hitman Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 After looking at the data for 40, 9, 45, 38 &357 I have been thinking about trying some, but before I travel down that road I figured I would prowel the knowladge base. So whats the word on Universal? Is it temp sensitive, flow well in a 650 powder measure, clean, cosistent, ECT. Yes I know Tightgroup, that is what I am using now, just thinking about trying something else for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe4d Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 getting on the slow end, works good in medium to high loads in .357 also works great in large cases like .44mag and 45 colt, it takes up alot of room in the case, I would not reccomend it for 9mm or .40 as at higher pressures it is incositent. like 70-90 fps spreads in .40. It's inconsitant to the point of being dangerous. I like it for cast loads in 44 mag, it takes up alot of room, an the magnum gives me a huge safety margin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAL Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 I find the opposite, I use it in 9mm under a heavy 147 grn bullet at 133 p.f. and also in .40 under a 180 grn bullet minor load at 148 p.f. It is clean soft and very consistent over the chrono. I tried it in .45acp and it sucked, by the time I got it up to 165 P.f. the recoil was so bad and harsh with enough muzzle jump to be a 44 mag. Just can't beat straight Clays for .45acp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjbine Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 I load @1.170 with a 200gr Precision bullet and 4.3 Universal Clays. I makes a 169PF. It is soft, very clean and very consistant. I would recommend to at least try this load. All the people that have tried this load like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMITH Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 Universal is almost an exact copy of regular Clays in how it acts, just slowed down a bit. It is clean, pretty consistent, relatively stable with temps, and so on. Universal works well at lower pressure. Universal gets faster as it gets warmer. It does go completely wild with little or no warning though as pressures increase. Setback prevention is a MUST with Universal, it will pop the top off your blaster just like Clays will, for that matter TiteGroup will too. I still have 6 pounds or so around here, I burned a LOT of it in 9mm and 40 and literally cases of it in 20 gauge shotshells. It meters great through the Dillon measures for me It is a really good powder, just be aware of its shortcomings because it can bite with little or no warning. Power Pistol will provide the same performance level in handgun loads without the tendency to spike pressure anywhere near as dramatically at higher pressures or with bullet setback. It is slightly less clean but still pretty darn clean in 9mm and 40. It is a little more stable through temp changes, and it has a bright white flash when shooting in low light or indoors. Meters like a dream. Power Pistol is the most linear of any powder I have ever used in normal full power 9mm and 40 loads, it is also the most tolerant of changes in OAL or setback. Winchester Super Field is another good powder in the same general burning rate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revchuck Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 Longshot is slightly slower than Universal, meters well, and gives about 95% of the velocity of W296/H110 in 4" .357 Mags at half the charge weight. It's a relatively low flash powder as well. I haven't tried it in .40 S&W or .45 ACP. You can make Minor in .38 Special with it using jacketed bullets in a 4" gun. Just another option... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinMike Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 I'm running 4.4 Universal with 200gr. Precision moly bullets at 1.135" in my KKM barreled Glock 22. That gets me 170PF. Fairly soft and I haven't seen any pressure signs. I've also used Power Pistol in the same combination. Can't remember the charge off hand, but I thought the recoil was a little more harsh and kind of torqued the gun hard. I could probably live with it though. I'm just not comfortable running anything faster in that short barreled gun, especially since the barrel seems slow and I generally have to use higher charges than I see posted out here to make PF. I'm not a Titegroup fan, burns too freakin' hot and tends to dirty things up with the moly coated bullets in my experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBF Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 Universal works really well under 180's in 40 , the " start " ( per Hodgdon's data ) load makes major + in my G35 ( around 180ish PF IIRC ). I use slightly less than recommended for my loading at 170 PF , still burns clean and consistently. Travis F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyin40 Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 I have been using it for 3 yrs now with no problems. I use 7.2 under a 135gr bullet in a 40. Right around 1250fps. I just haven't tried anything else yet. I'll probably end up switching to a little slower powder Flyin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8ring Posted June 11, 2007 Share Posted June 11, 2007 Universal is very similar to Unique in burn speed and charge weights. It provides good results with 9mm 124gr FMJ bullets (4.4 to 4.6gr) and mid-range .357 magnum. One of my favorites is 6.2gr Universal under a 140gr lead truncated cone bullet. It burns clean, especially in higher pressure loads. Muzzle flash and report are fairly low. It does not meter quite as well as ball powders in my Uniflow. It burns somewhat hot and makes some smoke with lead bullets. I haven't noticed inordinate extreme spreads in 9mm, .38 spl, or .357mag. It can spike pressures quickly at just over maximum loads; follow Hodgdon's instructions carefully. