Am going to help a friend start reloading, he has a .30-06 with a 18.5 inch barrel. He likes Nosler 180 bullets, my question is what powder to use. I use the slower powders in my 24 " .30-06, but am thinking with the short barrel a faster powder may be in order. What do you folks think. Thanks-Karl

I have a friend that uses IMR3031 in an 06 with 180gr bullets in a 760 carbine. Great accuracy.

The slower powders will still be faster, but if you shoot from prone, better bring a shovel to put out the fires!

With shorter barrels, the faster powders will give up less, and will reduce blast and flash. JMO, Dutch.

I use Accurate Arms 2520 in my 760. The muzzle flash is not that bad (no worse than factory loads), and accuracy is very good.

BTW, I use AA2520 in all my rifle loads from .223 through .35. It performs well in all calibers I've tested.

Ryan

Of the powders I tested in my 760 in 30-06, I had the best velocity from IMR 4320.

I started with "book loads" that were supposed to give about 2500 fps with a 180 gr bullet, and dropped the ones that gave the poorest velocity numbers. As I worked up in velocity more powders fell by the wayside until I settled on 4320.

My rifle shoots 180 gr factory loads at about 2600 fps, and I get 2639 out of my moose load for this gun with 4320.