Unique in 44 Special?

[PJ Hardtack]

I believe that one of the late Skeeter Skelton's favourite .44 Spl. loads was 7.5 Unique with a 240 SWC.

When I was enamoured of my S&W 4" M29, I shot lots of these loads, upping it to 12 grs Unique when I really wanted to feel 'macho'.
Eventually I settled on 5 grs Bullseye with a 240 gr bullet as a standard - pleasant to shoot, not punishing.

Being older and smarter (hopefully ....) I now shoot mostly 200 gr .44s as does my wife in her Flat Top Blackhawks and B-92.

[Tuolumne Lawman]

SPeer lists their 200 grain GDHP .44 Special ammo at 870 FPS.  Speer also lists in their loading data sheet for the same bullet  max load of 7.8 of Unique at 855 fps, and 6.9 of WW231 at 886 fps.  I would say that is good enough for me.  I will try both and see which is most accurate.  Unique loads usually have lower pressures, but the 231 loads are faster burning will be better in the 3" barrel.  

I will be loading some this week end, and picking up the Bulldog around the 1st.  As a side note, years ago  (after I sold my the 3" Charter 44 Bulldog that I carried for many years) I picked up a Webley .44 Bulldog to use as a pocket pistol in CAS matches.  I cut down Starline .44 Colt brass and used dead soft 180 cast .431s over about 10 or 12 grains FFFG.  Worked great, but accuracy was dismal, even for pocket pistol standards. IIRC, the .44 Bulldog uses heeled bullets of about .44" diameter.  Add to the fact that I had no way for an effective crimp (I used a 4 point stab crimp around the case mouth), so combustion of the BP load was ineffective. I sold it and stuck with my circa 1900 ..38 S&W H&R pocket pistol.

[Tuolumne Lawman]

I have about 200 rounds of loaded 44 Special ammo that I got with my Model 29 back in the day.  50 rounds is factory 246 grain lead, but 150 was reloads, possibly commercial, as they have virgin brass and read sealant on the primers).  100 was loade with 200 and 240 JSPs and 9 grains of undetermined powder.  Those I pulled the bullets to reload with the Speer GDHPs and 6.9 of WW231,  since 9 grains of some powders would be an overload in the Charter Bulldog.  50+ rounds, however, were loaded with a 240 grain lead semi wadcutter and 5 grains of undetermined powder.  From my research, there is no powder that would be an overload in .44 Special with 5 grains.  Coupled with the fact that I fired some from the 29 and they were dead tame, I left these as target loads for the Charter.  The powder looks like WW231, which 5 grains would be about right.  Unique would be about 6 grains or so.  I will be loading tonight.

[Tuolumne Lawman]

UPDATE:  Loaded the 200 grain Gold Dot HPs with 6.8 grains of WW231 and CCI Large Pistol primers.  That's .3 grains less than Lyman lists as max for that bullet, and .1 grains less than CCI.  I'll post a range report after I pick the revolver on the 1st or so.

Side note is that Charter Arms is back in business under the original name (it had changed to Charco, then to Charter 2000), with the original family running it again.  They have even re-introduced the 3 inch barrel version as the "Classic".  I gues others appreciate the extra 1/2 inch of barrel for velocity and sight radius. In the late 70s and early 80s, the 3" .44 Bulldog was one of the most popular defensive pistols sold.  As more and better small autos in serious calibers became available in the late 80s, they eclipsed it.

[Tuolumne Lawman]

YIPPEEE! I picked up my .44 Special Bulldog tonight.  Pictures tomorrow, and a range report on the 200 grain GDHPs over 6.8 grains of WW231 on Saturday.

Additional:  After checking, the revolver is absolutely mint and unfired!  The serial number puts it in late first generation with a Stratford Conn. address, probably made in the mid to late 1980s.  It is identical to the 1974 vintage Charter Bulldog I had.  I already have a Bianchi #6 IWB holster, two HKS CH44 speed loaders, and four 5 round "Quickstrips" (like the old Bianchi speed strips, but for 5 rounds of .44 or .45 ammo) I got from MidwayUSA.  I work half day at the bank, so I will go into the National Forest and shoot some rounds.

[Deadeye Don]

Lord, I hope nobody tries anywhere near that 9 grains of Unique you mentioned in your opening post.

[Tuolumne Lawman]

Nope, not me.  Alliant says 7.8 max for the 200 grain GDHP (same as SPEER lists) and 6.9 of WW231.

[Tuolumne Lawman]

Initial firing report.

Went out to some BLM land west of Grass Valley.  Shot both 246 RNL factory and 200 grain GDHPs over 6.8 of WW231.  Even though the 6.8 loads were near max, the felt recoil was significantly less than the 246 grain factory loads.  Recoil from the 19 oz. little revolver was very manageable, and certainly no worse than a 38 snub nose with +Ps.  Besides, the 200 grain GDHP "flying ashtrays"open to about .70 caliber.  38s may expand, but 44s never get smaller!

The 6.8 load gives about 875 FPS from a 4" barrel, so with as fast as the WW231 burns, it should still be over 800-825 FPS from the 3" barrel.  On single action, the 200 grain GDHPs shot centered, but several inches below POA at 10 yards.  Interestingly enough, on double action, they were dead on the money at 10 yards!  I was able to bounce a pop can with ease at 10 yards, off-hand.  After I load some 246 RNL with 6.0 grains of Unique, I'll see what it does on paper.  For now, I am confident my little belly gun will "terminate any lethal threat with extreme prejudice!"

[Cholla Hill Tirador]

  I just got into CAS and the .44 Special is my cartridge of choice. Use 4 3/4" and 5 1/2" Uberti's and a 20" 1873 Uberti. I started out using Unique and a home-cast 248 gr. SWC. If it helps, here are some chrono results from the 4 3/4" model:

Unique, 6.0 grs., CCI-300- 697 fps
Unique, 6.5 grs., CCI-300- 806 fps
Unique, 7.0 grs., CCI-300- 845 fps

  I switched to Red Dot simply because I bought a 4 lb. jug. As such:

Red Dot, 4.7 grs., CCI-300- 689 fps

I keep both pistols handy around the house and loaded with the 6.5 gr load. I never trusted HP bullets too much so I prefer the big ol' SWC.

  Good luck,
  CHT

[Lumpy Grits]

Run 6.5 of Unique use'n 240+ weight bullets and a very FIRM crimp.
Life then will be good.
Don't like HP38/W231 in this caliber for many reasons.
LG

[Izzoquazzo]

I use 7 grs of Unique behind a 200 grain RNFP bullet for CAS. Gives something over 800fps out of my 4 5/8" Vaqueros.

[cpt dan blodgett]

Skeeter Skelton loved 7.6 of unique under a 250 (really 245) Elmer Keith Bullet

[Rooster Ron Wayne]

Unique is my go to Smokless powder.
You can load anything with Unique.