I was wondering if anyone has a generally accurate load for 30-06 hunting purposes. (One that is commonly accurate in most guns) Max velocity is not a concern

Well, that is difficult to answer. Your 30.06 may like 150's while others may prefer 180's.

However, I can tell you what my and 4 other 30.06's liked. You'll have to monkey with powder charges as I did but the general combo seemed to work.

Currently my 30.06 LOVES 168 Triple Shock bullets over 55.0 H4350, WW brass, and Fed210 gold medal primers.

I have also found excellent results with 180 Speer Hot Core's over max IMR4064, 165 HPBT Sierra Gamekings over IMR4350, 165 Ballistic Tips over max IMR4350, 180 Btips over Re22, 165 Hornady Boat Tail Interlock's over Re22.

Overall, I'd have to say that my experience takes me to either a 4350 powder or 4064 for 150, 165 bullets, but 4831 and Re22 for 180's. This of course is in general. The exception was the Speer bullet and 4064. Unbelievable groups.

Thanks for the insight. Everyone I know (all shoot factory ammo) say that their guns handles 180's better than 150's. Would handloading allow these lighter bullets a better chance of closing the accuracy gap?

Absolutely. I assumed you reloaded.

Reloading affords the shooter plenty of options and opportunity to attempt to make ANY given bullet accurate in a rifle.

For example, there are LOTs of factory ammo available for a 30.06. You could buy 8 different boxes, go to the range and have NONE of them shoot good in your rifle.

However, you can pick a bullet, load up 4-5 rounds with a given powder, charge, seating depth, and do that 4-5 different times being about equivical to one box of factory ammo. Now you've just tested 4-5 different loads for about the cost of one box of ammo, roughly.

I cannot imagine NOT reloading my own ammo. Life is just so much easier at the range once you have a tight load in your gun.

I guess my question is, do you want or prefer 150 grain bullets ??

I prefer bigger bullets myself in the .06. But a tough 168 TSX will most likely be the only bullet I ever put through mine. I've just seen too much evidence this season NOT to change. All of the following dropped. Distances varied greatly. And the picture of the target grouped better than .44. It was raining and after the target dried, I pushed the paper back from the bullet holes and it actually measured .40.






Now tell me, do ya think I need a 180?

There ya go Naja. Another vote for the 165 class bullet.

Naja,

My Remington 700 Mountain Rifle loves 165 gr Hornady Interlocks & 60grs of W760. That delivers 2970fps chronographed out of my rifle (22 inch) and shoots 3 into 1 inch at 100 yards.

A flat shooting and hard hitting load. Dropped several goats at 450 yards with one shot each.

Michael

factory ammo from wally world, BAH HUMBUG

naja302,

I don't know what your reloading level of expertise is, but I've got a couple of loads that are generally known as "accuracy loads" that shoot excellently in every .30/06 Sprg. I've ever tried them in, except for the odd gun that had some ailment requiring gunsmith intervention. Providing of course that a good solid bench, with rest etc. procedures are used.

The best is right out of Ken Waters "Pet Loads" for the "ought-six" and is compiled as Warren Page's standard .30/06 "accuracy load", a 180 grain bullet with 55.0 grains of 4350.

Needless to say:
New, same batch, correctly sized, prepped brass:
1. Sized, ensuring shoulder not pushed back.
2. Trimmed to same length (important).
3. Case mouth inside/out chamfered.
4. Primers seated evenly.

Any reasonably reputable brand of commercial brass.
Same for the primer.
55.0 grains of H-4350 or IMR-4350, (Hodgdons preferred).
180 grain Hornady Round Nose (yes, you read correctly, ROUND NOSE - old fashioned and not particularly currently fashionable but that's part of the success story).
Bullet seated to the middle of the cannelure (that's why the standard case length is important).
Ensure loaded catridges chamber and EXTRACT in said rifle prior to firing.

Send me another posting if you try this, I've yet to see a good, solid .30/06 that will not shoot a three shot clover leaf with this load at 100 meters. If at the outside chance you aren't satisfied, I've a couple more suggestions....

