I am ready to start reloading for the first time and wanted to know what the experienced reloaders recommend as a starting point to work up a load for my 30-06 Ruger MK77 in stainless. I have Winchester brass with Remington 9 1/2 Large Rifle primers, H4350 and Hornady 165 grn SST. I was following the thread concerning the '06 and 270 loads and it appears people are using 56-59 grains for best performance. Should I start with 55 grains or should I start even lower and work up. I don't want to burn up powder for no reason.
Also what increments do you increase powder when working up a load like this.
This is for hunting only, no benchrest desires at this point.
Thanks for any help or tips you can give someone new to the hobby.

According to the Hodgdon site:
http://www.hodgdon.com/data/rifle/index.htm
59.0 is a max load for H4350 w/165, and start 10% below max, or right around 53.0 grains. You might get best accuracy at a starting load, max load, or somewhere in between, so it may be worthwhile to start low, not only for safety reasons. On a charge like that I like to move up in one grain increments, and if the two best groups are one grain apart, I will split the difference and try that. A chronograph helps if you have one.

Good luck and have fun!,

Bill

Out on a limb I go here!

I'm betting that 57.5 grains of the H4350 is going to give you exactly what you're looking for: A powerful, accurate hunting load.

Your rifle is of modern construction, and I see no reason to start too low. The above advice is the safe way to go, but if you want to save material, just load one load of 53 grains, one at 54, one at 55, etc., (checking for flattened or cratered primers, or difficult bolt lift) and then begin in .5 grain increments from about 57 grains and up.

I would recommend seating the bullet about a caliber's depth (.30") into the case to begin with. If you load too long, you may find that the bullets from the unfired rounds in the rifle's magazine will dislodge and creep forward under recoil. I've seen this happen with a .308, so I'm certain that it can happen with the aught-six's heavier recoil.

My Remington 700 does well with an OAL of 3.345" and the afformentioned 57.5 grain charge of H4350.

Let us know how things go...

And brace yourself. You're going to get a plethora of conflicting information of what you should and shouldn't do, and how best to go about doing or not doing it.

Reloading is a religion, not a science... Or so it would seem!

Dan Newberry
green 788

[ 07-18-2002, 01:37: Message edited by: green 788 ]

I don't reload for the 30-06 but I've always had luck by starting with the recommended accurate load in the Sierra book. With my .270, the accurate load is 1/2 gr. below the recommended and with my .257 AI, it's dead on. I seat bullets about 0.010" off the lands. I think the Sierra book is always the manual to "fall back on". Hope this helps. Bear in FAirbanks

I've been loading for various '06 for several years and whenever I'm starting with a new gun I try 57 grains of one of the 4350's ( generally IMR ) and if the gun won't shoot I look real hard at the gun. For some reason most of the guns I've tried this load in; whether bolt, pump, single shot, or auto, deliver good velocity and better than average accuracy.

Lewis,

You've discovered what a great many other reloaders have known for a while: There is a specific amount of powder (+ or - about 1%) for a given load recipe that works best in that recipe. For the 165's and the 30-06, you're right on with 57 grains of IMR 4350. I've found that 57.5 grains of H4350 (the Hodgdon line is a tad slower than the IMR line, and will normally use about 1 to 2 per cent more powder in the 4350, 4831, 4064, etc.) works fantastically in the 30-06 with the 165's.

I've found that OAL adjustments and/or primer changes are all that is needed to tune the load to the individual rifle. Some folks stick with the same primer and OAL and tune by raising or lowering the powder charge. That may be acceptable in some cases, but it is my opinion that the load density for a given recipe is of the utmost importance for ensuring day in, day out consistency. For that reason, I like to find a powder charge that will print to the same POI at 300 yards or so even when it is corrupted with a "bad throw" from the powder measure, meaning that a good load will still perform and hit the same zero even if it is loaded down .3 to .4 grains or up .3 to .4 grains.

If you tune your load by altering the powder charge, you may end up on the high side of optimal. In the 57.0 grain IMR 4350 recipe mentioned earlier, let's say you had to add .4 grains (for a load charge of 57.4) to get your rifle to group. You're certainly on the high side of optimal, and if your powder measure throws a high charge, or if outdoor temperature rises enough, your load will start going out of bounds. A tighter lot of brass, or a slightly differnt lot of powder would do the same thing.

However, if you stayed with the 57.0 grain charge of IMR 4350 with your load, and altered seating depth until the rifle shot tight, you'd still have "breathing room" above and below that charge. That kind of load performs very consistently as a rule, and is often totally oblivious to variations in brass cases (read the thread "Will your load do this?) and other component inconsistencies.

Dan Newberry
green 788

I always start four or five grains under the maximum listed in the book.I have seen rifles that would show pressure signs at three and four grains under the maximum load listed.Don't pay too much attention to the most accurate load in the manual as that load may not be accurate in your gun.Some guns are not very fussy about what they shoot and you may get a good load with trying only one or two powders and bullets.Others may require that you try three or four powders and several bullet combinations to obtain an accurate load.Never judge a gun based on only one or two powders or bullets.Many people will condemn a gun as being innaccurate when the fact is they never gave it a chance as they did not know enough about load development to find the true potential of the gun.

If between 56 and 58 (57.5 will probably be best) H4350 with any 165 grain bullet does not produce decent performance, the gun is hexed and must be disposed of otherwise it might infect other rifles you have

R-WEST

I have found in the six 30.06s I load for, that IMR4350 is a bit faster than H4350,so in 165gr loads it's more accurate across this half -dozen.H4350 works so well in 180gr loads I have never even tried IMR4350.have fun,I sure did.

Downwindtracker,

What are some of the recipes you've found to be accurate in your rifles? I'm also curious as to the recipe of the 180 grain/H4350 load.

Something worth mentioning regarding light loads: Often, what is known as "detonation" can occur in lightly charged loads, wherein the powder column, rather than burning actually detonates. This is thought to occur when the powder column pours too far forward of the primer (due to low load density) and it doesn't ignite as it is supposed to. I've not personally experienced it, but I've heard of high pressure signs being realized on light loads, and these signs went away as load density was increased. This high pressure signs due to detonation effect may be more common in severely bottlenecked cartridges such as the .243 Winchester, a chambering which has over the years been credited with "blowing up" with lighter than standard charge weights.

Dan Newberry
green 788

788,I set on a search for a holy grail,one load three different rifles,these are not the " best " rather ones that worked well in all rifles,H4350/54.0/180 Hornady FB/Rem case/WLR primer.IMR4350/52.0/165 Hornady BT/Rem case/WLR.This load is a multi-rifle load(2) ,as well,N-560/61.3/180 Hornady SST/Browning case(old Norma)/CCI200,this is a full house load with soft primers so approach this one.

I use 57 gns H4350 or AR2209 as we call it in Aus
180gn Woodliegh PP win LR primer and cases reamed and deburred velocity is 2730 in the 23.5" barrel of my sako 75 stainless groups run down to .5 moa and 10 shot groups commonly print around 1 moa.
150 Nosler BT's with the same charge shoot to the same poi at 100 yds and 5 of each will shoot into 1 moa. As this is the smallest cf I own it has to be accurate because it gets used for everthing from whistling foxes to stalking sambar and roo culling.
Best Guesty.

Nosler 180gr. PRT. .015 off lands
56.0 grs. Vit. N160
New Rem. Brass F.L.resized
Fed. GM210M primer
Velocity-- 2725fps Average
3 shots 3/8" 5 shots 1/2" consistently @ 100yds.
My wifes Sako 75 Hunter and those groups are shot by her. Classis example of student kicking teachers butt!!!

Paul K