I am new to rifle cartridge reloading (have loaded thousands of revolver rounds) and I'd like to load a large supply of target rounds for a FN '06 mauser using M2 ball. The link below sounds very interesting but I would like to read feedback, good/bad, regarding this load and its stated performance.

The Load

I have used this load with 152gr M2 Ball in 30-06 and it works just fine but there are better reduced loads from accuracy point-of-view. I got somewhere around 3MOA with "Tho Load".The best accurate reduced load I found was 25gr IMR4227, 1.5MOA. This was older powder and the newer IMR's are supposed to burn faster so start low and work up. I also found 25gr 2400 works ok but this is a little hotter and might be over limit for the newer 2400. I also found 16gr Unique works good but it again is on hotter side. With all of these fast powders you obviously need to be very careful so as not to double charge and blow up your rifle and everything close to it. When I reload with these powders I never use powder measure but instead use powder dipper and use procedure which ensures I won't double load. The M2 ball are not generally very accurate bullets, atleast at velocity used here but price is right. I bought a pile of them for playing around with reduced loads. I hope this helps.

Good info rjn -

Regarding IMR and Hodgdon 4227 powders for reduced loads, are they interchangeable? I have a couple of pounds of H4227. Over on the Kifaru.net site, the owner states he uses IMR4227 (19 grs) for small game loads in his 308 and suggestes a 21.5gr load for the '06. Harris has another article where he lists 18-20 grs. IMR4227 for the '06.

And, would you mind sharing your safe, powder dipper procedure?

I would not hesitate to substitue H4227 at 20gr. What I found at 20gr is that as the case neck work hardened from neck sizing, I would get blow back after several reloads because brass is harder and does not seal as well. If you annealed the case the brass is softer and takes lower pressure to seal.

First off, I made a dipper out of a 30-06 case. With a volume of 1.74cc you get the following weights per powder:

16.0gr Unique
25.0gr 2400
13.5gr Red Dot
24.0gr Imr4227
20.0gr SR4759

The incredible thing about this is for each powder the listed weight gave the best accuracy! Must have something to do with volume versus burn rate. Anyway what I do is as follows:

1. Set powder funnel on table (mouth down).
2. Insert primed/sized case up side down into funnel (ensures no powder in case.)
3. With powder in a small container that holds about 1/4 cup powder in left hand,I push dipper straight down into powder with right hand, pull out and give little tap with finger which levels powder. Consistent movement no matter how you do it is the key to getting consistent weight.
4. Set Powder down, and pick up funnel with left hand, flip over, pour powder from dipper which is still in right hand.
5. Take case with powder and immediately seat bullet.

Sorry to be so excrutiating detailed but again you want to guarantee that you never double charge. If you never shot reduced loads than I am pretty sure you are going to really enjoy it.

I have a Remington 700 BDL that has never shot cast bullets worth a damn. After reading an article by Ed Haris that I'd printed out on "Cast loads for military rifles", I decided to try one. Not having any #2400 handy, I used some H-4227 I'd gotten for a gun I no longer have. I set up the powder measure for 18.5 gr. and charged up 30 cases. Bullet was Lyman # 311334, a semi-spitzer type of roughly 200 gr. in my alloy. Wonder of wonders, I was getting 1.25 to 2.0" groups depending on how well I did my part. This from a rifle that was a 5.0" plus shooter before. Now I have to sit down and cast up a bunch of those bullets and see just how well I can make that rifle shoot.
Paul B.

Hey rjn, I spent a bit over an hour looking for the real old Lee Hand Dies for the 300Sav and had ZERO luck. Of course, that eliminated those spots from the "hunt". I'll look some more tomorrow and also see if I can find anything close to the concept in my data.

I certainly am intrigued by the idea, but as I think of the different "Volumes of Gas" createdby the various weights of Powder, it rams into my(somewhat) logical thoughts and a "Conflict Flag" pops up. That in NO WAY is meant to imply that I doubt you.

I would encourage you to begin a separate Thread on it and see if anyone else has noticed similar results in their reloading efforts. Quite a few folks on this Board have a lot of knowledge and they may have noticed just what you have.

Anyway, thanks again for mentioning it.

You can buy a complete set of Lee dippers from just about any reloading supplies vendor.

Hey Ricochet, Yes, a nice set. I remember my Elders making Dippers from cases and Brazing a short handle on them a very long time ago. We didn't have nearly the sophistication in reloading back then that we have today. But, those Dippers worked very well for their unique Loads.

I still use dippers made from cases.

One of these days (when I remember it) I'm going to get a set of Lee dippers for convenience. They're premarked with their capacity in milliliters, and Lee has a table of charge weights for many powders.

In the Oct '95 issue of American Rifleman, the "Loading Bench" by C.E. Harris, has many reduced loads using cast bullets in the '06 and using many powders from pistol to rifle powders, for varmit to gallery rounds. I put a few of these loads together using WW231, 2400 etc. They werent all that accurate, but for plinking and practice they were fine.

I've tried 2400 in many cartridges with many different cast boolits and found that in many cases (pun intended) that 16 grains was just not enough pressure to seal well, thus smoking the case. Optimized for a particular rifle, it's an okay load, but I have never found it to be THE load. BUT, since you mentioned 4227, my accuracy load with the IMR flavor in 06 is 21 grains. In more than one rack grade 03/03A3 it is capable of sub 2 inch 10-round groups at a hunert with decent 170ish cast boolits. Speed is about 1600.