I've been using mostly H-380, H-414, and Varget in my Browning BAR .243. It's gotten to where it's been jamming lately, so I removed the bolt to clean the locking lugs. Turns out the whole bolt, grooves and receiver was contaminated with unburnt powder. I vaguely remember that the early problems with the M-16 were related to ball powder. So I'm wondering if they are just dirtier than stick powder.

BTW it wasn't the crud that was causing my problem. Either I'm not setting the shoulder back far enough, or just above the rim isn't getting sized down enough, keeping the cartridge from seating all the way.

The BAR is a fairly easy gun to take apart, and almost as easy to put back together. ;D The little operating handle on the bolt was the trickiest part.