Quote: If the barrel has life in it the Savage is right on the money. roger
Yep! Give the 30-06 a chance before you give it the boot, you just might have a real shooter there and a 30-06 can be loaded down to 7X57 recoil levels a lot eaysier than a 300 mag can be loaded down to a 30-06.
A couple excellent powders for the 06 are IMR 4350, H414, Rlr22 and W760. Hard to go wrong with any of them but the Rlr22 is best used with heavy (hard recoiling) bullets.
If your not set up to reload yet there is a Lee kit for less money than you can buy a bbl for.
Good luck and welcome to Accurate reloading.
Posts: 10197 | Location: Tooele, Ut | Registered: 27 September 2001
I have picked up a new Left Hand model 70 for an unbelievable price in 30 - 06. I had started out looking for a 7 X 57 or a 6.5 X 55, but that is a whole other story. My question is, if I rebarrel the 30-06 to either of these calibers, will there be any problems with it feeding, etc. I am looking for a low recoil rifle round, hence the above choices.
I doubt that either of the rounds you are interested in would cause any problems feeding in a .30/'06 length action. Ruger uses their long action for the 7X57mm, but I am not sure which one they use for the 6.5X55. Now, the 6.5X55 has a slightly larger rim diameter than the '06, so check to make sure the bolt head will accept the rim if you go with the 6.5.
In the 30-06 we shoot a 125 gr bullet with 46 grs of IMR 3031. We use the Sierra but the neat plastic tipped Nolser is there if price does not matter. I call it the 257 Roberts load for the 30-06.
There are many similar powders to IMR 3031 if you don't have that one. Hogdon lists youth loads as well.