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwmagnus Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 (edited) I load @1.170 with a 200gr Precision bullet and 4.3 Universal Clays. I makes a 169PF. It is soft, very clean and very consistant. I would recommend to at least try this load. All the people that have tried this load like it. Thanks for the recommendation. I tried 4.3gr Universal Clays, 200gr Bear Creek bullet at 1.200" OAL in an STI and it felt good. I need to test it some more but looks pretty good so far. Less snappy compared to the 180gr FMJ using the same powder at 5.3gr. Plated bullet costs are just nuts these days. 171.4PF 857 FPS avg 832FPS low 882FPS high 50ES 25SD Edited July 12, 2007 by rwmagnus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtypool40 Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 I tried some old, major .40 loads with it back when I first started. I saw my first pot bellied cases ever, and wouldn't use it again. VV320 or TG seem to be the standard for .40 Major. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwmagnus Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 (edited) I tried some old, major .40 loads with it back when I first started. I saw my first pot bellied cases ever, and wouldn't use it again. VV320 or TG seem to be the standard for .40 Major. I used TG with 180gr FMJ for a long time. I switched to Universal Clays and was considerably softer with the same bullet and cleaner. So far with early testing the 4.3gr Universal load and the 200gr hard cast lead bullet looks pretty good. This load is a full grain lower than with my 180gr bullet. I'd like to get the 50ES and 25SD tightened up a little. It may have more to do with the crimp than the load. I going to try a slightly shorter OAL (1.180") and back off on the crimp some along with lowering the charge to 4.2 grains. I'll do it one change at a time to see the effects. I hear what your saying but I haven't seen any pressure signs at this level. I do think a lot of errors were made with this powder in the early days and when power factors were higher. Edited July 12, 2007 by rwmagnus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjbine Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 Glad you liked the load. I used TG for about 2 month and never got consist results. I will stay with Universal Clays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 Good for 40. Takes up a lot of case volume so it's tough to double-charge a major 40 on accident - which is why I switched to it when I was loading 40 on an RL550. Gawdawful stuff for 45. Probably won't buy more as I prefer other powders and now load 40 on a 1050. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFD Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 +1 for being terrible with .45s I never found any advantage for Universal Clays over Titegroup except when using cast bullets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sargenv Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 I tried some old, major .40 loads with it back when I first started. I saw my first pot bellied cases ever, and wouldn't use it again. VV320 or TG seem to be the standard for .40 Major. Are you sure you are talking about Universal or are you talking about regular Clays? Regular Clays is MUCH faster and has a way faster pressure spike. I've always been kind of leery of it for most major loaded pistol applications and have seen too many people use clays and be sorry for it.. Universal on the other hand is a lot slower and can be utilized with much success without the fear of a case blowup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steel1212 Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 +1 for being terrible with .45sI never found any advantage for Universal Clays over Titegroup except when using cast bullets. I use moly coated bullets and the smoke is night and day from titegroup to universal clays. On a 90 degree day with molys and titegroup it looked like a civil war battle field when I got done. A buddy of mine tried UC and molys and liked it so I got a pound of it. I like it a lot and it does seem softer with much less smoke than Titegroup. TG is a hell of a powder for Jacketed or plated but I think just to fast for lead/moly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
underlug Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 (edited) +1 for being terrible with .45sI never found any advantage for Universal Clays over Titegroup except when using cast bullets. I use moly coated bullets and the smoke is night and day from titegroup to universal clays. On a 90 degree day with molys and titegroup it looked like a civil war battle field when I got done. A buddy of mine tried UC and molys and liked it so I got a pound of it. I like it a lot and it does seem softer with much less smoke than Titegroup. TG is a hell of a powder for Jacketed or plated but I think just to fast for lead/moly. Probably too hot temperature wise. Regular Clays does fine Edited July 24, 2007 by underlug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steel1212 Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 +1 for being terrible with .45sI never found any advantage for Universal Clays over Titegroup except when using cast bullets. I use moly coated bullets and the smoke is night and day from titegroup to universal clays. On a 90 degree day with molys and titegroup it looked like a civil war battle field when I got done. A buddy of mine tried UC and molys and liked it so I got a pound of it. I like it a lot and it does seem softer with much less smoke than Titegroup. TG is a hell of a powder for Jacketed or plated but I think just to fast for lead/moly. Probably too hot temperature wise. Regular Clays does fine Yeah, but regular clays is at max charge to make major. Universal Clays is at starting charge to make major. A little error with regular clays could be a big problem. A little error with Universal clays could mean just more recoil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Mays Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 I just used up an 8lb jug of Universal. I used it for 9, .40 major, and .45. It works OK in all, but is best suited for 9 and .40. With .45 I was just getting too much unburnt powder. After a day of practice, I'd have about half a handful of powder that had collected on my tarp. As far as smoke with coated bullets, to be honest, I don't see much of a difference with TG or Universal. I make major with about 4.8 grains of Universal behind a 180 grain plated or coated bullet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now