Bye-the-Bye, not only is this load very accurate but stuff dies when they get shot with it. It isn't spectacular but it creates super confidence level due to it's accuracy and, dead is dead.

Needless to say, in this day & age I accept no liability for loads that are assembled and shot outside of my personal control.

Cheers,

Gerry

I will try that, I have been stocking up lately on varios bullets of the expensive type so I will have to go get some hornady's

Thanks again for the input

Naja302,

Thanks for the response - do try the load if you got a reasonably solid rifle - you'll be

You are correct, we bombarded with media inferring that premium bullets are the non-plus ultra and if we don't use bullets that cost $3.50 each, retain 100% of their weight after being fired into a vault door; well then, we are obviously not real sportsman.....

Doc also gave some sage advice on bullets weights, rifle likes/dislikes and powders, while I cannot obtain RL powders in Europe, standard range of podwers for optimal performance for the '06 with 150, 165 & 180 gr. bullets from my experience are:4350, 4381, 4064, N-160, N-165 & N-560. I'd start with 4350.

Any of those powders combined with bullets listed below, some of them pretty vanilla flavored will normally give you a solid load in the first couple of tries with great accuracy (normally under 1moa) and great terminal performace in .30/06:

Remington 150 gr. Bronze Points w/4350
Nosler 165 gr. Ballistic Tips w/4350
Nosler 165 gr. Partitions w/4831 & 160
Sierra 165 gr. SPBT or HPBT GameKings w/4831
CT 168 gr. Ballistic Silvertip w/4831
Hornady 180 gr. RN Interlokt

You'll notice I'm a dyed-in-the-wool 165 gr. fan and the reasoning initially was if all the target shooters use 168 gr. target bullets then a 165 grainer must have similar charateristics. My experience seems to bear this out. A Nosler 165 gr. BT or Hornady 180 gr. is where most folks start (and end) to see if a .30 caliber rifle will drive tacks.

Hope this helps,

Cheers,

Gerry

I use 58.5 Grains of H414 behind a 165 Gr. Hornady Interlock bullet. 210 Federal Primer and Federal case. A friend of mine told me that he tried this recipe and it chronys at 3050 fps out of a 22 inch Ruger barrel. That seems high to me, but it shoots great out of my gun. If anyone else has tried this load and has a Chronograph I would appreciate if they could confim the FPS.

Blue Flame,

I load the 165 gr.Hornady with H414, & Federal brass, & primer. When I get to 58 grs, it's high pressure one of my 06's. I dropped it down to 57. I crony all mine loads, & the rifle is 22 inch.

With what I get on vel., I wouldn't doubt him getting 3050 with a 24 inch barrel, & 58.5 grs.

Thanks for the info, how fast are you getting with the 57 grains? I know that the 58.5 is a little unpleasant to shoot off the bench, I probably could ease it back for most of the shooting I do out to 250 on deer. But I think it is fun to figure I am pushing the 06 at light magnum speeds.

blue flame,

I average about 2940 with the 57 gr. of H414. I have tried, H-4831, regular, & short cut, Varget, H4350, R-19, IMR4350, but the H414 in my 06's give the most vel., & is as accurare is the other powders.

I need to play a little more with R19, with the seating depth of bullets, because it shows promise too. It seems to me that H414 burn a little dirtier, but I just bought another 8 lbs.

chestsprings,
Thanks for the info!

Have you tried 46.5 to 47.5 grains of Winchester 747 behind the 165 grain bullet?

180gr Hornady SST and 55gr of IMR 4350 and WLR primers works good for me. I also had a lot of good luck with H414 as well with 150gr bullets.

If you're still looking, I've had success with a number of none-premium 165g bullets in front of RL19 and RL22, which surprised me. I forget now what the charge was, but it was something high, like 62g or RL22 compressed, and I was getting Speer Grand Slams into some tight groups at about 2930fps.
My advice is to get a couple brands of powder, all in this same burn-rate range (4350, RL19) and just start playing. 2900 fps is a good goal, I think, and from there you can tweak it for accuracy. Sometimes just a little longer COL, or .2g less powder does a trick.

I got to agree with the RL-22. I use it an a 165gr. Partition for a little better than 2200fps out of a 22" barrel, with no pressure signs and pretty fair accuracy.

