Update on 308 Winchester and 6.5 Staball

[Ray123]

Decided to see what was possible with 6.5 Staball with 208 and 225 eldm's, with AR 10 118"10 twist barrel, 22" 9 twist Bartlein barrel, and 30" 8 twist Bartlein barrel. The hardest part was I ended up making a seating stem on the lathe to match the profile of the bullets, so no crushed bullet noses.
Also tried a bunch of other powders, including Superformance which was slow despite all the powder in the case. Also used Lake City, Winchester, and Lapua brass to check the differences, and machined neck sizing bushings where needed to get the correct tension. Annealed the Lapua brass, the rest I didn't, just wanted to see velocity and pressure differences.
The 30" barrel 208 eldm =2728 fps.
The 30" barrel 225 eldm= 2679 fps
The 22" barrel 208 eldm=2640 fps
The 22" barrel 225 eldm=2574 fps
The 18" AR10 208 eldm =2527 fps
The 18" AR10 225 eldm =2477 fps
These were what I considered max loads or close to it. Had one ejector swipe with the AR 10 with the same charge as the Lapua, and Winchester brass, and would lower the charge with LC brass.
Other than that it all went great. About 40 degrees so it was on the cool side... but these are the highest velocities I've achieved with the 308 Winchester with this type of bullet. Just in case anyone wanted to know what the possibilities are of 6.5 Staball are.

 

[std7mag]

For that heavy of a bullet out of a 308, not bad velocities at all.

Thank you for taking the time to do the write up!
Much appreciated!

 

[Ray123]

For that heavy of a bullet out of a 308, not bad velocities at all.

Thank you for taking the time to do the write up!
Much appreciated!

You're welcome, just an old retired machinist, still enjoying shooting...and experimenting with bullets rifles, powders, and machining gives me an interesting hobby. My experience only, for informational purposes not a recommendation...my maximum in my rifles in my chambers, with my loading practices 208 Eldm to 51.0 grains 6.5 Staball in all 3 rifles and 3 brass types COAL 2.290" The 225 grain 49.4 grains 6.5 Staball max with 225 gr ELDM 3.035" COAL in all 3 rifles. The AR 10 must have an adjustable gas block IMO. The most interesting to me is the 30" 8 twist heavy palma barrel and 225, I made the throat slightly longer, and it's a long action 308 and feeds out of a detachable mag on a MPA aluminum chasis...with Lapua brass and 3 or 4 tenths more powder, slight increase in COAL and 2700 fps appears possible, with a .777 G1 BC, looks interesting...had single digit S/D and one 5 shot group .314" ...but many 308 Win competitors are shooting Bergers 200.2X at 2650 fps to 2700 fps in long barrels with accurate loads they like...so it is what it is.
Might try 250 ATip to see how fast 6.5 Staball will get them going in the 308 Win...just for fun, but probably wasting an expensive bullet. Have a good day.

 

[TeamUSA2]

You're welcome, just an old retired machinist, still enjoying shooting...and experimenting with bullets rifles, powders, and machining gives me an interesting hobby. My experience only, for informational purposes not a recommendation...my maximum in my rifles in my chambers, with my loading practices 208 Eldm to 51.0 grains 6.5 Staball in all 3 rifles and 3 brass types COAL 2.290" The 225 grain 49.4 grains 6.5 Staball max with 225 gr ELDM 3.035" COAL in all 3 rifles. The AR 10 must have an adjustable gas block IMO. The most interesting to me is the 30" 8 twist heavy palma barrel and 225, I made the throat slightly longer, and it's a long action 308 and feeds out of a detachable mag on a MPA aluminum chasis...with Lapua brass and 3 or 4 tenths more powder, slight increase in COAL and 2700 fps appears possible, with a .777 G1 BC, looks interesting...had single digit S/D and one 5 shot group .314" ...but many 308 Win competitors are shooting Bergers 200.2X at 2650 fps to 2700 fps in long barrels with accurate loads they like...so it is what it is.
Might try 250 ATip to see how fast 6.5 Staball will get them going in the 308 Win...just for fun, but probably wasting an expensive bullet. Have a good day.

Dear sir, I was wondering if you could share what your COAL was for the 208 ELD-Ms using 6.5 StaBall. You indicated it was 2.290" but I am thinking that since for the standard .308 Winchester loads COAL is generally around 2.800-2.820", there must be an error... I do know that with a custom reamer people can load 308 to 3.000+". What was the COAL you were using for your load with 208 ELD-M w/ 51.0 grains of 6.5 StaBall powder?