30-06 H4350 175s - two load books WAYYYY apart! Thoughts?

D

darkwing327

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Hi,

So my 30-06 shoots VERY tight groups with 47.5g of Varget and 175 SMKs or Nosler Custom Competition/180 Accubonds at 2520fps. It's perfect, you couldn't ask for any better!

So why am I messing around with new loads? Because the reloading/testing process is 50% (or more) of the fun :)

With that being said, I am close to max using Varget but would like to build a higher speed hunting load and have a bench full of powders...RL22, H4831, IMR4831, IMR4064, etc, etc. AND H4350

Anyway, to the point. When I am loading for 30 cal, I always use two references - Hodgdon (175SMK load data) and Nosler (175 and 180AB data) and in general they are within .5g of each other for the same powder - except when I went looking at H4350 - Nosler shows 52.5-56.5 and Hodgdon shows 55-59...a HUGE difference. Any thoughts as to which sounds correct? Anybody have other manuals to compare?

Thanks
Darren
 
The old standard load for 30-06 and 180s was IMR 4350 @56 gns ..........H is supposed to be a touch slower so I would say Hodgdon would seem pretty accurate to me. I have found Nosler to be quite conservative with most cartridges. Also different rifles and throats give different results so each manual is different..........alarming so in some cases. This is why I consult 5 or 6 manuals for cartridges I have no history with, before I start to load for it. This gives me a good sense of which powders perform best in the cartridge as to velocity and accuracy and where the recommended highs and lows should be.
 
c-fbmi said:
The old standard load for 30-06 and 180s was IMR 4350 @56 gns ..........H is supposed to be a touch slower so I would say Hodgdon would seem pretty accurate to me. I have found Nosler to be quite conservative with most cartridges. Also different rifles and throats give different results so each manual is different..........alarming so in some cases. This is why I consult 5 or 6 manuals for cartridges I have no history with, before I start to load for it. This gives me a good sense of which powders perform best in the cartridge as to velocity and accuracy and where the recommended highs and lows should be.
Click to expand...

Good answer, I like your note on the bottom , it gave me my morning laugh so thanks for that
 
"except when I went looking at H4350 - Nosler shows 52.5-56.5 and Hodgdon shows 55-59...a HUGE difference. Any thoughts as to which sounds correct?"

Hodgden sound about right. Load up to 59 in 0.5 gr increments and test for accuracy. Watch for pressure signs and be prepared to bring some ammo home.

There is a huge difference between rifles.
 
Ganderite said:
"except when I went looking at H4350 - Nosler shows 52.5-56.5 and Hodgdon shows 55-59...a HUGE difference. Any thoughts as to which sounds correct?"

Hodgden sound about right. Load up to 59 in 0.5 gr increments and test for accuracy. Watch for pressure signs and be prepared to bring some ammo home.

There is a huge difference between rifles.
Click to expand...

Yep, that is what I have done...is it troubling that the most used item in my press in the bullet puller :)
 
I would suggest the H4350 is the best powder for a 175 grain in the 30-06. I recall that powder was specified by the military for the 30-06. I looked at my old Lyman manual and it says 51-56 grains for the 175-180 bullets. So you may want to watch carefully for pressure signs if you go over 56 grains.
 
Ron AKA said:
I would suggest the H4350 is the best powder for a 175 grain in the 30-06. I recall that powder was specified by the military for the 30-06. I looked at my old Lyman manual and it says 51-56 grains for the 175-180 bullets. So you may want to watch carefully for pressure signs if you go over 56 grains.
Click to expand...

Yep, starting at 53 H4350 AFTER shooting the varget, rl22 and 4064 tests over a chrony...will know if something is amiss if I am seeing velocity matching the other powders at lower charges.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts...have a Happy New Year!
 
I have shot 178gr amax in my model 70 worked up to 56.5gr imr4350 and 57-57.5gr of h4350. I could have went warmer as no pressure but was very accurate. If I recall speeds were in the 2750fps range.
 
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