Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles Staball 6.5 in 22-250

Hope to pick up my freshly rebarrelled 22-250 this week. It’s going to be ran suppressed with a thermal for killing yoties at night. Speed is what I’m wanting since it hard to judge distance through a thermal. Anyway, looking at Hodgdon load data shows screaming fast 4001fps with 50gr bullets from a22-250….

I’ve got several other powders I can use but never tried that one in 22-250 before. Just wandering if anyone here has used it with 50-55 gr bullets in 22-250….

My “go to” bullets have been 50&55BT’s for a long time… but I might try the 53vmax and Nosler varmegeddons for their BC’s. If they splash I’ll just go back to the BT’s.

Thanks. Ben

Ben, the 53 Vmax is one of my favorites in the 22-250. I run AR Comp with that bullet though. When using StaBall 6.5, it is with 69gr bullets. Works very well, but you need a fast twist barrel. Have not tried StaBall 6.5 with lighter pills. Keep us posted on this, if you don't mind..

For heavier bullets, 75s and 80s, I've found the fastest velocities with those weights using IMR 4064, IMR 4895, and RL 15. Not where I thought I would find it, thinking slower powders would be it, like 4350... but NOPE.

Just passing it on, YMMV.

Mine is a Ruger 77 MK2, 24 inch Pac Nor stainless in heavy magnum contour, 1 in 7 twist, for use with the heaviest bullets.
Works well with the 88 gr Hornady ELD even.

I also have a Model 70 in 22.250, with a 28 inch heavy sporter stainless barrel, and a Ruger VT, and a Stevens with a 1 in 14 twist.

I did a speed test back when I had the Tikka 1-8 22-250. Never shot them on paper, but I just loaded them in increments up to the point I saw pressure, and I seem to remember 3600-3700 being about top end for the 55 grain Speer SP in my rifle which I thought was plenty quick. A VMax of BT might be a little quicker since they have a little less bearing surface.

Shot the new rifle today and was very pleased.

It is a Remington 700 action and southern precision rifles in Cookeville tn did the work. They used a muller works barrel, 22” 12 twist and threaded it for my suppressor. I didn’t have any staball so went right to my old standby H4895. Started 2 gr below max and worked up in .5gr increments with 50BT’s. It shot pretty well and got better with more powder and showed no signs of pressure at hodgdons book max. It was noon and baaad mirage but groups hovered around .5”-.6”.

I then grabbed some 1365’s and set the die to be 5 thousandths off the lands and went to 1 grain under hodgdons max load. Mirage had laid down a bit and the first five all touched. Although I didn’t measure the group it was probably around .250” or so.

I then grabbed a box of ammo loaded for a different 22-250 loaded with 60 hornady SP over I believe 34.0 of varget. Four went through a ragged hole with one thrown out… probably me but that group was still well under .5…. Again guessing but I’d guess high .3’s/low .4’s.

I did find an 8lb jug of staball locally so I went to town and snapped it up and brought it home.

I didn’t shoot over the chrony today but will definitely try to shoot some groups with the staball and get the chrony out as well.

First time using SPR and my first Muller barrel….but I seriously doubt it will be my last. They had a very good turn around time and their shop looks more like a O.R. than a gun shop. Can’t wait to play with the rifle on a cloudy calm day!

Sounds like it's shooting great benbo. Exactly how I expect a good 22-250 to shoot. Generally they are not finicky at all. I also run H4895 with 50gr pills. Usually around 35.5-36gr's and expect gilt edge accuracy. As it is right now, I have 2 22-250's with 1 in 14" twist barrels and 1 with an 8" twist. I like them all, but have been having more fun with the fast twist lately. Running 77's and 88's in it with great results. Again, where StaBall really shines is with bullets weighting around 69gr's. One thing I did notice while using that powder, it is dirtier than others I've used in the 22-250.

I used Sta-ball 6.5, along with nine other powders to fireform my Lapua brass. I wasn't really concerned about accuracy or speed, just looking for pressure signs on a preliminary outing. With the Sta-ball loaded to 43.0gr. in the new brass, I reached 3791fps. Surprisingly though, at that point I did have ejector marks just starting to show, which kind of confused me because that is not a max load. Could have been because the brass was new, I don't know. None of the other powders caused any concern. Going back out, probably on Saturday, and will let you know where I get to.

Just seeing this Pappy....

The Lapua cases are heavier in brass weight, with thicker body. So therefore it will show high pressure signs quicker and at a lower volume of powder charge, when compared to other brands of brass..

Let the brass and the action tell you where the max charge is for that rifle, vs a general statement from some reference book. I've had instances where I've had primers pop, with starting loads of one powder and then on the same page, using another powder, have been able to go 10% of more over max charge with no problems.

I trust what the rifle and brass tell me, as opposed to anything I read that I should be seeing. All actions and all brass are entities unto their own....book generalizations are just that... as reference, not Gospel.

Southern Precision ROCKS!!

They did my Bart .22BR 1:7” and it’s awesome!

