I am brand new to the reloading scene, my dad gave me 3 boxes of his old reloading stuff (powders, single stage press, dies, scale, unflow powder and a ton of brass and primers). I have been reading the ballistics and recently purchased the Hodgden annual magazines and have read about the barrel length and what not. I think I have a pretty good idea of what's going on and will have fun with my step son building some 30.06 rounds for our guns.

I tried a search for barrel length and after a few pages gave up:

At what point do you measure the barrel to get the length. Which powder to use on a shorter barrel versus longer barrel (fast burn compared to slow burn) I think my dad said to use a slower burn on a longer barrel and fast burn on shorter barrel.

I have what I believe a stock Model 700 Remington 30.06 (it was given to me by my dad), not sure of the year but it has a wooden stock and there is no latch to release the bullets on the bottom. Not sure what the BDL and ADL etc represent. I hunted with dad when I was a kid and have recently sparked interest back into it especially with the reloading stuff.

Thanks for any input and the questions I will post in the near future.

Aaron

My step son has a brand new Rem 700 SPS youth model and I can look that up on their site on barrel length as I believe that our barrel's are different.

barrel length is from the bolt face to the end of the barrel.

Slide a cleaning rod down the barrel to the bolt face, hold the mark on the end, extract it and measure the length.

Use the same powder in a short barrel as a long barrel!.....If the charge is good for one it's also good for the other.

Nappers---Your Remington without a hinged floor plate is an ADL. You may already know this,but when unloading it,you don't need to push the bolt handle down--just work it back and forth and it's not suppossed to be able to fire with the handle up. I'd not get too concerned over barrel length. Get some good reloading manuals and use the powders they suggest. 30-06 was the first I loaded for and first powder I used--and still do was 4064. What size is your step-sons rifle?

Hey nappers

List what kind of powders you have available.
Tell us what kind of bullet you want to shoot.
Is the brass new or has it already been fired in that gun?

quote:

Originally posted by carpetman:
Nappers---Your Remington without a hinged floor plate is an ADL. You may already know this,but when unloading it,you don't need to push the bolt handle down--just work it back and forth and it's not suppossed to be able to fire with the handle up. I'd not get too concerned over barrel length. Get some good reloading manuals and use the powders they suggest. 30-06 was the first I loaded for and first powder I used--and still do was 4064. What size is your step-sons rifle?

His is a 30.06, a quick funny story, he was with his cousins shooting .17 rimfire rifles and then wanted to shoot my 30.06 as I got the scope sighted in, he sat down, got in the groove and pulled the trigger, man I thought a badger bit him on the butt. LMAO. his eyes were the size of saucers, then he got cool and said "can I shoot it again?" I handed him another round and he shot it several more times. He hit one inch left of where he was aiming at 100 yards. Not bad for first shot for a 14 yr old never shooting a big rifle.

Thanks for the tips guys, I have H4831, H4895 (among others for shotshells and black powder)to which I read were fine for 30.06, guess I'll load 10 or so of each and see where it hits on paper. Got to use up those old bullets dad gave me.

BTW, brass has been shot, have primers in them like dad was going to reload them again but put them aside, I have a dial caliper and micrometer and have large rifle primers (can't remember #). Velocity speaking, I like 150gr to 165gr bullets, I have factory loaded 180's but not sure I need such a big bullet for whacking a deer at 100 yards or so (average deer is taken at 50 yards, or so I've read). Haven't hunted since high school (hey 20 years now!!) so, my game is really off, I hunted with a 30-30 and NEVER shot a dear, started to but all of the 30-30's hit the ground (buck fever!)with dad laughing in the background (he had a .270). Lost my point here, oh yeah, the primers I plan on carefully punching out and recleaning the brass and a trim job if needed. I thought of just buying new brass just for handy sakes, but would like to start from scratch and let me and the kid experience it all. I have some brass from recent firings at the range though if need be.

With that thanks again for looking and adding more tips (please), I only asked about the barrel was because most material I read was for a 24" barrel and wanted to try the loads suggested by that Hodgden magazine and plan on buying A-B-C's of reloading for a start.

Sorry bout the rambling, long day at Courthouse, wish sometimes they would reassign me back to the jail but can't beat the 4-10's at the court security door with people asking me all day long if change is metal, or keys. I want to put a periodic table on the metal detector, but the sarge won't let me, dang.

