one parameter is changed at a time, or two offsetting changes are made.
 
P Flados said:
When I started using Quickload, I found the ability to quantify the impact of seating depth changes to be one of its best uses.
Click to expand...
It’s a guesstimate based on regression theory. Unless you’re using strain gauges and testing fixtures, you’re not quantifying anything.
Even the best guess is just a guess.

“Trust”? In a machine?
No.
 
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