What kind of powders do you like for your AR15/Semi autos and why?

**5.56 Bonded SP** · 10-20-17, 17:36

I always thought the main culprit of gas port erosion was the bullet shearing against it, not the gas from powder burnt. The type of powder used is probably a factor is GP erosion, but I believe the main cause is the actual bullet rubbing against it. Gas port erosion is natural, and will happen no matter what type of powder is used.
Faster powders do have their downsides too in regards to throat erosion. GP erosion from slow powder is news to me, but I wouldn't consider faster powder always better at all.

My line of thinking has always been, fast powder with light bullets, slower powder with heavier bullets as a very general guideline for ideal performance since that is what most manuals imply. ( many manuals only have data for slow powder with heavy bullets and vice versa )

**mgrs** · 10-20-17, 18:20

Originally Posted by czgunner

Is the Douglas barrel stainless? Possibly more wear on the softer metal?

Yes, and probably.

Originally Posted by markm

Port erosion doesn't keep me awake a night for a second. I think it starts out more aggressively in the beginning of a barrel's life and kinda "sets in" to a slower rate of wear. I shot a TON of TAC (somewhat slow) behind 55 gr FMJs for a long time in my carbine gas guns. Meh...

Agreed. I use TAC for almost everything in 5.56 now. I think the throat would go before the port erodes enough to be a real problem. I just got the scope so had to take a peek. It's more useful to find bore damage or leading.

**markm** · 10-20-17, 18:36

Originally Posted by 5.56 Bonded SP

I always thought the main culprit of gas port erosion was the bullet shearing against it, not the gas from powder burnt. The type of powder used is probably a factor is GP erosion, but I believe the main cause is the actual bullet rubbing against it.

I believe that port erosion is almost 100 percent hot gas erosion. There might be a slight bullet wear component for the first few rounds. The bullet no longer is even contacting the tear drop shaped cavity worn into the barrel.

**Clint** · 10-20-17, 19:06

Mark,

What are your favorite loads with H322?

**mic2377** · 10-21-17, 05:07

I have in the past run a lot of H335. It is an excellent general purpose 223 powder. Good velocity + accuracy, and relatively clean. It is very flashy and temperature sensitive. Similarly Win 748 works great, and is also less flashy.

However, I am like MarkM in that I am converting over to exclusively temperature insensitive extruded powders like H4895, Varget, and 8208 XBR. The loads I develop also seem to show more consistent accuracy in wider variety of weapons as well.

**ghostly** · 10-21-17, 06:10

I used to use H335 and had good results. It metered well and shot great. You'll find H335 flashy until you compare it with powders like Varget. I haven't tried 8208 XBR, but have been curious how it would do in bolt guns. For now I'm sitting on a good lot of 16 lbs of H4350, another lot of 14 lbs H4350 I haven't tried, and another 8 lb lot.

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