Unique, Blue Dot or Something Else

[jdmick]

Since I'm an expert at reloading all my rifle cartridges now the time has come to start doing some handgun ammo. I would primarily be reloading 9mm and .357 mag but also some .38 special and 40 S&W. What would be a good choice for an all around powder(s) for them. Thanks.

 

[dssajj]

Unique is good I have used it in .38spl, .357 mag, 9mm.
Hodgen HS-6 is another good one for all around use.

 

[Socrates]

Blue Dot spikes quick. Unique used to be dirty.
HS-6, 4227, H110, my favorites. Titegroup looks good for real accuracy.

S

 

[donkee]

I haven't been able to break away from Unique. It works great for all the pistol calibers I load for......

 

[Johnny Guest]

Unique powder is, well, unique.

I haven't found anything nearly so versatile, for so many different uses, as Unique. If I had to use only one powder for all handgun loading, this would be it. Even the "old" Hercules version wasn't as "Dirty" as the rap it gets. Mostly, that had to do with the sooty deposits left by Unique in combination with soft lead bullets and the old, black, Lyman Ideal lubricant. With modern lubes and halfway moderate velocities, most of the "fouling" comes out with a dry brush and a dry patch.

With jacketed or plated bullets, I have no difficulty a-tall.

Some favorite loads with Unique:
9x19 mm 115 jacketed 6.0 gr ~1200 from a Hi Power
" 124 JHP 5.6 gr ~ 1120 Hi Power & a Glock 19 - - close to Speer GDHP factory

.40 S&W 180 JHP 6.2 gr. ~ 900 in a .40 Hi Power

.38 Spl 158 lead 4.5 gr ~ 850 in a 6" Colt OMS.

.357 158 JHP 7.5 gr ~1020 in a 4" S&W M19

You CAN go hotter with other powders but the above are good, solid loads for practice, plinking, and are within published maximums.

These are all the cartridges you mention. I also use Unique in .380, .38 S&W, .41 mag, .44 Spl, .44 mag, .45 ACP, .45 Auto Rim, and .45 Colt.

Best of luck
Johnny

 

[HSMITH]

Unique is a good choice. Power Pistol will do the light loads as well as Unique but give you the option of some pretty vigorous loads if you want. Super Field is also a good choice, doesn't have quite the power potential of Power Pistol but it doesn't have the flash that Power Pistol does either. SR4756 is another good choice.

 

[Ammo Junky]

If you must use one powder, HS6 is gona be the best choice. H110 is a better choice for heavy 357 loads. HS6 is near perfect for 40 and will work well in all handgun cal. You could get by cheaper in 38 and 9mm with W231, but probably not much differenc in accuracy. If I had to live in the moutians where I could only have one powder for handguns HS6 would be my choice.

 

[jdmick]

Thanks for everyone agreeing on one powder. Seriously, thanks for the thoughtful replies. I'll see what happens on my next trip to the store. I'll probably end up with an assortment of powders after all. Unique will for sure be one of them.

 

[amamnn]

For what it's worth, Unique is a lot cleaner than it used to be lo, these many years ago. But it's still useful to have a Kleen Bore powder cloth around when cleaning.