2200fps? Is that a typo?

My vote is with the Barnes 168 gr. Triple Shock - My all around 06' load.

quote:

---

Originally posted by CK:
My vote is with the Barnes 168 gr. Triple Shock - My all around 06' load.

---

CK

I'm into 168 and 180 TSX's also, but I think I'm starting to push them too hard. Using 60 grains IMR4350 for the 168 grain for 2950 fps and 58.5 grains IMR4350 for the 180 grain to get 2850 fps. The 180 grain load has ballistics like the 300 Win but I'm starting to get shiny spots on the heads. Guess I should start to download and let the 30-06 shoot slower like it was meant to.

Old Cane, that is a typo, should be 2900fps.

Using 150 gr bullets my Rem mtn.rifle really likes R-15(53.6 grs)with the hornady sst or btsp.And if using 165 sst it likes IMR 4350 at (57.5 grs)

Warren Page said that if 55 grains of IMR 4350 and a good 180 didn't shoot well in a 30-06, there was something wrong with the rifle. This may not be the fastest load out there, but it groups. 57 grains of IMR 4350 and a good 165 like the Sierra HPBT also groups well, and unlike the preceding load, this one tends to be fast.

Federal blue box factory ammo is cheap, fast and accurate. For big animals at moderate range, I like Remington's 220-gr. CoreLokt load. If the range might be a bit longer try Federal's 180-gr. Trophy Bonded Bear Claw load. Hope this helps, Okie John.

I have kill many deer ( 5 this season )with this load. Shoots uhder 1/2 inch in three different 30/06 I have. They have Shelin barrels installed by Mickey Coleman

57 to 58 gr H-4350
165 gr Sierra Gameking SBT

Never lost a deer missed a couple

quote:

Originally posted by BlueFlame:
I use 58.5 Grains of H414 behind a 165 Gr. Hornady Interlock bullet. 210 Federal Primer and Federal case. A friend of mine told me that he tried this recipe and it chronys at 3050 fps out of a 22 inch Ruger barrel. That seems high to me, but it shoots great out of my gun. If anyone else has tried this load and has a Chronograph I would appreciate if they could confim the FPS.

Just as a note of caution, Hodgdon is showing the following data on their web site:

.30-06
BBL: 24"
165 GR. SIE SPBT
COL: 3.300"
CASE: WINCHESTER
PR: WINCHESTER LR

H414 __ 56.5 gr __ 2877 fps __ 49,700 CUP

http://www.hodgdon.com/data/rifle/30-06.php

Personally, I have not tried H414 with 165gr bullets in my .30-06.

-Bob F.

I just got back from the range with my '06. It's a pre 64 Win. standard 24" barrel. Glass bedded, trigger job etc.

This rifle...like a previous pre 64 rifle I owned in 30-06 is very finicky and I haven't found a factory load that will shoot out of it.

Try 165gr Hornady's with 57-59gr IMR 4831. Just shot a .625" 3 shot group and this load shot less than an inch consistantly in my other rifle.

My gun liked IMR4350 ok, but it loved W760.

Best load I have found so far in my gun:

56grs of W760
WLR primer
Remington brass
Nosler 165gr balistic tips.

I am getting sub MOA at 100 yards, not sure of velocity.

here is a good accurate lo pressure load try 68.0 grains of H-870 with a cci 250 primer and you can use any bullet from a 110 grain to a 200 grainer pressure will run around 36000-48000 lbs which is well below max.Just dont expect velocities much above 2500 fps even with the light bullets

quote:

Originally posted by naja302:

Everyone I know (all shoot factory ammo) say that their guns handles 180's better than 150's. Would handloading allow these lighter bullets a better chance of closing the accuracy gap?

It is not true in my experience that all guns handle 180s better than 150s -- I've shot several 30-06 rifles that handle 150s better than 180s.

Generally -- but not always! -- with careful handloading you can get loads that give better accuracy or velocity or both than you can get with factory loads.

quote:

Originally posted by Gerry:


...while I cannot obtain RL powders in Europe, standard range of podwers for optimal performance for the '06 with 150, 165 & 180 gr. bullets from my experience are:4350, 4381, 4064, N-160, N-165 & N-560. I'd start with 4350.

