Where does Staball HD thrive?

I did a search but wasn't able to satisfy the question. Where does HD thrive? In what cartridge is it one of the top performers? Has anyone switched to HD from XX powder or is it more of "just another" powder or powder option?

My personal interests lie with the 270 WSM, 7mm WSM, 300 WM and maybe 338 Norma but I'm curious if anyone has found it to be the go-to for their purposes.

I don't have an answer to your question, but I'm currently testing it for GRT in a 243 Ackley improved and a 300 win mag

I used it with Wby 6.5 RPM yesterday with the Sierra 130G TGK. Velocities were 3200 FPS for nine shots. Accuracy was at 1.1" for those nine shots. I had a load with the Nosler ABLR 142G with the Staball HD, but it didn't group well. Velocities were at about 3K, and with lower SD than the Sierra bullet's group. Not sure why it didn't shoot. I can say that the length of the ABLR makes for some powder compression that is likely hurting my groups. I'm going to try other powders. Anyway, the Staball HD is good in large cases with heavy-for-caliber bullets, IMO.

I haven't gotten to try it yet but when things cool down a bit I plan on trying to see what it will do in my 7STW and 160g bullets

For now, Staball HD is my go to powder for 140's with 6.5-06 & 6.5 PRC.
No compressed loads but full case. CCI 34 primer.

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Just for instance, StaBallHD likes to work in roughly the same places as the ones near it on the burn chart.
It tends to do well in the same places as Retumbo, H1000, for example.

moses42ak said:

I did a search but wasn't able to satisfy the question. Where does HD thrive? In what cartridge is it one of the top performers? Has anyone switched to HD from XX powder or is it more of "just another" powder or powder option?

My personal interests lie with the 270 WSM, 7mm WSM, 300 WM and maybe 338 Norma but I'm curious if anyone has found it to be the go-to for their purposes.

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As with anything else, YMMV! It also depends on bullet weight and type. If you are using Berger bullets, you can contact them and they will send you a list of load/powder recommendations. You can also go to https://hodgdonreloading.com/

You might also take a look at Ramshot Grand. It is similar and looks promising in the slightly over bore cartridges. I am going to try it in the 6.5 prc and 22 creed with heavies.

Hugnot said:

For now, Staball HD is my go to powder for 140's with 6.5-06 & 6.5 PRC.
No compressed loads but full case. CCI 34 primer.

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What are your loads and speed? For my 6.5 PRC and 300 PRC, I am almost out of RL-26 (unobtainable) and not sure what to try to replace it.

I'm sitting on 5-6lbs of HD and

RegionRat said:

Just for instance, StaBallHD likes to work in roughly the same places as the ones near it on the burn chart.
It tends to do well in the same places as Retumbo, H1000, for example.

View attachment 591419

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i checked out burn rates as well. In looking at load data, HD seems to fall behind Retumbo for my purposes. I'm more curious if there's a niche for HD.
Edit to add:
And I've got 6 lbs of it so I'm trying to figure out what to do with it.

The reason I want to try it? When Retumbo, h1000 and similar powders max out case volume and loads become compressed, powders like HD and Grand should work well. For me that is the 6.5 prc and 22 creedmoor. Just my thoughts

stazmania said:

The reason I want to try it? When Retumbo, h1000 and similar powders max out case volume and loads become compressed, powders like HD and Grand should work well. For me that is the 6.5 prc and 22 creedmoor. Just my thoughts

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Now this I am interested in!

rbuoncri said:

What are your loads and speed? For my 6.5 PRC and 300 PRC, I am almost out of RL-26 (unobtainable) and not sure what to try to replace it.

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I'm in the same boat with RL26....

I will be trying N565, N568 and N570 in the near future for my 300prc