A couple things:

-I think Hornady lists a 1:10” for the 53 V-Max, so it may not like the 1:12, granted you’ll have plenty of speed. I’d still try it, it mean on paper and meat, and does stuff at 600 yards out of a 16” AR that I didn’t think could be done.

-6.5 StaBall is a tick slower (per the burn rate charts) than H-4350, so, pretty doggone slow. I tried finding a node with it in my .22BR with 88’s and couldn’t get anything I liked. Gonna try again with 95 Sierras.

-There’s a newer StaBall (can’t remember the name), but it’s a bit faster than 6.5. A buddy is using it in his .223 Ackley and it’s some pretty awesome stuff. Still easy metering with the same temp consistency as 6.5.

Edited to add: StaBall Match is the name of the powder.

A lot of guessing going on in this post. ^^^ Hornady uses a 26" 1 in 14" twist for the 35-60gr bullets. However, they do say that you need a faster twist than 14" to stabilize the 53gr v-max. I don't know where you are getting 1 in 10" twist from??? In all the 22-250's I've had with the 1 in 12" twist rate barrels, they loved the 53gr v-max bullet. As I have also stated before, my 14" twist rifles also stabilize the 53 quite well. If you are ever in doubt, you should try them. You may be surprised that they do actually work in a 1 in 14" twist rifle. However, if you are at sea level or you are not pushing them fast enough they may not work well in your rifle. Just be warned. In the Hornady manual it will state that the 53gr v-max may not work.

I still think it's a good idea for Ben to try the 53, as he may find they work just fine in his rifle. But again, I would not use StaBall 6.5 with that light of a bullet.

Well, I’d have bet the farm Hornady said 1:10” somewhere but I looked on their website and on a box in my cabinet and couldn’t find it. Dunno where I got that from.
But, yeah, 53 V-Maxes are awesome. Give ‘em a whirl.

That's some good shooting BSA.

[quote[b][/b]=Potsy]Well, I’d have bet the farm Hornady said 1:10” somewhere but I looked on their website and on a box in my cabinet and couldn’t find it. Dunno where I got that from.
But, yeah, 53 V-Maxes are awesome. Give ‘em a whirl.[/quote]

If you depend on Hornasuck to post any useful info on their website or box you are pizzing into the wind. You have to buy their manual or pay them a buck to see that caliber. Fugg you Steve Hornasuck. Hornasuck says 1:12. Proof positive a 14 22.250, 220 Swift or Cooper 223 will not stabilize @ 1330 ft elevation which is exactly the same as Hornasuck elevation since I am only 30 miles from the factory.

Life’s been busy…. Haven’t done anymore tinkering with the SPR 22-250… but I did go with the 12” twist specifically to make sure it would stabilize the 53vmax. I’ll probably still go back and try more bullet/powder combos but it is shooting so well with sierra 1365’s there’s no real need. But I’m a tinkerer so when life slows down I’m sure it’ll happen.

I’ve shot the 53vmax out of 12” twist 223’s so I knew it’d work in a 12” 22-250.

But hopefully SPR will have my new 7PRC done and I can play with that!

always figured I must be just plain lucky in some things...

elevation here is about 1200 ft above sea level...

I have a Model 70 SA that I rebarreled to 22.250 with a 1 in 14 twist ( got the barrel cheap ), that is a stainless steel Pac Nor, but is 28 inches in length, heavy magnum contour. With a charge of 30 grains of RL 7, that stabilizes 53 gr V Maxes just fine...

maybe the 28 inches or the RL 7, gives it just enough velocity to put it over the stabilization bar...

but since I started using the 53 V Max, that is usually the most common bullet that my 22.250s see when I am ready to pull the trigger over at the range or out in the varmint fields.

For some reason some guys like to bad mouth them. I know swiftly bad mouths the schidt out of them. However in a recent post he said he gave up on Hornady a long time ago and hasn’t used them in something like 20 years! So what’s his experience, really like with these bullets??? As with most things, I’m going to try schidt out for myself and get the real truth. I’ve been using that bullet since around 2009, but they were shot through a couple Ruger 77 223’s. That bullet always produced sub moa 10 shot groups through those rifles and they were cheap and easy to find at the time, so I stocked up. Later finding out that all of my 22-250’s love them as well. I’m not going to say they are the best bullet out there, but they sure are worth taking a look at. If your rifle stabilizes them, they will likely shoot bugholes.

What does all this BULLSpit have to do with 6.5 Staball powder?????

Hip

You must be new here…..😂

Doesn't matter----I could come back in 10 yrs. and still be amazed how OFF TOPIC responses are!

Hip

The OP (Ben) was talking about wanting to try 53gr V-max bullets in his 22-250. Why don't you try reading through again. It's all related. As I told him once before, StaBall is not a great powder for such a lightweight bullet, there are other better choices out there. A lot of these threads veer off because guys want to try to prove the 53gr V-max doesn't work in their 22-250. I'm here to say they do, as do other guys that have much more experience than I do. Again, go back to the beginning and do some reading. It is fundamental..

You shoot from the hip, you tend to miss a lot..