6.5 Stabal test

[DHuffman]

I'm going to drop this here for now because I think we're all interested in powders that claim temp stability and powders designed with the 6.5 caliber in mind.

Tested in my Panda action bench gun on the rest and rear bag.

Loaded two sets of rounds across the same spread.
1st set was shot with the Magneto Speed on and the Labradar on as well.

The whole purpose of the test was to see if the 6.5 Stabal will deliver more velocity and take up less space doing it than H 4350 & RL 16

7-08 improved with a 184 Berger and a BR2 primer.

1st pic is the velocity data, columns 1 & 2 are the same round with the Labradar in the 1st and Magneto Speed in the second column.

Third column is the second set of rounds with only the Labradar shot onto paper at 602 yards to see how they print.

[jvw2008]

So how did the velocity versus charge compare with H4350 and RL16?

[Ranger 188]

Sorry Dave, I don't see the results spelled out. Or is there a round 2?
I just get the difference between the Labradar and the Magnetospeed, very close.
Did the Stabal shoot faster or slower than the H4350 & RL16

[DHuffman]

I used both chronos on the first rounds for two reasons, first i wanted all the velocity data with no missed shots and second i wanted to see if they held steady with each other.

I dropped the magspeed and bayonet on the second set because i wanted to see how they printed at 600 yards but left the labradar up to get another set of velocities.

With RL 16 to get to 2700 fps took 44.4 grains and at 44.6 I was at 2720 but crunching powder. No way was I getting in the upper 2700s without compressing and risking disturbing a seating depth set to 1/1000"


Hodgdon data said a max load of 46.0 grains would be 2669 fps and my improved cases will hold just under 60g filled level full with no bullet.

I started at 46.4 as I've always heard max load on a not AI cartridge was a safe place to start on an AI cartridge. I wish I would have started a little lower, even though the bottom loads are slower than I'm looking for that node looks good too.

Overall from a velocity stand point 6.5 Stabal delivered on the velocity and was just starting to pick up very faint ejector marks viewed with a magnifying glass.

Over 2820 is likely going to be leaning on it too hard but the 2770, 2740 and 2700 range are easily obtainable without crunching powder.

48.0 - 48.4 looks very good I think. Those 3 shots measure 1.833" with 1.162" vertical at 600 yards running 2800.
47.2 47.4 47.6 and 47.8 show potential as well i think.

[DHuffman]

Sorry Dave, I don't see the results spelled out. Or is there a round 2?
I just get the difference between the Labradar and the Magnetospeed, very close.
Did the Stabal shoot faster or slower than the H4350 & RL16

The results at this point are it will deliver more speed than RL 16 without without crunching powder, quite a bit more.

The ladder on paper looks real good in my opinion as stated in my post above.

[DHuffman]

So how did the velocity versus charge compare with H4350 and RL16?

I ran about 20 match rounds left over from the 600 Nationals, 44.4g RL 16 runs about 2700 & 44.6 RL 16 runs about 2720 and I'm crunching powder there. So in the interest of compressed powder not "adjusting" my finely tuned seating depth I'm  done there. I've never tested H 4350 because it is generally slower than RL 16 and load data that came with the rifle supported that also my cases will hold about 1.3 more grains of H4350 than RL 16 but I doubt that's enough to overcome it so didn't test it.

[DHuffman]

It flat outruns RL 16 in getting more velocity out of the powder that will fit in the case even though it takes about 2.5 grains more than RL 16 to break through the 2700 fps range. The point is there is room in the case with Stabal 6.5 to go another 100+ fps than RL 16 before the case is full and it's crunching powder.

Would be worth a look for @mnbogboy and shorty I think!

[mnbogboy]

Dave, agree with the 48.0-48.4 also 47.4-47.6 looks very "waterline" (47.5).

Will you get a chance to do an extreme temp stability check against a powder like 4350?   Or is this dedicated to the 7-08 where you are not using the 4350?  Say a -20F velocity check vs a +40 or more?
Be nice to find loads with comparable accuracy to run the test. A good verification for earlier mfg. claims.

May look for some when I get to duluth/superior next time....our local dealers don't have it yet....and hate to pay hazmat for only a pound or two.  May be the "magic" that "shorty" needs...lol

[Ranger 188]

Thanks Dave good to know.  In case there's another powder shortage
and it might work in the 6-6.5 case size and give more speed than the RL16
Who doesn't like more speed...

[DHuffman]

Dave, agree with the 48.0-48.4 also 47.4-47.6 looks very "waterline" (47.5).

Will you get a chance to do an extreme temp stability check against a powder like 4350?   Or is this dedicated to the 7-08 where you are not using the 4350?  Say a -20F velocity check vs a +40 or more?
Be nice to find loads with comparable accuracy to run the test. A good verification for earlier mfg. claims.

May look for some when I get to duluth/superior next time....our local dealers don't have it yet....and hate to pay hazmat for only a pound or two.  May be the "magic" that "shorty" needs...lol

The only thing I'm interested in testing is how it shoots in the Panda for now. If it will deliver the accuracy required I'll be tuning it as I go so it's not necessary for it to be the same from -20 to +120 it just has to like my application.

It's pretty available and reasonably priced around here at $26-28 a pound.

[DHuffman]

Thanks Dave good to know.  In case there's another powder shortage
and it might work in the 6-6.5 case size and give more speed than the RL16
Who doesn't like more speed...

To be clear my situation is one of finding a powder that works to a specific case / bullet / seating depth situation and getting in a desired velocity range.

When I ran 180 Hybrids jammed .007" ish I had the room in the case for RL 16 to get to the mid-upper 2700 FPS  without any powder compression then I switched over to the 184 Hybrids and found they liked being jumped .030" - .055" so a little bigger bullet and a deeper seating depth had me crunching powder in the 2700 - 2720 FPS range and on a low neck tension / grip situation where I'm seating to a .001" tolerance I was not comfortable crunching powder.

This is a situation where this powder can get to max pressure while having a good case fill ratio but not compress the charge and give more velocity.

A case like the 6.5 Creedmoor where H4350 and RL16 are a good fit might very well come up with a very low case fill ratio with 6.5 Stabal when at max pressure. As dense as 6.5 Stabal is my first concern would be a low case fill ratio in the Creedmoor.

A case like the 6.5x47L with smaller capacity but shooting the same bullets as the Creedmoor may benifit. With certain 130 class bullets I switched to Varget in this round once because I was running into the same charge compression situation.

If I find good accuracy with the 184s in the 7-08 Imp I'll likely take another run at the 180s and see where they want to shoot in the upper 2700 to lower 2800 range.

Will be interesting to test it out.

[DHuffman]

Got out and tested the 48.0 through 48.4 in .1 grain increments yesterday.

[DHuffman]

Except for that 2777 at 48.3g which I'm thinking was a fluke the powder was extremely "Stabal" across half a grain ?

I had light ejector marks on several and light swipes on more than a few so the 2800 node is going to be too much. Especially as this was at 22*

I'll be exploring the 47.2 - 47.6 area around 2750 next. These have all been 184s so far but I plan to test the 180s too as soon as I get on a node without pressure.

[ALL THE WAY]

Thanks for the tests.  I have been looking for tests on this but could find only 2 including this one.  You are doing a great job.

[DHuffman]

Thanks for the tests.  I have been looking for tests on this but could find only 2 including this one.  You are doing a great job.

Sounds like we've got some extended cold weather coming so I'm not sure how quick I'll get back to this but I'll keep it updated as I test.