Staball Match

Curious about Staball in 223/556 with 75gr BTHP.

Went to Hodgdons website load data today and found it interesting.

Starting load had beat my max Tac load by 205 fps.

Never seen an error on Hodgdons load data before.


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That is most definitely an error on the velocity for the minimum load... Might be good to send hodgdon an email before someone tries to achieve that velocity and ends up wearing parts of their rifle.

Unless staball match has a magic inverse relationship between pressure and velocity...
 
Funny, I was just at Hodgson's data center 5 minutes ago due to a YT video on 6mm ARC reloading who mention Hodgson had Match load data for the 6mm ARC. Sure enough. I previously picked up a bottle of the Match to try with my 6mm ARC and have been hoping for some data to show up. Made my day.
 
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Hi all I am looking to reload 147 fmj 308 bullets with staball match. Was looking for data. Hodgdon only has data on 150 nosler bt. Do you think that bullet is close enough to my cheapo 147 fmjs for reload data. Trying to be safe and I'm new to reloading. I typically only use powders that have load data for my specific bullet but I wanted to mass produce 308 ammo with a temperature stable ball powder. I live in a region where cold days in the winter are below zero and hot day in the summer are north of 90. In any given day the temperature swings anywhere from 20 to 80 degrees, yes 80 degrees lol.
 
308, Staball Match, & 177SMK. Shot a ladder looking for a powder charge. Just 3 shots each for these.

45.0 gr appears to be where the magic happens with this powder in my gun. It oddly does the same with both 168 & 177's.

26" PVA Osprey 10T
177smk oal 2.882 cbto 2.229 = .021 jump, GM210 primers, RWS Brass.
Staball Match
44.1 = 2677 SD 10.3 .555"
44.4 = 2699 SD 11.1 .484"
44.7 = 2729 SD 9.6 .753"
45.0 = 2730 SD 1.7 ** Small

No hard bolt & cant really see any pressure signs. Primers might be a touch flat, but no cratering. I'd love to know where I'm at with pressure.
Brass is the 3 from the 45.0 load. I can see the tooling marks from the CDG bolt face on the primer.
Going to try again with 5 rounds each 44.8 - 45.2 in .2 steps.
Picked .021 jump for the 177 because the 169's shot very well there.

My gas gun was similar with Staball Match & 168's in that it shot better at the upper end loads.


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1x fired RWS brass measured on the FX 120 & h20 volume was 56.06 avg.

Staball Match & 168TMK shot during same range session.
I chose the GM210 primer for all this testing, hoping it would show pressure if I hit any, quicker than a cci#34 of GM215 anyway.

Same brass, primers, environmental's etc.
44.7 = 2747 SD 8.3 .712"
45.0 = 2765 SD 2.4 .207"
45.3 = 2788 SD 16.5 .902"
45.6 = 2797 SD 27.6 .850"
45.9 = 2842 This was a single shot & no pressure signs. Primer pocket still tight.

Another interesting point of information is that, just like the 177's 45.0 was low SD & best group.

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Hi all I am looking to reload 147 fmj 308 bullets with staball match. Was looking for data. Hodgdon only has data on 150 nosler bt. Do you think that bullet is close enough to my cheapo 147 fmjs for reload data. Trying to be safe and I'm new to reloading. I typically only use powders that have load data for my specific bullet but I wanted to mass produce 308 ammo with a temperature stable ball powder. I live in a region where cold days in the winter are below zero and hot day in the summer are north of 90. In any given day the temperature swings anywhere from 20 to 80 degrees, yes 80 degrees lol.
Yes, if anything, back off by a few tenths of a grain to be safe and just work up the load. Let me know how it goes, I am thinking of doing the same.
I would start low and slow and NHPiper suggested but that's always my opinion regarding everything when experimenting.
 
I would start low and slow and NHPiper suggested but that's always my opinion regarding everything when experimenting.
Hogdon starts their load at 45.7, I'm going to round to 46 and do .5 grain increments up to 50 grains. I'm loading them 70 thousands off the lands due to the magazine. Should I go I start lower? I read Hogdons FAQ and they said when loading similar wieght bullets to just start at the starting load. I was also considering using the service rifle load data which starts at 44.3 grains...
 
Hogdon starts their load at 45.7, I'm going to round to 46 and do .5 grain increments up to 50 grains. I'm loading them 70 thousands off the lands due to the magazine. Should I go I start lower? I read Hogdons FAQ and they said when loading similar wieght bullets to just start at the starting load. I was also considering using the service rifle load data which starts at 44.3 grains...
46 should be safe to start if their min load is 45.7 for a similar built bullet.
 
46 should be safe to start if their min load is 45.7 for a similar built bullet.
I usually use h4350 or h4831 and there is so much load data. This will be my first time doing a load like this. I will post results. Unfortunately my powder thrower shit the bed on me and had to pull all my bullets. I calibrated and realized it is not holding calibration. Hopefully next weekend I'll post some results.
 
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My load for 147 grain swaged FMJ is 47.5 grains. I started at 45.5 and went up to 49.5 and had no real pressure signs. Extreme Spread was 4. Maybe a fluke or luck well see. I'm going to load of a bunch and do an OAL test see if I can get some tight groups with these crappy bullets. Goal is to develop a reasonably accurate practice load that is sub $1 per round that I can load using a progressive press.