L8R

Aaron

Depending on bullet weight, use faster burning powders (within the recommendations of a good loading manual) with light bullets and slower burning with heavier weights. When using slow burning powders with short barrels it tends to make for large muzzle flashes as you will be burning a significant amount of powder in the air.

Nappers--Sounds like luckily your son's first shooting experience with a large cal worked out. I really don't like exposing them to heavy recoil at first. Your son will probably have a healthy appetite for shooting more than he wants to shoot the 30-06. Two choices--one would be get something comfortable to shoot like a .222. The other choice would be shoot cast bullets in the 30-06. I don't remember the first jacketed reload I shot. It was so much like the factory stuff,I just don't remember it. But I remember well the first cast bullets I shot in my 30-06. The first loading was 4064 at about 2400 fps and it felt about like a 30-30. The second batch was Unique powder down around 1600fps and I thought I had a missfire. Very little noise and recoil.

quote:

Originally posted by carpetman:
Nappers--Sounds like luckily your son's first shooting experience with a large cal worked out. I really don't like exposing them to heavy recoil at first. Your son will probably have a healthy appetite for shooting more than he wants to shoot the 30-06. Two choices--one would be get something comfortable to shoot like a .222. The other choice would be shoot cast bullets in the 30-06. I don't remember the first jacketed reload I shot. It was so much like the factory stuff,I just don't remember it. But I remember well the first cast bullets I shot in my 30-06. The first loading was 4064 at about 2400 fps and it felt about like a 30-30. The second batch was Unique powder down around 1600fps and I thought I had a missfire. Very little noise and recoil.

I thought that, but he handled my 30.06 perfect, the first shot startled him, but he wanted to shoot more. I thought of loading 130's for him and 150-165 for me. I thought of the new Rem 7 260 but didn't have the funds, but a friend of my dad's had that new in the box Rem 700 SPS 30.06 for $325.00 and couldn't beat it.

I'm just hoping my loads will hit paper as this will be my first reloading experience.

Which leads me to my next question, I don't have a case tumbler, but found a liquid cleaner that cleans the brass to new like conditions and was wondering if anyone else tried this or should I stick to a case tumbler?

Thanks again in advance for helping me.

Aaron

Nappers---Many don't have a case tumbler and really I would make one bottom priority--nice to have. Many will disagree,but I use the 150 grainers in 30-06 and I even used them on moose. Keep in mind some that disagree would use a .270 with a 130 grainer. Anyways even 130's in the 06 is not really going to tame it down to a fun shooter.

Nappers the ABCs is a very good book to start with. I would check the powder manufactures web sites for data and reloading info also. http://www.alliantpowder.com/ This site has a bit of beginners info, the Hodgdon, IMR and some of the bullet companies also are worth looking at.
I use IMR4350 with both 150 & 180 gr bullets in my `06. The two powders you list are good choices too and should work well. 4831 is a good one with 165-180 gr bullets and 4895 is just about as universal a powder in the 30-06 as one can get. Beware though there are a 2 DIFFERENT brands of these powders, "H" (Hodgdon), & "IMR". Be sure your data is for the proper brand when you load. 4895 should be a good powder with a 125/130 gr bullet at starting charge as a low recoil load for your boy. A soft point 125/130 gr at these lower velocities will not only easy on the shoulder but will work well for deer at 100-150 yds if he wants to hunt.

Welcome aboard, I'm still getting into the reloading more. The more you do the more the addicition grows. Teach your step son well and he'll have a good hobby for life.

quote:

Originally posted by rainman1882:
Welcome aboard, I'm still getting into the reloading more. The more you do the more the addicition grows. Teach your step son well and he'll have a good hobby for life.

Thats my plan, he is really interested in shooting. My favorite day was taking him with his uncle and cousins, we shot at least 500 rounds through my .06, .40 XD, 9MM Beretta, 22 MK II pistol, .17 rimfires and had 5 boys just having a gas. His uncle and I gave a set of rules and happy to report that not one kid aged from 10-16 did not violate one rule, so no crying kid sitting in the car.

Thanks for information, I have the H4895, so I will refer to that powder when looking through my magazine (the 7th Annual Hodgden reloading one out right now)

L8R

Aaron