08-23-2011, 07:19 PM
It's interesting studying the history of the development of the original Armalite AR15. As the prototype rifles transitioned to the development of the Colt Model 601, they still used the Edgewater buffer, which is totally different than the standard rifle buffer that was adopted with the Colt Model 603, which covered both the XM16E1 and the M16A1. This was intended to handle the different powder and pressure issues that came with it.
Whatever cartridge and propellant/projectile combination we try with gas guns, a certain balance has to be found to run the gun optimally. It forces us to realize the details of the operating system and become more familiar with them, why they work, and what doesn't work so well.
An example of this became very clear to me this past week as I've been doing load development with new powders and bullets in my .260 AR10. Using really slow-burning powders towards the higher end of acceptable pressures by the book gave me some significant jumps in felt recoil and violent cycling of the action. It seemed like the slower powder was able to affect the gas port pressure enough to really change the effect on the action. I don't recall this happening with the faster powder that I was using, although I did feel the recoil increase slightly with each increase in charge weight. I have also noticed this with the Grendel. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction I guess...
Whatever cartridge and propellant/projectile combination we try with gas guns, a certain balance has to be found to run the gun optimally. It forces us to realize the details of the operating system and become more familiar with them, why they work, and what doesn't work so well.
An example of this became very clear to me this past week as I've been doing load development with new powders and bullets in my .260 AR10. Using really slow-burning powders towards the higher end of acceptable pressures by the book gave me some significant jumps in felt recoil and violent cycling of the action. It seemed like the slower powder was able to affect the gas port pressure enough to really change the effect on the action. I don't recall this happening with the faster powder that I was using, although I did feel the recoil increase slightly with each increase in charge weight. I have also noticed this with the Grendel. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction I guess...