Low bullet weight causing dirty burn of staball powder?

[Tac-O]

I've been using staball 6.5 in my 30-06 for a bit with 150gr bullets. For this powder, a 60.4gr charge with cci200 primers. I remember seeing a distinct difference in the amount powder residue formed when going from h4350 to this powder. The amount of patches I had to use to get it all out increased and the amount left on my case necks after firing increased.

I'm wondering if this is happening because staball is a slightly slower burner than h4350. Maybe I need a higher charge, or heavier bullet for this powder? I wonder how much the heavier bullet part matters because I use a Lee FCD on all my rounds.

BTW, they do group pretty well, but it just seems that the increased soot would mean an incomplete burn. I have no Chrono, so no clue on speeds and ES

 

[Shane Lindsey]

Different powders have different chemical makeup. I have seen difference in cleaning times.

H4350 was pretty clean in my 30-06. RL 17 seemed pretty dirty.
H4831sc seems pretty clean H1000 a little more dirty. RL22 even more dirty in a 300 win mag.

If it is giving you good accuracy, I wouldn't worry.

 

[Calvin45]

It is true that some powders just burn dirtier. What seems silly to me is that a powder advertised for its copper erasing properties would turn out to be sooty as all get out - kind of makes the decoppering less of a sell if you still need to clean excessive carbon all the time.

I think your theory is right. More powder or a heavier Bullet would likely reduce this. This is all the more true for ball powders. Ball powders love magnum primers, full to compressed loads, and don't as well with mismatched burn rates for the cartridge and bullet being used.

 

[Tac-O]

It is true that some powders just burn dirtier. What seems silly to me is that a powder advertised for its copper erasing properties would turn out to be sooty as all get out - kind of makes the decoppering less of a sell if you still need to clean excessive carbon all the time.

I think your theory is right. More powder or a heavier Bullet would likely reduce this. This is all the more true for ball powders. Ball powders love magnum primers, full to compressed loads, and don't as well with mismatched burn rates for the cartridge and bullet being used.

Thanks! I was thinking maybe it was an indicator something was wrong, even if it was shooting well. I've not shot it at distance and don't have a Chrono, so I don't know anything about the speeds.

 

[jasonco]

StaBall is way slower than H4350. It's burning dirty, because of case fill, not near 100%, with ball, and pressure is low. Find the rifle's max or near max charge weight and the soot/dirtier barrel should stop. I just started experimenting with StaBall last month.

 

[Tiny Tim]

A lot of ball powders seem to burn a bit dirtier. Also, they should burn cleanest when pressures are closer to max rather than min loads. Gonna try it in my 243AI soon. Also might be better with a mag primer.

 

[Tac-O]

StaBall is way slower than H4350. It's burning dirty, because of case fill, not near 100%, with ball, and pressure is low. Find the rifle's max or near max charge weight and the soot/dirtier barrel should stop. I just started experimenting with StaBall last month.

I have read this before.... I just get stuck in the realm of not wanting to push max loads due to barrel and brass life.

I'm about to get a fresh set of brass, so maybe I'll revisit those higher charges. I'd like to keep using staball... It always seems to be available, for now. I just bought an 8lb of h4350 though

 

[Tac-O]

I also had a good load at 62.4gr, where 63.0 is max for 150gr bullets. So, maybe that's just too light of a bullet for the powder.

Any Thoughts on the effects my crimp would have on the too slow powder?

 

[milo-2]

StaBall is way slower than H4350. It's burning dirty, because of case fill, not near 100%, with ball, and pressure is low. Find the rifle's max or near max charge weight and the soot/dirtier barrel should stop. I just started experimenting with StaBall last month.

^^^ This right here. Have you ever loaded pistol rds that dirtied everything up, crappy burn.
You could try a crimp, but you are adding another dimension that in truth, may or not work. If you had something that worked before, it may be easier returning to that.

 

[jasonco]

I wouldn't loose sleep over burning out a 30-06 barrel and if you do, then good on you, for putting in work to shoot better!

 

[Tac-O]

^^^ This right here. Have you ever loaded pistol rds that dirtied everything up, crappy burn.
You could try a crimp, but you are adding another dimension that in truth, may or not work. If you had something that worked before, it may be easier returning to that.

I never have! This is the first gun I've loaded for and have been at it about a year, but have always crimped everything.

I was using h4350 with good results, but then ran out and couldn't find any. The 62.4gr load of staball was accurate, but still dirty.

 

[Tiny Tim]

Not Staball but ff loads with RL22 are filthy. Shoot amazing and great es/sd, but filthy. Used to load WW540 in shotshells. Great performance, but again, a filthy mess in the autoloader. Some are dirtier than others and most will run cleaner at near max loads. For hunting, performance is what I care about most.

 

[redneckdan]

I used staball then switched to hunter in my 6 creed. Mag primers and high node definitely cleaned up the burn.

 

[Tac-O]

I used staball then switched to hunter in my 6 creed. Mag primers and high node definitely cleaned up the burn.

Cleaned up the burn with the staball? I actually just bought some Winchester primers to try since they're hotter. I have been wondering about trying magnum too, since my other good charge is 62.4