What loads work well in your 30-06?

J

JRodko

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Hey folks,

I have sold a whack of my old reloading gear to a friend that wants to try it out with his dad. Both religiously shoot .30-06 out of Remington 700's (the older ones with the nice wood). I've never ever loaded for anything over .243 so I have no idea where to get them started (in terms of accurate loads). As I have little experience with .30-06 please don't tell me I need to "try a bunch of different loads to find out what works". I just need a place to start. Looking for your favourite varminting bullet and more importantly deer hunting bullet. Some powder advice would be appreciated too... and I think I'll just have him pick up Federal Large Rifle Primers as they've always served me well, unless someone has a better idea!?

Cheer,

J
 
IMR 4895, large rifle primer, and 165 grain bullet of your choice makes for a good all-arounder.

RL-17, magnum rifle primer, and a tough 180 grain bullet makes a very good "big" game combination.

RL-17, magnum rifle primer, and a 210 grain VLD makes a crazy good long range thumper.
 
h4350, 57gr, 165gr hornady sst/interbond 2830fps
varget, 49gr, 150gr sst/interbond 2750fps
varget, 49.5gr, 168gr berger hunting vld 2730ish fps

Winchester brass, cci large rifle primer.

All the reading I have dont says if your rifle cant shoot good with a 165/4350 somethings wrong.
 
165 grain Nosler Partition or Accubond, LR Mag primer, 56/57 grains of W760.
180 grain Accubond or Partition, LR primer, 58.5 grains of IMR 4831, or 56 grains of IMR 4350.

These loads should be approached from 2 grains below, and worked up to.

Good to go on anything in N.A.

Forget the Berger VLD bullets for hunting, BTW.

Regards, Eagleye.
 
my favorite is cci 250 primer, win case, WORK up to 57 grn of imr 4350 with any 180 bullet.like hornady, speer or even noz ab. i have seen this shoot from good to excelent in quite a few 30 06's.
 
Ramshot Hunter (approx. 58 grains) behind almost any 180 grain. Really likes the Sierra , I prefer the Hornady and/or Nosler (Partition) , for no real reason. Well the Partition is hard to argue with

Ramshot Big Game , behind 150's. Definite preference for Sierra
 
Thanks guys yesterday at the range I was cursing my old 30-06 and was about to retire it, This tread gave me a few more things to try first.
 
In the several I have had over the years my go-to load was just what Eagleye said 56-57 gns IMR 4350 and a 180 Speer HC or Nosler part. This load always seems to shoot very good to excellent in all 30-06s and will give over 2800 with a 24" barrel. I have used W-W brass, always and CCI 200s. I must also reiterate what Eagleye said about starting 2-3 grns below this and work up. All rifles have their own personalities and different throat lengths and chamber dimensions, so play it safe and start low and go up 1/2 gn at a time.
My son uses RL 17 in his and gets very high velocities but mediocre accuracy...........a common trait I've found with RL 17. When all the stars align correctly though, RL 17 gives some amazing velocities and if your particular rifle likes it you may just hit the jackpot accuracy wise as well.
 
c-fbmi said:
In the several I have had over the years my go-to load was just what Eagleye said 56-57 gns IMR 4350 and a 180 Speer HC or Nosler part. This load always seems to shoot very good to excellent in all 30-06s and will give over 2800 with a 24" barrel. I have used W-W brass, always and CCI 200s. I must also reiterate what Eagleye said about starting 2-3 grns below this and work up. All rifles have their own personalities and different throat lengths and chamber dimensions, so play it safe and start low and go up 1/2 gn at a time.
My son uses RL 17 in his and gets very high velocities but mediocre accuracy...........a common trait I've found with RL 17. When all the stars align correctly though, RL 17 gives some amazing velocities and if your particular rifle likes it you may just hit the jackpot accuracy wise as well.
Click to expand...


Women...
 
From my experience, and from talking to several old timers who've been reloading for decades, the best accuracy and the most velocity do not necessarily go together.
Many people agree that the best accuracy is achieved at slightly less than maximum loads.
I think it's a mistake to sacrifice accuracy for the sake of an extra 100 or so FPS.

My other 30-06 load other than the one mentioned above is 58.5 gr of Hodgdon H414 with a 165 gr SP bullet. Velocity 2919.
Yes, I know, they are both at, or slightly above max. but still giving me tight groups in my rem 700.
 
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