Gents, I am having short stoking issues with my ruger SR762. I am pretty sure the problem is the powder I'm using, BLC-2 which I believe is a fast burning powder. Would you'all agree a slower burning propellant may correct this issue?
Short stroking semi auto .308
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Yes it may, as might a lighter buffer. If you are not at max you might go up on charge weight, although I'm sure you thought of that already.
does that ruger have an adjustable gas plug, or is that only on the 5.56? I wouldn't consider blc-2 a fast burning powder for a 7.62 its slower than varget on the hogdgon chart.
If it works on the 3rd setting put it there and don't worry about it. Ruger doesn't know what works best for your particular rifle and load.
Bear 24 is right on. The #2 position is the Average position. Without looking at the Ruger material I don't know what their "average" bullet Wt. etc. is, however; on many adjustable gas systems, the drill goes something like this, turn down, won't cycle, move up until it barely cycles (some short strokes, stove pipes etc), move up one from there, and drive on! This way you're getting all the gas you need, but not a lot more.
According to the Ruger On Line Owners Manual:
There are three other gas port settings labeled “1,” “2” and “3” which vary in size, with “1” the smallest and “3” the largest. (See Figs. 30 - 32 on page 35.) Use the smallest gas port setting that reliably cycles the action with the particular ammunition you are using. There is no benefit to running the rifle on a gas port setting larger than is necessary, and doing so may degrade long term endurance. Most commercial ammunition will cycle optimally on setting “2,” which is an ideal starting point when first shooting the rifle with new ammunition.
Figure 28
Figure 29
According to the Ruger On Line Owners Manual:
There are three other gas port settings labeled “1,” “2” and “3” which vary in size, with “1” the smallest and “3” the largest. (See Figs. 30 - 32 on page 35.) Use the smallest gas port setting that reliably cycles the action with the particular ammunition you are using. There is no benefit to running the rifle on a gas port setting larger than is necessary, and doing so may degrade long term endurance. Most commercial ammunition will cycle optimally on setting “2,” which is an ideal starting point when first shooting the rifle with new ammunition.
Figure 28
Figure 29
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So I'm not necessarily beat'in the action by having to use the largest setting? Also recall something about the brass should eject at 3 o'clock. It lays it there on the #2 setting but get the occasional short stroke. On the #3 setting, the brass lands at 1 o'clock and has been 100% reliable. It's a good load.
I can't offer .308 experience, but in my Bushmaster .223 AR I had the same exact issue when I loaded a batch of 55's using 4198. I loaded anywhere from 19.5 up to 21.5 gr of powder and the velocities were around 2800-3075 . I was consistiantly getting failure to feed stovepipe jams. My reloading expert at my LGS explained 4198 is a fast burning bolt action type powder, not designed for gas guns. He was correct, the same loads performed excellent in my Savage FP10 .223 bolt action. Win 748 and Benchmark seem to be my ideal powders for my .223 AR.
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That's the exact reason why it is adjustable. I have the SR-556 and if it won't cycle on gas setting 2 then I open it up to 3. Some ammo will cycle on setting 1. The idea is not to use any more gas than is necessary to make the action cycle.
Yep that's the way it will have to be. My gun with my ammo needs to be set at 3 to feed reliably. Nice thing about reloading is I can run targets load velocities most of the time then heat up the loads for hunting. All ready fired multiple 5 shots groups at 100 yds that cluster with 1 rd opening it up to 3/4-7/8" group. 42.0 grs BLC-2 behind a 168 match bullet using a match primer.
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