Unique / Titegroup

[Master Blaster]

No its not clean, I am working on a 4lb jug now when it runs out I will be using W231 which does everything Unique does and does it much cleaner.

Universal Clays is much less accurate than unique but a bit cleaner.

W231 accurate, clean, similar burn rate and velocity to the other two.

JMHO YMMV

 

[RPCVYemen]

I am confused. I bought some Unique for use in a 45 LC (255 gr. bullet). It seemed pretty dirty to me. Is the "new" cleaner Unique labeled differently from the old? I expected something the burned much cleaner than Trail Boss, and I didn't notice a difference.

Mike

 

[Peter M. Eick]

Just a few opinions.

1) The new Unique is a lot cleaner then the older stuff.
2) Unique for me always has been more accurate then Univ. Clays.
3) When I burn out the last bit of UC, I will buy an 8 lb jug of Unique.

Good stuff all in all.

 

[Redneck with a 40]

Unique = the go to universal powder for pistol calibers, may not be the best in any one caliber, but it is the jack of all trades.

 

[DMZ]

I agree. I load .38 spl/.357 mag, .44 spl/.44 mag. I find myself grabbing the Unique more than any other powder when I want some loads for the range or field.

 

[Werewolf]

RE: Titegroup

What is this Stain some speak of?....anything worth mentioning?..

Check any reloading manual that publishes pressure with load and you will find that Titegroup is a low pressure powder. What that means is that for some thick walled cases the pressure developed will not be great enough to fully seal the brass in the chamber. As a result burning gases leak back into the chamber staining the brass.

It took me forever to figure out what was happening with my 45LC loads when I was using Titegroup for that. Once I switched to slower burning powders like AA#5 and AA#7 the stain went away.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

I got the stain real bad on my Smiths in 38 and 357 mag. It took a lot of work to get it off to the point that I said "enough" and will not use titegroup any more. I would rather deal with a "dirty" powder then one that stains the gun.

Do a search on titegroup and stain and you should find some reading material.

 

[Master Blaster]

I used titegroup and found it was hard to clean the brass and the gun, when I used it with cast bullets that have wax lube. Its very clean in 9mm and .38spl with jacketed or plated bullets, but a slower powder like 231 gives higher velocities.

Trailboss is unbeatable for use in large capacity cases, and cast bullet loads as long as you are looking for target velocity. These days I only shoot lead at target velocity. If I need moderate or high velocity I use jacketed bullets and unique or soon 231 as its replacement.

Unique is like black powder with cast bullets compared to trailboss

But Unique will certainly give you good moderate velocities with cast bullets.

 

[Dave R]

I used titegroup and found it was hard to clean the brass and the gun, when I used it with cast bullets that have wax lube. Its very clean in 9mm and .38spl with jacketed or plated bullets, but a slower powder like 231 gives higher velocities.

I agree. My understanding is Titegroup burns at a high temp, and with cast bullets, it makes leading much worse. That's what I found when I used Titegroup with Laser-Cast bullets. When I switched to plated bullets, the leading got much better. And it nice and clean with jacketed bullets.

 

[texgunner]

I agree. My understanding is Titegroup burns at a high temp, and with cast bullets, it makes leading much worse. That's what I found when I used Titegroup with Laser-Cast bullets. When I switched to plated bullets, the leading got much better. And it nice and clean with jacketed bullets.

I noticed the same thing. I used Oregon Trail laser-cast 200g LSWC over Titegroup and for the first time I've had to deal with leading in my barrels. I don't care for the clean up afterwards either. When this last bottle of Tite group is gone I'll replace it with something else, either W231 or AA#5. I've had good results at the range with Unique but it has metering issues for me.

Tex

 

[Werewolf]

I've had good results at the range with Unique but it has metering issues for me.

Me too. Lee autodisk don't like it much. 1 lb a couple of years ago and I gave up on it.

 

[Gila Jorge]

For my revolver shooting I use Unique and 2400 and would not be without
either....but for automatics, I just bought some TiteGroup 8 pounds of it..so3
will be using it for some time to come...based it upon reccomendations on
various boards and the fact that it is not position sensitive...don;t need any3
detonation risks in my fine guns...

 

[Werewolf]

I used to use Titegroup for .45LC, 44Mag, .40S&W and .45ACP - that is until I discovered Accurate #5. Now that's a versatile powder.

I still occasionally use TG in 45LC but usually only when I run out of #5. I've switched to Accurate #7 for the .44 and .40 and still use #5 in the .44 when I don't feel like shooting full power loads so my Titegroup just sits in it's 1 lb bottle, all lonely and sad waiting for that special day when I've run out of everything else and it'll fullfill it's destiny to push lead downrange at faster than the eye can see velocities...