Any of you guys using this powder? Thoughts?

I was using it until I can't find it anymore...

an article called it a Swedish version of Varget... I liked it a lot better than Varget.... it is like a Temp Insensitive version of RL 15....

super accurate and outstanding accuracy....

If I was only going to stock 4 or 5 powders, AR Comp would definitely make the list...

next time I see it available again in 8 lb containers.. I plan on purchasing 2 or 3 of them...

I've tested it in the 223, 22.250, 243, 6mm Rem, 260 Rem, 6.5 x 55 and 7 x 57....and it did GREAT in each one...even better than RL 15...which is definitely no slouch...

Actually, RL-15 is pretty temp-resistant. Or at least it has been since the formula was "adjusted" about a dozen years ago to meet U.S. mil-specs.

I thought so JB, but I am sure the guys in marketing dept, thought 'lets come out with some other packaging, and label RL 15 with a new name also, and sell it as temp resistant...'

AR Comp is probably RL 15, in a different container is all....
wouldn't surprise me...

especially being in sales and marketing for 30 plus years...

If it is, the dimensions have changed. Just checked some of both, and while the length of the granules runs in the same range, the diameter is different, running between .025-.027" for RL-15 and .030-.032 for AR-Comp. And external granule dimension do make a difference.

No doubt they're very similar chemically.

Well John, in reality, are the granules just a vehicle for carrying the chemical compound that makes it all work anyway?

Granules really have nothing to do with the performance of the powder, except for ease of volume reloading into small narrow necked cartridges, doesn't it?

A given volume of larger granules should burn slower, all else equal.

John,

While various chemical formulations and coatings have definite effects, so does granule shape and size.

If RL-15 and AR-Comp were the same powder, they'd have the same granule diameter.

I also just checked Alliant's data. The maximum charges for AR-Comp are about 10% lower in the .223 Remington and .308 Winchester than with RL-15 when both powders are listed with the same bullet.

The size and shape of the granules have a lot to do with burning characteristics.

Roughly speaking, for three dimensional objects, volume grows as the cube of the dimensions, whereas surface area grows as the square. So for two granules of the same shape, the smaller one has a higher surface area to mass ratio, and hence burns relatively faster than just its lesser mass would indicate.

Thanks for the education this morning Gentlemen....

cheers!

I've been using it in a .223. Seems a little more faster than RL 15.

Groups have shrank in this particular rifle compared to CFE 223. Which scientifically means [bleep] all.

But so far so good. Meters well.



Travis

I had some vague notion of the above but lacked the knowledge to explain it. Thanks.