I'm trying to work up a load with some 180 gr Partitions in my '06. I'm shooting a Remington 700 with a 24" barrel. I shot a few groups today with 57 grains of H4350 over CCI 200 primers. They didn't shoot too bad but weren't what I'd call great. I'm curious as to how deep everyone is seating this bullet in their rifles. I seated it to where the bottom of the bullet is about even with the bottom of the neck of the case. I didn't know if I should be seatin them out further with this bullet or not. I'm not opposed to trying different powders either. Only other powder I have on hand would be IMR 4831. I'm trying to get a load worked up to head to Canada this fall. Any info would be appreciated.

You can certainly play with seating depth. But you have to measure distance to lands for your particular rifle, it won't do you any good to know how far out other people seat their bullets. It is your chamber that matters...

It is kind of rare that seating depth variations have brought about massive improvements in accuracy for me. I personally consider seating depth more of a fine tuning operation than one on which to base accuracy. But, hey, it won't cost you a lot to test, so why not?

You can also try another powder. Either H4350 or IMR 4831 should be well suited to the .30-06/180 grs combination you are working with. Who knows, maybe you'll get lucky.

To improve accuracy , what has worked best for me in the past, has been to swap bullets. And to tell you the truth, I have more guns that won't shoot the NP than ones that do. If I was to pick good big game bullets that normally give good accuracy, the Barnes TSX and the Nosler AccuBond would be my absolute favourites. Either would work as well as the NP on game.

- mike

Imr -4831 is a great powder for the 30-06,also try H414 & Varget all good powders,the 180gr.Nosler will work fine in the 30-06,you just need to find a sweet spot with the charge,believe it or not,but some times the starting charge recommended by the bullet makers/manuals/will be the most accurate or maybe just a grain more,look into Noslers website and give them a call,they have certain loads/Data posted they recommend there & will talk on the phone and help you fine your favorite load,good people for sure..In my opinion the 180gr. is a do all bullet for the 30-06 and pretty much the best to pick if you might have a crack at a really big buck or bear/boar/etc.,I shot a spike that charged me during the rut at close range full tilt boogie speed ..head on with head down one year in the swamps of south Georgia/ocmullgee WMA River bottoms..with a 308 & nosler 180gr. and had complete penetraion from his briskit/base of neck head on to the rear ham skin stopped it right under the skin,I kept the bullet and it was a perfect mushroom,the buck wheeled back like a wild bronco at the shot and turned and ran streight away from me as the little 308 really rocked him at close range,he took 2 jumps and piled up,it was a awsome hunt i will never forget! I highly recommend the 180gr. in .30caliber Nosler! I easy got at lest 4 feet of penetration with that bullet in the little 308win...Hope this helps and good luck!

I've had good accuracy under the 180s while using H4831. It will not give you barn burning speed, but accuracy is more important to me.

Good Luck

Reloader

You say it didn't shoot too bad but it wasn't great. What exactly was it? I don't know that I would abandon a bullet in a hunting load that shot at around an inch to an inch and a half, especially the Nosler Partition. I am in the same camp with Blackbearhunter. I use that Nosler 180 Partition in a little .308 and it works beautifully on big bucks out to a couple hundred yards.

I'm loading the 180 grain NP in my 300 WSM and have found that 4831 and H4350 both powders are working well for me.

I'm slowly working up to max and whichever one gets the best accuracy at around 2,900 fps will go to Namibia with me next month.

I forgot to add that a load of imr-4831 and Nosler 180gr.Partician is my go to hand load & Factory rounds/bullet type in my 300H&H & 30-06...

Guess I am no help as my 180 gr '06 load just happens to be 56 gr of H4350.

Well I've got it worked out. I ended up seating my bullets out to just touch the lands without interfering with the bolt closing. I ended up with 57 grains of H4350 over a CCI 200. These are shooting on an average of 2770 fps without a lot of deviation. The groups are staying right at an inch or just a hair under measuring outside to outside of the holes. That suits me just fine. Thanks for all the replies & info.

hi
i like federal HE loads. they are doing 870 M/S(2850 FPS) in my 22 inch long barreled ruger 77. better i can never get by handloading.
regards
YES

quote:

Originally posted by brokenspoke:
I ended up seating my bullets out to just touch the lands without interfering with the bolt closing.

Congratulations, that sounds like a great load!

Beware that you can close the bolt on a loaded round, and then remove it again without the bullet sticking in the lands. Should that happen to you in the field, you'll end up with a magazine full of powder and potentially with a stuck bullet to remove from your barrel.

Load up your ammo for the hunt, and cycle all rounds through your action, then you are good to go.

- mike

quote:

Originally posted by yes:
hi
i like federal HE loads. they are doing 870 M/S(2850 FPS) in my 22 inch long barreled ruger 77. better i can never get by handloading.
regards
YES

This has been my experience too. I get 2870fps with Federal HE 180 grain Nosler Partition loads from a Winchester M-70 with a 22" barrel. I have not been able to duplicate this load with my own handloads.

Ditto what Mike said

quote:

Originally posted by brokenspoke:
The groups are staying right at an inch or just a hair under measuring outside to outside of the holes.

The correct way to measure those bullet holes would be to measure from inside of one to the outside of another. Your groups would be half a caliber smaller measuring the right way. Just FYI.

My favorite 30-06 Load:

IMR 4350 @ 57.0
180 Nosler
Fed 210M primer
FC Nickle Cases

FWIW my current .30-06 load s 57 1/2 grans H-4350 and 180 Nosler Accubond.....it's a fine load!

My own 22" '06 likes 180 np's with 55.0 of h4350

If you can't get a good group going,Try some Hornady 180 SP.I have had excellent groups and lots of kills from Antelope to Caribou.Good luck