First Look: Winchester StaBALL 6.5 Smokeless Powder

Winchester Smokeless Propellants is pleased to announce the release of Winchester StaBALL 6.5, the world’s first temperature-insensitive ball powder. Winchester Smokeless Propellants is a brand licensed by the Hodgdon Powder Company, and this new powder is stable in either extremely hot or extremely cold conditions.

“Precision rifle shooters are a demanding lot,” says Ron Reiber, Hodgdon chief ballistician. “We identified a market need for a high-performing powder that metered precisely to be loaded on a progressive press, featured temperature insensitivity and a copper-fouling elimination agent. Our testing revealed handloaders can load this powder much faster than traditional extruded powders on a single-stage press, which will result in less time loading and more time shooting. This powder is a game-changer.”

StaBALL 6.5 is a ball powder that offers rifle shooters precise metering and optimal loading density that is typical of ball powder in cartridges where burn speed is of primary concern. This helps to improve velocity and reduce pressure standard deviations, features which are essential to match grade accuracy. StaBALL 6.5 is ideally suited to 6 Creedmoor, 6GT, 6.5 Creedmoor, 7mm-08 Rem., .270 Win. and other high-performance cartridges. Load information for all these rounds which can now be found on the Hodgdon Reloading Center.

StaBALL 6.5 is an “environmentally green” propellant that has copper fouling reducer additives, giving you increased times on range and in the field, without having to clean the bore. Because of the density advantages of loading a ball powder, StaBALL 6.5 can reach velocities that are 30-200 fps greater than other propellants.

This new Winchester-branded powder is available right now in 1-pound and 8-pound canisters from your local Hodgdon dealer.

Learn more about StaBALL 6.5 ball powder on the Winchester website at wwpowder.com.