This is my 13 year old with a hog he shot on Saturday. His gun is a peep-sighted FN 30-06. He shoots a 173 grain Beartooth Bullet pushed by 36 grains of 3031. The shot placement was perfect; right shoulder, heart, left shoulder, exit. He was VERY pleased with himself.

Excellent!

Congratulations to you and your son.

George

He is pleased as he should be!! Congratulations to you and your son! You must be very proud!

That is a fine hog!

Very good, congrats. I can't think of anything that isn't perfect about that. Kinda makes you want to take a kid hunting. Lots of good fun and memories there.

KB

darn good porker!

Congratulations to your son and his dad!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by 450/400:
This is my 13 year old with a hog he shot on Saturday. His gun is a peep-sighted FN 30-06. He shoots a 173 grain Beartooth Bullet pushed by 36 grains of 3031. The shot placement was perfect; right shoulder, heart, left shoulder, exit. He was VERY pleased with himself.

As well he should be.

Great stuff, good lookin' young man.

Best

GWB

When my nephew started deer hunting at about age 12, I handloaded some 170gr 30-30 bullets for his 308, and I used 3031 powder. Can't remember the charge, but it gave right at 30-30 ballistics.

I enjoyed the load so much that I made some for myself. The kid got two deer that first season with them, a doe and a long-spiked buck.

Plesant loads, like those in your 30-06, and very effective.

KB

great on you!

Kabluey--I don't believe you. You have to use a .223 to kill a deer.

I forgot to mention that he's my handloading buddy and we built the cartridges together. He's ready to go back next weekend and do it again.

As I mentioned, I was using 3031 in the 308, which filled the case OK, and the loads weren't reduced very much.

Later I discovered H4895 youth loads per Hodgdon, which I feel more comfortable with in the 30-06. They say reduced to 60% of max is OK, but there is no need to go that low. So anywhere between 60% reduction and max is good. The nice thing about H4895 is as the kid grows and matures (which will be too quickly), you can just add more powder, up to max, change to another bullet, and soon enough regular ammo.

Also they say any std load (per the manual) using H4895 can be used with up to 60% reduction, so you are not limited to the light for cal (varmint) bullets. Std 30-30 bullets work well, since obviously they are designed and tested over a very long time for that "magic envelope".

The reason I would choose H4895 over 3031, besides what Hodgdon says, is because I got some hang-fires once using reduced loads with 3031. Once was enough. So I'll use it in the 308, but not the 30-06. Case capacity matters with powder choices for reduced loads, with powder not specifically designed for such use.

There is an IMR powder, designed for reduced loads for rifles, SR4759, which has worked great in those cartridges I've tried it.

BTW, IMO, you just can't do better for a kid's starter rifle for deer and hogs, than the combo you show. I think a softnose 170-175gr 30 cal bullet at about 30-30 vel is close to perfection for such use, and fun for adults too. Within 150 yds, I would use ammo like that with no reservations, except the powder as mentioned. My second choice would be using the 150gr 30-30 bullet in reduced loads for the 06 or 308.

You might find it interesting that the old fashioned 8x57 170gr US loads practically duplicate your 30-06 load and factory 30-30 ballistically. Nice managed recoil deer or hog ammo.

KB


http://www.hodgdon.com/PDF/H48...%20Rifle%20Loads.pdf

Really nice hog, good looking rifle, great looking young man. Congrats.

The load is in the middle of the range from my Lyman book, and based on one pig, I'll keep using it.

I already have a "lights out" load for that rifle using H414 and 165 grain Remington Core Lokt. He shoots both, but likes the cast becasue he "can't even feel the kick" when he's hunting.

We're going out again this weekend and based on the fact that I'm getting 500 pictures a week on that camera of pigs and deer, he'll likely get to shoot something two weeks in a row. I don't know who's more excited about Saturday's hunt.

quote:

Originally posted by 450/400:
The load is in the middle of the range from my Lyman book, and based on one pig, I'll keep using it.

Super. You have a resource that I haven't - the Lyman book. That's reassuring. Sometimes people interpolate a load, and that's what I was cautioning about. Those hang-fires I had with 3031 were really spooky. I never did figure out exactly why they happened - could have been that batch of primers, but I pulled those unfired, and didn't do that again.

Congrats again.

KB

450/400: Your son put that cast pill exactly where it needed to go. May he enjoy a lifetime of accurate shot placement.

Good times. I don't think you could wipe that smile off his face.

Congrats!

Looks like a decent sized pig!

Live post from the field. Holt struck again about 30 minutes ago. Shot a doe, DRT.

And here is the happy hunter, again.

Nice work!!

Congratulations 2X to Holt.

Outstanding!

That is absolutely awesome. Congrats to BOTH of you...

I'm sorry I missed this post for so long!

You'll have to bring the young nimrod with you mate.

Awesome! Good on the both of ya! Does me god to see someone taking a kid hunting. Our deer/gun season opens tomorrow, hopefully Ill have a story of my own to tell about my daughter. Congrats to you both again!

Congrats to the young man!

CONGRATULATIONS TO YOUR SON ,AND NICE FN ,THEY ARE AMONG THE BEST MAUSERS EVER MADE.

Well done, that is some good shooting.