Bullet weights

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mrdayle

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So I've been working up a load for my 30-06 using misc brass, IMR 4831, and 178 gr A-max bullets. Just like it said in the loading manual as you approach the max load, the powder will burn more consistently and get more consistent groups. As of right now, my best have been from 55.9 gr and 56 gr loads with a max load of 56.3 gr.

So heres the question, For the range and long range applications, do I have the right idea using a relatively large bullet and amount of powder, or really is it just a waste and I could me using much smaller bullets and in turn less powder.
 
In my short experience with the -06, I have found that powder in the 4350 burn rate range works better with 180 grain bullets. Have you tried a faster powder for those 178's?
 
Lighter bullets will not perform as well at longer distances. There's nothing wrong with having multiple loads though. 155s or 168s are great at most reasonable distances especially at 06 velocity. The advantage of heavier bullets is they buck the wind better. As distance increases, wind becomes much more difficult to judge and correct for. A bullet that drifts less will print better groups.
 
Actually, I have personally always liked slower powders in the '06 with the 180's and 200's

Your load of IMR 4831 is not a max load in any 30-06 I have ever loaded for. [many, many rifles]

But the 4350's also work fine, and if you can find it, Superformance is a winner as well.

Regards, Dave
 
mrdayle said:
Again I am a beginner but the Manuel says the max is 56.3 for 4831?
Click to expand...
Check another manual. And then another. You'll get different min and max loads in different manuals. There are so many variables that can change from one test to another that each lab produces reloading data based on the raw data from the testing with their specific set of variables. Your rifle, powder, primers, brass, bullets, pressure, temperature, humidity, etc. will be different from the lab that produced the data you're using as well.

The Hodgdon data site shows a max load of IMR4831 under a 180gr bullet (they don't have 178gr listed) of 56.8gr and it's a compressed charge. That's a heavier bullet using more powder. Different variables produce different pressures with the same numerical load data.
 
It depends on the length of your range....
If you're limited to 300 or 400 yards / metres, you could easily get by with a 155 or 168 grain bullet.
Heavier bullets typically have a higher ballistic coefficient (BC) aka lower drag. A lower drag bullet translates to better retained velocity downrange, and less bullet drop.
BTW, I would only trust comparing BC of different bullets from a single manufacturer. Different manufacturers will have different test conditions and evaluation criteria.

The max loads listed in *any* reloading data (manuals, reliable/trustworthy web site, etc...) will be for the exact test conditions (firearm, brass, powder lot, primer lot, bullet lot, atmospheric conditions, and maybe even phases of the moon). It's a good thing you are sticking to below published max, but being aware of your own specific combination is crucial.
 
Every manual you look at will be different.
You can easily look up Hodgdon on line for loading information, but I went to 30-06, 180 grain bullets and H4831 powder and here is the URL for it.

http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/rifle

I'm sorry it didn't hot link, but paste it onto the URL line. (oops, I see it did hot link.) Edited to say this URL is only for the Hogdon site. Just select 30-06 rifle, 180 grain bullets and H4831 powder, to bring up what I was talking about.

All rifles are, or can be, different in regards to what load gives what velocity. It is not uncommon to see 100 feet per second difference between two 30-06 rifles.
You will see by the Hodgdon site that your load of 56.3 grains of H4831 is a very light load, but nothing wrong with that for starting out with. it may be accurate enough for you and it will have a lighter recoil.
The load shown by Hodgdon will be a case completely full of powder, meaning it is a very hard compression to seat the bullet and something you will not likely want to do, until you get more experience at reloading.
 
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Be careful on Hodgdon website information - over 3 grains difference between max load listed for H4831 versus IMR4831 in 30-06 and 180 grain bullets. OP was using IMR powder.
 
Potashminer said:
Be careful on Hodgdon website information - over 3 grains difference between max load listed for H4831 versus IMR4831 in 30-06 and 180 grain bullets. OP was using IMR powder.
Click to expand...

Yes, I didn't notice that the OP said IMR4831.
Bruce
 
supernova said:
Lighter bullets will not perform as well at longer distances. There's nothing wrong with having multiple loads though. 155s or 168s are great at most reasonable distances especially at 06 velocity. The advantage of heavier bullets is they buck the wind better. As distance increases, wind becomes much more difficult to judge and correct for. A bullet that drifts less will print better groups.
Click to expand...

Depends on what you call "long" range. Loads of people think 300yds is long range. Personally I have shot 125gr .30 cal out to 700 yds no problem.
 
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