6.5 staball

[Firemedic92]

Anyone tried this in the 7mm-08 yet ? If so what kind of velocity and accuracy did you get?

 

[BWALKER77]

I tried it in my 6.5 creedmor with 120gr bullets and the velocities were terrible.

 

[sbhooper]

The data looks good, but the data is not always right. I had pretty good success with it and heavy bullets in my Creed. It is worth a try. Just buy some and try it. That is the only way to know for sure. It did pretty well with both mag and standard primers. Not enough difference to care. It is typical ball powder, in that it meters well.

 

[BWALKER77]

Perhaps it works better with heavier bullets? Or my gun just has a slow barrel.

 

[std7mag]

People on a more match oriented forum are reporting good speed & accuracy with it.
Enough so they are using it in their hunting rifles now.
Alas i burned out my 7mm-08AI barrel before the new powder came out.
But i'm building a match rifle in the same caliber and look forward to trying it!

 

[sbhooper]

People on a more match oriented forum are reporting good speed & accuracy with it.
Enough so they are using it in their hunting rifles now.
Alas i burned out my 7mm-08AI barrel before the new powder came out.
But i'm building a match rifle in the same caliber and look forward to trying it!

If the match guys are using it, then it is being used with heavy bullets, most likely.

 

[std7mag]

True, but they don't only shoot matches.
They are using with 140gr bullets also.
Where the 7mm-08 really shines.

 

[Curvebow]

I just made up loads for my 6.5 manbun to try but need some better weather first....

 

[MThuntr]

Finally shot StaBall in my 7mm-08 with 140 etips. Most SDs were ok (under 20fps)...not real happy about them considering. I may have an issue with neck tension so I'll run a ladder test later but honestly within 300 yards it really doesn't matter.

Velocities weren't too bad and they resemble Hodgdon's book numbers. Accuracy was good. I had a load 1/2 grain over max and had a pretty big pressure spike from basically nothing that gave ejector marks and hard to open bolt.

 

[Bater]

If the match guys are using it, then it is being used with heavy bullets, most likely.

The primary reason most match guys are using it is they can throw it accurately in a progressive press and it’s moderately temp stable, unlike any other ball powder. When you load as many rounds as they do ease of process is damn important.

 

[std7mag]

I just made up loads for my 6.5 manbun to try but need some better weather first....

Gasp!!!
6.5 Staball in a Manbun!!??
Who'da thought it!

 

[sbhooper]

The primary reason most match guys are using it is they can throw accurately it in a progressive press and it’s moderately temp stable, unlike any other ball powder. When you load as many rounds as they do ease of process is damn important.

I get that, but most match guys are also shooting heavy, high-bc bullets with it. It may do better with the heavier bullets, than light ones and I think that was the intent, actually. I had good results with the 153 Hornady A-tip. Not much better than with other powders, but it is another option, for sure. H4350 was just as good, or better. Metering does not matter one bit to me, as I weigh every load, anyway.

 

[RevJim]

I saw on Hodgdon's Load Data site that 6.5 Staball was listed for the 300WSM. I loaded up some trial loads after church yesterday. Its 72.5gr or so as "Max". I also loaded up some Ranshot Big Game, 71.5 Barnes book Max. And then dropped back to R16, 65.5 or so Max. I dropped down a couple grains, of course, to start. Now I have to wait until my gunsmith checks it all out and adjusts the trigger. Kimber 8400. I read somewhere that the 300 WSM was designed around a compressed load of WW 760. (Both Big Game and Staball are Ball Powders ( or flattened balls, I don't know how else to explain it, ha) I don't really know about the 760, but it has a 65K SAAMI , so I make sure ( via Quickloads help from a friend) not to go over 64K. We shall see!

 

[Palma1000]

I have tried staball 6.5 in my wife's Sav axis youth in 7mm-08. The accuacy wasn't anything to write home about but it was ok for a cheaper hunting rifle. I worked up loads with the 139 i-lock using the Winchester min to Max (51gr), I found 47 to 48 gr loads were printing 1moa groups. Groups started to open up quite a bit as I got closer to Max load also was seeing flattened primers at Max. The velocity of the 48grain load average 2760 with an ES of 56fps and SD of 20, again not great, but 1moa groups are fine for hunting whitetails.

 

[Mtnhunter1]

I have tried staball 6.5 in my wife's Sav axis youth in 7mm-08. The accuacy wasn't anything to write home about but it was ok for a cheaper hunting rifle. I worked up loads from Winchester min to Max (51gr), I found 47 to 48 gr loads were printing 1moa groups. Groups started to open up quite a bit as I got closer to Max load. The velocity of the 48grain load average 2760 with an ES of 56fps and SD of 20.

Good info, thanks.

 

[ImBillT]

Finally shot StaBall in my 7mm-08 with 140 etips. Most SDs were ok (under 20fps)...not real happy about them considering. I may have an issue with neck tension so I'll run a ladder test later but honestly within 300 yards it really doesn't matter.

Velocities weren't too bad and they resemble Hodgdon's book numbers. Accuracy was good. I had a load 1/2 grain over max and had a pretty big pressure spike from basically nothing that gave ejector marks and hard to open bolt.

My experience with ball powders is that they get erratic when you start trying to compress them. If you were compressing it at all, that’s probably where the issue arose. YMMV

 

[golfer]

I used this in a 6.5 this weekend. I had 98 FPS difference in a 3 shot group. I’ll reshoot you see if it was my doings or chronograph.

 

[MThuntr]

My experience with ball powders is that they get erratic when you start trying to compress them. If you were compressing it at all, that’s probably where the issue arose. YMMV

Yes these end up being compressed loads on the high end. I reworked my loads and I don't know what I did on round 1 but here is a rework of my data from the last session. 48.5 grains is most accurate for me and it's on the hot side. I believe book max for 140gr bullets is 48.5 but in the 150 Barnes it's 49.2 so I worked up to 49.5 with classic signs of pressure. Accuracy seems good with most loads hovering around .8 inches or so.

As always if people are copying this CAVEAT EMPTOR this is not safe, tested info and is based soley on my rifle with 3 shots of data so it's hardly scientific.

 

[Savagelh]

I gave it a whirl in my ruger American. Got some 145 hotcors humping pretty good. 51gr gave me 2920fps with a low es. Pretty good accuracy too. Was starting to flatten primers but not too bad. This was in some resized 308 brass.

 

[Palma1000]

My experience with ball powders is that they get erratic when you start trying to compress them. If you were compressing it at all, that’s probably where the issue arose. YMMV

I certainly did see that, anything above 48.5gr in a once fired 7-08 Winchester brand case, if ya think about it, it did seam to deliver advertised velocity, the Savage youth I am loading for has a 20" bbl, avg 2760 w 48gr (3gr below Max). Just a side note, I have loaded 41.5gr of imr 8208xbr and have had excellent results, 1/2moa @2800fps! Weird seeing 8208 which has a much faster burn rate, like the fast end of 7-08 powders.