It seems to me that WC872 powder produces a hot barrel much faster than most other powders. In also seem to me that with WC872 the front half (muzzle end) of the barrel is hotter than the back (breech) half, which is just opposite of most powders. Am I just an unobservant dunce or have any of you WC872 shooters noticed the same thing. I figure that slooow powder is still burning pretty good in the last half of the barrel. I do know that after ten rounds of steady fire, you can't pick up any 30 cal rifle I own by the barrel. Also seems to take longer to cool.

I've noticed the same thing about 5010. You fire 4-5 rounds of a casefull in just about any caliber and you can't touch the barrel. Is this a slow powder phenomenon?

Well...I've shot WC 872 in .338-.378 and .510-.505 Gibbs and .22-250, and 5010 in .338-.378 and .510-.505 Gibbs.

I've read that the larger charge weights have higher total energy values, and it is to be expected that the barrel will heat up sooner and that there might be more throat erosion per round, which is why somebody on the Varmint section was talking about .223 Blue Dot loads a few months ago? Not much powder equals frequent shooting with little barrel heating, though perhaps maximum performance was not obtained.

I like the 5010 in .338-.378 because you get a compressed load that duplicates factory ballistics with the 250 gr. bullet. WC872 maxed before it filled the case. The balls are denser than the sticks. 5010 in .510-.505 makes for moderate ballistics with a compressed load. WC 872 fills the case for 2850 fps in .22-250 with the 80 grain Sierra. If you think of it as downloading to make a magnum version of .223, you've got the idea. Nice gun for your sparely built female shooting partners.

These are nice powders for relaxed, slow shooting. From my point of view they are a little safer because in some applications it is nearly impossible to get enough powder in a case to exceed safe pressures.

SDS, you gathered correctly:

...the larger charge weights have higher total energy values, and it is to be expected that the barrel will heat up sooner and that there might be more throat erosion per round, which is why somebody on the Varmint section was talking about .223 Blue Dot loads a few months ago? Not much powder equals frequent shooting with little barrel heating, though perhaps maximum performance was not obtained.