Short barrel 30.06 load considerations

dilly

dilly

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I am planning on working up a load in 30.06 for a Remington 760 pump with the 18.5” barrel. I want to use 180grain Nosler partition bullets and have a question. Would I be better to use a faster powder like 4064 because the barrel is shorter, or would IMR4831 be fine? Don’t need to drive tacks. Just want a reasonably accurate and effective moose/bear cartridge.

I don’t have a lot of experience in this area so I welcome any and all advice.
 
I have not done so myself, but have read many times that the powders that produces fastest speeds in longer barrels, also produces fastest speeds in shorter barrels, despite how counter-intuitive that sounds. Has been experimented with multiple times - nothing holding you back from trying it yourself?

"Accuracy" is also a function of you and your rifle, besides the load - bedding, quality of reaming and rifling, bore condition, muzzle condition and so on, all play a part in it.
 
Potashminer said:
I have not done so myself, but have read many times that the powders that produces fastest speeds in longer barrels, also produces fastest speeds in shorter barrels, despite how counter-intuitive that sounds. Has been experimented with multiple times - nothing holding you back from trying it yourself?

"Accuracy" is also a function of you and your rifle, besides the load - bedding, quality of reaming and rifling, bore condition, muzzle condition and so on, all play a part in it.
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Understood. I will be factoring in the above variables when I dial in the loads during testing. I have done some testing up to this point with factory loads. I should explain that I reduced the length of the barrel myself. (Cut, faced, and crowned). When testing factory Winchester powermax 180s, the average mv I got was 2638fps. After cutting to 18.5” (from 22”) I lost on average 120fps. The accuracy is close to the same but one observer at the range said there was a “fireball” coming out of the end of the barrel. I assumed it was unburnt powder and wondered if a powder with a faster burn rate would cut down on the flash as well as pick up some efficiency. I already use 4064 for another cartridge that is nothing like the 30.06. Because I know only a little about loading, I just wondered if anyone else has gone down this road when loading for a carbine specifically.
 
dilly said:
I plan on using 180grain Nosler partition
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Great bullet choice. And you will likely need such a good bullet because your velocity will be lower than normal with a short barrel. Classically, the velocity with a 180 grain and a 24 in barrel is around 2700 fps. In your barrel it would be around 2500-ish and the recoil will be higher as well as the muzzle blast.

for semi autos and pump in 30-06 and a 180 grain bullet I would suggest looking at IMR 4350 or H4350 at around 56-57 grain max for both. H4350 is more temp stable. IMR 4064 will not give you enough speed for the 180 grain and IMR 4831 is probably too slow burning for semi and pumps although I never used it in my Browning BAR. I am quite happy with the 4350 for 165 and 180 grains.
 
dilly said:
Understood. I will be factoring in the above variables when I dial in the loads during testing. I have done some testing up to this point with factory loads. I should explain that I reduced the length of the barrel myself. (Cut, faced, and crowned). When testing factory Winchester powermax 180s, the average mv I got was 2638fps. After cutting to 18.5” (from 22”) I lost on average 120fps. The accuracy is close to the same but one observer at the range said there was a “fireball” coming out of the end of the barrel. I assumed it was unburnt powder and wondered if a powder with a faster burn rate would cut down on the flash as well as pick up some efficiency. I already use 4064 for another cartridge that is nothing like the 30.06. Because I know only a little about loading, I just wondered if anyone else has gone down this road when loading for a carbine specifically.
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I have heard and read similar about that "fireball" - but I don't think it is un-burned powder - I think all the powder is "burned" or at least ignited by the time the bullet is a couple inches down the barrel - I think what the fireball is, is the expanding gases from that burning powder, getting a "breath" of air with oxygen, and flaring off, as a result. The gas has to be continually expanding, or it could no longer accelerate the bullet - the space behind is getting larger, so the gas has to be expanding to keep the pressure behind the bullet going.
 
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