Believe it or not…I have never spent much time with a .30-06. But in my old age, I am looking to simplify my life and had Mark Brown (Brown Precision in Cameron, TX) build me a .30-06 based on a stainless steel Win 70 action.

Getting ready to work up a load for it…180 gr NPs to start with.

Three questions:
1. What is the most reliable powder for accuracy in the 06?
3. Top 3 powder choices?
3. Are there any of these new “more stable” powders out that work in the 06?

I use H4350 for all 150, 165, 180, 200 grain bullets. Easy to work with and very accurate in my rifle.

Only exception is very light Barnes bullets that I use for culling. RL10X for the light ones.

IMR

4350
4895
4064

IMR4831 or H4831 for 180-200g projectiles. Works really well in my rifle using 165gBT.(25" bbl.)

Nosler lists R22 as the most accurate powder with there 180 bullets and test methods and also the highest velocity with 180s. Anyone use Reloader 22?

I have it.

Lane, can't comment on Re 22 in the '06, but I used Re19 in both '06 and 9,3X62 and was happy with it. I am going to work up a fast load with the Barnes 130 for my Springfield as an antelope load. Barnes likes Big Game for a number of loads as well. Wish I hadn't given mine away before moving back to New Mexico.

I4350, Had better luck with 150 than with heavier

IMR 4831 4350 4064

I have used H4831SC with great accuracy with the 150 grain and 180 grain C&C bullets but the 165 grain bullets didn't care for it at all.

Either of the 4350's I prefer hodgdon....

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:
Believe it or not…I have never spent much time with a .30-06. But in my old age, I am looking to simplify my life and had Mark Brown (Brown Precision in Cameron, TX) build me a .30-06 based on a stainless steel Win 70 action.

Getting ready to work up a load for it…180 gr NPs to start with.

Three questions:
1. What is the most reliable powder for accuracy in the 06?
3. Top 3 powder choices?
3. Are there any of these new “more stable” powders out that work in the 06?

VARGET!

I use H4831 with 165 and heavier bullets.

R17 57 GN /180 PARTITION 2900 FPS
R17 54 gns /200 PARTITION 2700
R26 59 GNS 220 PARTITION 2600

h4350 IS A GOOD POWDER BEHIND THE 180 IN THE 06 FOR ABOUT 2850

For me-

165’s IMR 4350 57 gr.

180’s
A frames H4350- I found best accuracy a bit over max, so not listing that load, but it is sub MOA.
Partitions H4831
Also did well with RL22, but it’s pretty compressed. Would use it again if I had to, but the two hodgedon loads work better

200’s
RL19.

220’s I used Imr 4350 (but these were solids for small stuff, so I didn’t work them up much- hit 2300-2400 FPS and called it good.

I didn’t push velocity much- I’ve got a bunch of magnums and I don’t think 200 FPS makes that big of difference.

I use 4064 for target loads (old military guns- so every target load is ok for my garands). If I was going to hunt with 150’s I’d start there.

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:
IMR 4350 4064

I agree. I have loaded IMR 4350 in my '06 and 280 REM; same goes for the IMR 4064. I have loaded that in my 223 and '06 and it eats that like candy. Both of those are good powders. hard to beat...

It is possible to beat IMR 4350 in specific rifles, but virtually all rifles in 30.06 shoot this powder very well.

(This is a paraphrase from an old reloading article in American Hunter magazine.)

Bill

For 180's and up I like powders in the 4350-4831 burn rate. Sta-Ball 6.5 is also a good 06 powder. Rlr 22 is probably best with heavier pills (200 ish) and a longer bbl. YMMV.

If you are after speed, the slow reloader 22 powder is head and shoulders above most other powers for 180s

It's a 3006. Nearly any rifle powder will work well, h335/rac, target,h380, win 748 or 760, and all the other medium burn rate powders.

It's NOT a tight spec cartridge, so mind your OAL more than anything

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:
IMR 4831 4350 4064

Ditto.

However, with the shortage of IMR powders. I am looking at VV N135-N140.

A ton of powders will work depending what bullet you want to shoot.

IMR 3031 works well with the light weight bullets to I4064 & I 4895 for the middle weights to I & H 4350 as well as I & H 4831 all the way up to R22. They will all work depending on bullet weight and what you want to do with the rifle and cartridge.

Hip

P.S. Oh Yeah----pistol powders work great for lead bullets especially for plinking loads and finishing loads (loads to use when the animal is down and not dead and you don't want to blow a big hole it it at close range!)

Lane,

RL 22 or MRP is a great choice. IMR 4350 is an old time preference but it's not the highest velocity.

Mark

Are these powders even available today? Curious.

I think they are still available, in the US, at least. 'I' in that reference refers to IMR, the common powder line sold by DuPont.

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:
Believe it or not…I have never spent much time with a .30-06. But in my old age, I am looking to simplify my life and had Mark Brown (Brown Precision in Cameron, TX) build me a .30-06 based on a stainless steel Win 70 action.

Getting ready to work up a load for it…180 gr NPs to start with.

Three questions:
1. What is the most reliable powder for accuracy in the 06?
3. Top 3 powder choices?
3. Are there any of these new “more stable” powders out that work in the 06?

I like RL-17 a lot, though it's hard to find these days. I've heard good things about RL-16 and could swear I saw it on a reputable online vendor recently, but don't take my word for it. Superformance is also very impressive.

Thanks everyone. I am away…but will be home soon and looking forward to putting all this info to use.

Safe travels, Lane!

The top three powders are:
IMR4350
XMR4350
H4350
Any of these will drive 180's to 2800, the case will be full, and accuracy will be good. The only time I use anything else is for reduced loads. Then IMR3031 is fine. Regards, Bill.