I'm setting up a rig for my son (13 yrs) for an upcoming bear hunt. It's an old Browning BAR, made in Belgium, and I'm going to use it for this years deer hunt and next May for the Montana bear hunt.

I've done a little research on here and found that faster powder would be ideal for the BAR. I have some varget and RE15 as well as Win 742 and BLC-2. I was hoping someone had a pet load that they could share. I'd like a fairly hard hitting load that will perform well in the BAR. I like Hornady interlocks, Nosler Accubobnds and Barnes TTSX but I'm open to suggestions. Bullet availability might be an issue though.

I'm not a big fan of autoloaders for hunting but I want a hard hitting rifle for my son, with minimal recoil. He shoots Highpower so he is a very experienced shooter for his age. If you have any advise to keep the BAR operating reliably please chime in.

Rub Line,
Have you looked on Hodgdon's web site foe the loads they list? If not try it at www.hodgdon.com in their reloading data section.

The "Fast" powder recommendation is a Myth as far as the BAR is concerned. It is NOT a Garand and will handle any 30-06 load data you can feed it. Start with the 4350's, you will probably stay there.

Like steve says, I doubt that you would experience any problem with a powder like 4350. But if you want to make sure, then I'd recommend using something from the IMR line like 4895, 4064, 4320, or the relatively new 4007. WW-742 and BL-C2 are the same spec powder and they seem to get a bit erratic in a case as large as a .30-06 in my experience. Can't say about RL-15, but it's probably okay.

You don't state what weight of bullets you wish to load, which can make a real difference in the powder you select.

But I'm going to suggest something almost heretical, as I am a dedicated reloader: I happen to have a BAR .270 and also happen to have come by a good supply of a particular factory load which performs very well in this gun. As a result, I just don't load for it and shoot the factories instead. Why not try a couple of brands of the weight and type of ammunition appropriate to your target game in the BAR and go with it. That will avoid the potential pitfalls of reloading for an auto, although in the small amount of loading I've done for a BAR I haven't found them to be difficult.

Used quite a few 180s driven by IMR4350 in my BAR. Excellent accuracy and absolutely no problems.