Rowdy,
I know this topic is a little old, but so are our interests, right?
I’ve been playing around with Unique in my Uberti ’73 44WCF. I have a short rifle with a 20 inch barrel, so I expect my velocities to be a bit lower than yours, but they are a little lower than I expected. How much velocity loss should there be with shorter barrels?
I worked my way up to 8 gr. of Unique, which averaged at 1117 fps. It was interesting to note that, if I settled the powder forward in the case before firing, my average was 1040 fps. If I settled the powder to the rear of the case, my average was 1197 fps.
I then tried 8.5 grains. The overall average was1163 fps. (1090 fps with the powder forward and 1235 with the powder to the rear). The velocity difference was apparently on either side of the speed of sound—there was a much louder crack with each shot with the powder settled to the rear.
I was hoping for a load that put me in the 1200 fps range, but I also don’t want to abuse my rifle. There seems to be wide-ranging opinions on what the Ubertis can handle. Does anyone here have an opinion about Unique loads? Can I regularly use 8.5 grains? Does the position sensitivity of the powder seem excessive? As a comparison, I tested some WW231 loads (7.5 grains) and they showed a similar position sensitivity.
I’ve reloaded for many years, but I’m still trying to get a handle on smokeless loads in this caliber.
Thanks.
CC Griff