Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Is there any ball powder that is as temp stable as Varget?

And in that same burn range? Something that meters well and is suitable for a 223?

Lever and CFE 223 are in that range, meter well, but seem way more temp sensitive.

Have you tried StaBall Match?

How does TAC stack up?

David your question is a valid one but honestly you may be overthinking a problem that may not exist in most temp ranges. I’ve posted about this numerous times and done quite a bit of testing from freezer to a closely controlled oven all over my reliable Oehler 35. This was done after a prairie dog hunt in Western CO in near 100° temps. I was shooting a 243AI loaded to the limit and the ammo was left in the sun for hours. Had these loads been backed off half a grain I doubt I would have seen flattened and cratered primers. Either way they shot great, no stiff bolts, no issues at all. So unless your loads are pushing the envelope and your not looking for 1/2” groups all the WW ball powders I use will do the job from 120° to -10° at very good hunting accuracy. So though progressive burning ball type powders are technically temperature sensitive it’s more of a ballistic test concern than actual field applications.

Rick

understood. Thanks Rick.

In my friend's custom 6mm CM, SB6.5 is about ultimately stable, as he gets the identical velocities in winter and summer at the range in Rifle, CO (that's with the 103 ELD-X). I have not shot SB6.5 in my own rifles enough to develop a data base. Currently using it in the 6.5CM and the 338-06. But in working up loads for a friend's 30-06 using SB6.5 and the 165 NAB, I saw what might be considered mild spikes at the high temp end in the Tucson summer. There were no pressure signs other than a ~30 FPS velocity increase in 90+ ambient conditions.
I have some SB-HD I look forward to wringing out in the 7mm RM but nothing yet to report.

Varget is mighty stable, so you have set a high bar.

Cheers,
Rex

I'd be inclined to try that. I know CFE223 is pretty stable in the 308w, but in a 223, that may be a different story. StaBall 6.5 seems to be pretty consistent and stable, so I'd think StaBall Match would be similar. The only problem I've seen with StaBall is it burns kind of dirty. Compared to other powders.



Good post.

Do you find it leaves hard powder fouling, or easily swabbed out dark residue from the copper fouling reduction agent?

Staball Match is much different, especially burn rate, than Staball 6.5.

I've just started working with it in 5.56 & I don't think it's all that dirty, so far. And it's MUCH better suited to that round than 6.5 is.

MM

to my understanding TAC is one of the better ball powders for temperature stability. but it's still not as good as like vargot or 8208.
but as has been pointed out many areas of the country may not need to be nearest concerned because their temperature swings aren't near as cold

TAC has been very stable for me in the .223AI and .223 with 75s. And it gets pretty cold around here.

Yeah Tac has been my go-to powder when loading for .223 Rem, i get better velocity than I do with Varget and I have experienced no temperature sensitivity but I have never tried it in extreme temperature situations say below zero type temps but it does stay stable from 20 to 90 degrees....Hb

May not be ball powder but is as temp stable as Varget and meters well, as a bonus since Australia's extreme Hodgdon powders have gone sky high pricewise.....

VihtaVuori N140 is a bargain

The description of TAC states it was designed for heavies in the 223 and match 308.

I've found it to work extremely well in that application.

I just zeroed a new scope on a .223AI:


And tested TAC in another .223 SAAMI:

Maybe I’m chasing a boogeyman.

The proof, they say, is in the putting.

And it doesn’t seem like getting good results or consistency is too hard when ball powders are loaded near their top end for a given cartridge.

More of a hard powder fouling. Takes more patches to clean out the bore. Worse than powders like Hunter and Big Game as well. One thing about CFE223, is it seems to burn clean. When shooting in really cold weather, I'll see more smoke with Big Game and StaBall as well. My favorite, AR Comp, is the best compromise from what I've seen.


Sounds great. I need to try some of that Match powder.

Sometimes/most times it's good to use a magnum primer too. I was getting some slight hangfires the other day with CFE223 in my 22-250. Stopped using it, and went to AR Comp. Problems solved. I know that does not help with your 223, but figured I'd reiterate that, when using ball powders. I was using CCI200's in my 22-250, and probably should have been running CCI250's, but my brass was primed and that's what I used. It wasn't even really that cold that day either. Around 30 degrees.

Is AR Comp a stick/extruded, disc/flake or a ball powder?

It is said to be a "reformulated" RL15. It's a stick powder, but the kernels are small. It actually meters through the uniflow very well. These are loads that I dropped from the uniflow. I found these 62gr TTSX for really cheap, so I've been messing around with them in my 1 in 8" twist Tikka. I figured if I could find a load that shot 1/2 moa for 3 shots out to 400 yards, I'd call it good enough:




CFE223 and Big Game did not shoot as well.