Any load data for 6.5 PRC and Winchester StaBALL 6.5 ball powder?

[Danehunter]

CMP, what is your 6.5 PRC barrel length? (not including a muzzle brake)

Eric B.

 

[CMP70306]

It's a 24" Proof Prefit and I was running it with a SilencerCo Hybrid which adds a few FPS but not much.

 

[Fedwell]

StaBall 6.5 was developed for the 6.5 Creedmore. Burns to FAST for the 6.5 PRC The Best powder i have found for the prc is RETUMBO or RL-26 however both are very hard to find. good luck

 

[mmacfive]

Let's put this into some perspective: SB 6.5 has a burn speed between H4350 and IMR 4831. Just think about all the cartridges with 30+% more powder capacity than the 6.5PRC that can run those two powders in them.

The 6.5 PRC is nearly identical in capacity to the 6.5-06. SB 6.5 is nearly identical in burn to hybrid 100v. Hodgdon lists multiple powders equal to or faster then Hybrid for the 6.5-06.

I don't think they have time to work up loads for SB6.5 in the PRC yet

Now that I finally have brass I'll let you know

 

[can1010]

Let's put this into some perspective: SB 6.5 has a burn speed between H4350 and IMR 4831. Just think about all the cartridges with 30+% more powder capacity than the 6.5PRC that can run those two powders in them.

The 6.5 PRC is nearly identical in capacity to the 6.5-06. SB 6.5 is nearly identical in burn to hybrid 100v. Hodgdon lists multiple powders equal to or faster then Hybrid for the 6.5-06.

I don't think they have time to work up loads for SB6.5 in the PRC yet

Now that I finally have brass I'll let you know

I don't think it is the burn rate that is going to be the problem it is going to be case fill. ball powders are best at 95% or better case fill
I use rl-16 with 140 class or lighter and the case fill is 92-93% and ball powders will be considerably less which could end in poor ignition, bad es and sd, or worse hangfires
for reference rl-16 is close to h4350 in burn rate.

 

[mmacfive]

Gotcha,

if you look at most of the load data for the PRC it is compressed loads.

SB 6.5 has had excellent load density, velocity, and SDs in a 270 win (129 monos) and 280 rem (145 monos) that I've loaded which have nearly identical case capacity as the PRC. It's also worked in a 257 Roberts although it slightly compressed.

I'll load the SB 6.5 in a PRC within the next few days and shoot It next week. I expect it to work fine otherwise I wouldn't try it.

 

[mmacfive]

I tried Sabal 6.5 in the 6.5 PRC now. Not really knowing where to start I started with 47-1/2 grs and a 130 gr Accubond. velocity was about 2750 fps

I've worked up to 53-1/2 gr, 3100 fps and single digit sd's. 53-1/2 gr is slightly compressed with the 130 AB. It is shooting sub 3/4 moa and I'm the limiting factor.

57gr and a 145 LRX in a 280 is giving about 3150fps and sd's less then 4.

I wanted to use it to replace HSP behind a 129 LRX in a light weight 270. Although I'm getting similar velocities and sd's it just doesn't group as well. This gun routinely groups 1/2" to 5/8" with me shooting it. Although it isn't temp sensitive I'm sticking with HSP.

So far I've had very good success in the -06 family of case capacity with Stabal 6.5.

 

[northhunter]

At 3100fps, this looks like it should be getting more notice. I've been curious about the SB 6.5 for a while. I might have to try some behind 134 Shock Hammers. Has anyone else tried this already?

 

[Danehunter]

CMP, Interesting info on StaBall 6.5. Seems it can be used for at least lighter bullets in 6.5 PRC. But with flattened primers beginning to show you may have reached safe pressures for that bullet weight. Those are some very fast velocities.

If you have a good chronometer could you test for 10 rounds of a more accurate load to see what your Standard Deviation number is. The lower the SD the smaller your vertical stringing in a group. SDs in single digits are obviously the best.

 

[CMP70306]

CMP, Interesting info on StaBall 6.5. Seems it can be used for at least lighter bullets in 6.5 PRC. But with flattened primers beginning to show you may have reached safe pressures for that bullet weight. Those are some very fast velocities.

If you have a good chronometer could you test for 10 rounds of a more accurate load to see what your Standard Deviation number is. The lower the SD the smaller your vertical stringing in a group. SDs in single digits are obviously the best.

I've since switched from the 122 Lehigh to the 123 Absolute Hammer, I settled on 58.6gr StaBall 6.5 which gives me 3300 fps and sub 1/2 MOA groups. Max was around 59.5gr so I'm a decent bit under that. I tried IMR4955 which got me to 3400 fps with a 0.13 MOA group but that was way too hot despite how good it shot.

 

[Fedwell]

StaBall 6.5 was developed for the 6.5 Creedmore. Burns to FAST for the 6.5 PRC The Best powder i have found for the prc is RETUMBO or RL-26 however both are very hard to find. good luck

I must Stand corrected on this Earlier Post. Looks like the Slower Burning powder is Great with HAMMERS.

Buzz

 

[Todd Carpenter]

i was looking for some data on my 6.5 prc with staball 6.5 using 127 gr barnes lrx bullet?

 

[Shane Lindsey]

I have some 109 Absolute Hammers loaded up with 6.5 Staball in a 6.5x284 Norma. Have see some folks post good results with H100v so thinking (hoping) this will be close. Anyone else try this in a 6.5x284?

 

[northhunter]

I've since switched from the 122 Lehigh to the 123 Absolute Hammer, I settled on 58.6gr StaBall 6.5 which gives me 3300 fps and sub 1/2 MOA groups. Max was around 59.5gr so I'm a decent bit under that. I tried IMR4955 which got me to 3400 fps with a 0.13 MOA group but that was way too hot despite how good it shot.

View attachment 278594
View attachment 278595

I am also using this with 56.2gr at 3276fps