Winchester StaBall 6.5 Ball Powder

[DShortt]

I was looking for a powder to experiment with in my .260 Remington and happened upon some Winchester StaBall today so I decided to give it a try. In the appendix of my Lyman manual there is a relative burn rate chart and I was wondering if anyone knows where this powder falls or where I might be able to find out. I'd imagine it's pretty close to any of the 4350s but I'd like to have a bit more information. Just bought a pound to try and if I'm not satisfied I'd like to know the burn rate to help me decide what to try next. Thanks in advance.

 

[RustyInBend]

There are relative burn rate charts all over the Internet, so I'm assuming you already know where it stands in the linear hierarchy. If not ... then get off your ass and learn how to use Google. LOL

In case you need more metrics, here's what QuickLoad says about it:

 

[Clancy]

Number 129

 

[DShortt]

Thanks. I appreciate it.

 

[jepp2]

In the appendix of my Lyman manual there is a relative burn rate chart and I was wondering if anyone knows where this powder falls or where I might be able to find out.

Per the Hodgdon chart it is right behind H100V and slower than the 4350's. Hope it works well for you. It didn't for me. ES & SD were very large. Left a residue on the exterior of fired cases. I have much better results with H100V (and of course H4350, RL 16, etc).

 

[big5ifty]

My son is using it for his PRS loads in 260 Rem and 6BR.

It meters very well,and drops so consistently there is no need to weigh charges. ES loaded on a progressive is low, around between 7 and 12 depending on the bullet.

I could get the load data if you are interested.

 

[Gary in MD]

Working fine for me in a 30-06 and also a 22-250.

 

[RustyInBend]

Certainly not the cleanest powder on the planet ... but for me ... shoots awesome in both of my 6.5-CM rifles and gives me consistant single-digit SD's and gives me solid accuracy at distances up to 1200 yards. No big deal cleaning a bit more often ... I like the powder anyway. Better than alternatives that you can't find anyway.

 

[Ernest T]

I'm about to run out of RL-16 and ordered a couple pounds of Staball as a replacement.

 

[Loudenboomer]

It falls smack dab between the 4350's and the 4831's. I have good results with it in the 7mm-08 with 180 gr VLD bullets. As mentioned it's not the cleanest.

 

[DShortt]

I was looking for some RL16 to try but can't find it locally so I decided to give the StaBall a try. Glad to hear some of you are having success with it.
414gates- if you would be so kind as to post or PM me that data I'd appreciate it.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

My first use was in my 17 rem, produced higher velocities and pressure than other powders. Work up slowly with it.

 

[big5ifty]

414gates- if you would be so kind as to post or PM me that data I'd appreciate it.

All disclaimers apply.

All the bullets in this data are moly coated.

AOL - 2.792"
Powder - Staball 6.5
Load - 44.5gr
Bullet - Lapua 123gr Scenars
Primer - Fiocci LRP
Speed - 2900fps

AOL - 2.850"
Powder - Staball 6.5
Load - 43.6gr
Bullet - Hornady 147 ELD-M
Primer - Fiocci LRP
Speed - 2700fps

This one is 6 BR, not 260 :

AOL - 2.443"
Powder - Staball 6.5
Load - 34.6gr
Bullet - Nosler 105gr RDF
Primer - Murom SRP
Speed - 2830fps

If you ask why we use moly : the 260 Rem clocked 4000 rounds not so long ago.

 

[KMart]

I was looking for a powder to experiment with in my .260 Remington and happened upon some Winchester StaBall today so I decided to give it a try. In the appendix of my Lyman manual there is a relative burn rate chart and I was wondering if anyone knows where this powder falls or where I might be able to find out. I'd imagine it's pretty close to any of the 4350s but I'd like to have a bit more information. Just bought a pound to try and if I'm not satisfied I'd like to know the burn rate to help me decide what to try next. Thanks in advance.

I have played with Satball in a similar cartridge, the 6.5x55. My rifle is built on a Mod 70 winchester and I was using a 130 grain bullet. To me, to get the groups to tighten up, I had to run the loads at peak pressure being careful not to get overpressure. As I was working up the loads, the groups were all over the place. My best load ended up at 46.9 grains.
When I got the seating about right, I loaded 5 test loads that was 1/10 of a grain apart. One of the groups was in the high .1's and another in the mid .2's. The velocities were in the +/- 3050 range.

I would think the 260 would perform similarly if you start low and work all the way up.