I'd add one more to that list: H414. My most recent shooting tends to suggest that H414 may be the optimum powder for 150 gr. bullets in the '06. (I used to think it was IMR 4064)

Cartridge : .30-06 Spring.
Bullet : .308, 165, NOS BalTip
Cartridge O.A.L. L6: 3.340 in
Barrel Length : 24.0 in

Below are the predicted data for indicated charges of the following powders with matching maximum pressure: 65000 psi and a maximum loading ratio or filling of 120%.

C A U T I O N : any load listed can result in a powder charge that falls below minimum suggested
loads or exceeds maximum suggested loads as presented in current handloading manuals. Understand that all of the listed powders can be unsuitable for the given combination of cartridge, bullet and gun. Actual load order can vary, depending upon lot-to-lot powder and component variations. USE ONLY FOR COMPARISON !

Powder %Fill grs. fps PSI
Norma MRP 115.4 66.7 3104 65000
N560 113.4 66.2 3076 65000
Re22 116.3 65.8 3066 65000
WXR 115.0 66.1 3064 65000
MAGPRO 116.3 69.0 3060 65000
S365 110.6 61.6 3045 65000
7828 SSC 113.5 65.3 3041 65000

Work-up to these loads from below in 0.5 gr. increments, but they should produce maximum performance in a 165 gr. bullet in std. '06. They will be compressed, but within reason.

In my 30-06 bolt action:

180 Nosler Part
IMR 4350 @ 57.0
Fed 210GM Primers
Fed GM brass

Excellent Load for Bolt action 30-06's

LE270,

Sorry for the ommission, H-414 is a great .243 & .30/06 powder!

We can't get it in Europe either (or I should say I've never found any available!)

Listen to what the man from the Alaskan Bush is telling you. That is the load I use. It is really hard to beat. If your rifle don't like 4350, try 4831. But why shoot 150 or 165 bullets if the 180 is there and will do everything they will do, only better? Kudude

Thanks everyone for the '06 info. One question though, isn't H414 the SAME powder as Win 760?
Thanks.

The best all around load I have found for the '06 is 58.5gr of IMR-4350, dumped in Win. brass, using Win.-WLR primers, and either a Nosler BT, Part., Sierra Pro Hunter, or Barnes X. The die was set for an OAL of 3.250 using the BT's and never changed for any of the other bullets. I am looking forward to giving it a spin using the Hornady SST's once I run out of the Noslers I have on hand. I am hopeful that it will continue to produce the same level of preformance.

this load has shot in and under an inch at 100 yds in more than 5 different rifles, using the same bullets listed above. I personally cannot say that I have found this to happen much if ever. the rifles ranged from Rem. 700, Win. 70, 03A3, to a Mossberg.

IT is a good load out to 300 yds with just a little correction on the shooter part depending on the sight in. I generally always use 200 and never look back. However if yu use 100 your going to be somewhere in the 8 - 10" low range at 300. If a 200 yd zero is used you looking at 5-8" of drop. I will suggest this, choose the bullet considering the shortest range you might expect to shoot your game. This is only due to the experience I have had with the Nosler BT and Sierra's. Not that they didn't kill instantly, but they did make a very big mess in the process at ranges under 100 yds. Out past that they were wonderful. However, if you looking at taking the trophy of a lifetime, I would personally rather deal with a mess than have to look through the bushes to find him.

Everything that has been shot with this load, not only by me, but the others I have loaded it for has hit the ground at the shot.

Your results may vary but after this laod was used for seven years in multiple rifles and shooter in various areas, and situations, I have decided it was a keeper.

quote:

Originally posted by naja302:
I was wondering if anyone has a generally accurate load for 30-06 hunting purposes. (One that is commonly accurate in most guns) Max velocity is not a concern

58grs. H4350
165 Hornady SP, Interbond
210 primer
Rem. brass

quote:

Originally posted by sbsmith:
Thanks everyone for the '06 info. One question though, isn't H414 the SAME powder as Win 760?
Thanks.

Yup, just a different label and lot#. Jay