180g hunting loads for the 30-06

[PJGunner]

Paul - just a head's up - I've never managed to equal Nosler's velocity for RL-22 and the 180 in the .30-06 rifle. They must have some kind of '06 Mojo going on that me and my rifle just don't have.

Likely a much newer barrel! :mrgreen:

I'm not all that sure I can get that high myself although my rifle does have a 24" barrel as does the Nosler test gun. Probably be a piece of cake in my Ruger #1B but the ranch rules and the outfitter state in bold letters, "NO SINGLE SHOT RIFLES!" :x I tried to get him to change his mind as on the three hunts I've done with him, all animals were one shot kills. He said basically it's the rules on that ranch and they won't bend. Guess I could cheat and only load one round in my .35 Whelen and not tell him there's none in the magazine. :roll: :lol: :lol:
I have absolutely no idea why I'm gonna go with something other tham my Whelen? I must have rocks in my head. Murphy's second law, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." applies here so why am I ignoring it? Well, 1/9/14 is a long ways off and maybe I'll come to my senses. :roll:
Paul B.

 

[Antelope_Sniper]

Here's one I would try:
Mike really has this 30.06 dialed in:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=23613

 

[bobnob]

Thanks Antelope Sniper. Good reference.

We can get W760 here so if the H4350 doesn't work out there is a good standby right there. My dies turned up today and case prepping just began a short while ago.

- Bob

 

[nosler06]

I would agree with JD. I've used 55 grains of IMR4350 with a 180 grain bullet in my 06 forever. Accuracy is excellent and it doesn't seem to be as fussy with the OAL. Velocity is just over 2700FPS.out of my 22 inch barrel.

I second 55.0grs IMR4350, CCI lare rifle primers with 180gr Nosler Part and always had a sub MOA for last 25yrs. Have just switched to 55.0grs H4350, CCI large rifle primers with 180gr Nosler Part (after running test loads) and my old Model 70 is just as accurate and still just a little over 2700fps.

 

[Guest]

I'm so excited just reading this about the 180 BT I may just load some up and give em a try. :mrgreen: I have 180 BT & Accubonds on hand as well as H4350 and Ramshot Hunter.

Don

 

[Oldtrader3]

I have gotten up to 56.0 grains of IMR 4350 in my .30-06 Model 70. Velocity with 180 gr Partitions is about 2740. Very accurate load and no pressure signs.

 

[bullet]

Bob,

I use around 58 to 59 grains of Ramshot Hunter over a CCI Magnum primer for 180s in my 30-06. Sorry I can't be more help.

v/r
Joel

Joel, have you chronographed your Ramshot Hunter loads? I have tried it using 59.0grs (this is on the edge of being max load) and velocities although accurate averaged 2698fps, what did you get? I did have an extreme spread of only 17 and a deviation of 9 which was very good. With H414 and W760 I got less extreme spread and lower deviations and was a little more accurate and my load charge was only listed as near max and my velocities were 2752fps. If I moved these two powders to max load I got 2849fps and still good accuracy but extreme spread and deviation were not of my liking (barrel length is 22")

 

[joelkdouglas]

Bob,

I use around 58 to 59 grains of Ramshot Hunter over a CCI Magnum primer for 180s in my 30-06. Sorry I can't be more help.

v/r
Joel

Joel, have you chronographed your Ramshot Hunter loads? I have tried it using 59.0grs (this is on the edge of being max load) and velocities although accurate averaged 2698fps, what did you get? I did have an extreme spread of only 17 and a deviation of 9 which was very good. With H414 and W760 I got less extreme spread and lower deviations and was a little more accurate and my load charge was only listed as near max and my velocities were 2752fps. If I moved these two powders to max load I got 2849fps and still good accuracy but extreme spread and deviation were not of my liking (barrel length is 22")

Bob,

My rifle has a 22.75 inch barrel. Odd, I know--I requested a 1-inch shank, 24-inches total length, but the smith missed the "1-inch shank" until he had already chopped the barrel. Oh well.

My velocities are about the same as yours with 180 Partitions--58.8 grains of Hunter over a CCI Magnum primer gives me 2680 fps with Norma and Nosler brass. 59.0 grains gets me up to 2700 fps, and for every 0.1 grains added I get about an additional 10 fps.

Lapua brass gives me 2720 fps with the same 58.8 charge. Lapua was a bit difficult to find recently, hence the Norma and Nosler brass.

180 Accubonds are faster--I only need to use 58.3 grains of Hunter to get to 2720 fps with Lapua brass. I have not shot the ABs with Norma or Nosler brass. I kind of gave up on the ABs, as I could get the Partitions to shoot as well, and they seem less finicky than the ABs with regard to seating depth.

Here's my load info:
180 Partition
Nosler Brass, sorted for less than 0.001 inch neck thickness variation
CCI Magnum primer
58.8 grains Ramshot Hunter
2680 fps

I was hoping for 2700 fps also, but it's hard to argue with this:



I am guessing the deer and elk won't be able to tell the difference between 2680 and 2700 fps.

Same charge with Lapua brass gave a 0.7 inch group. Norma brass 0.65 inches.
v/r
Joel

 

[bullet]

Very good accuracy for a 30-06. I was able to achieve about that accuracy with Ramshot and H414. Once again, very good accuracy. On another note, I have never had Ramshot Hunter live up to the publish velocities. I was thinking it was my lot of powder, but I am finding others experiencing the same. I needed 2750fps at least and got a little more out of my 22" 30-06 to get where I wanted to be with my LR Duplex so my one load would work for all my hunts this coming year, so H414 won out over Ramshot.

 

[35 Whelen]

I don't shoot 180 in mine but a friend gets 2800 with 62 grs of RL 22 out of his gun all the time, behind SST's. I have shot 165gr for over 30 years now in front of 52grs of 4064, and that load chronys right at 2920fps. So I guess I would be tempted to try 50 grs and see how it liked that and then possible 51 ????? For us the moment I need more bullet weight; I look to a larger diameter and step right on up into the 225-250gr areana and then its "Whelen Time"
I have spent a good portion of my life tracking wounded game that was hit poorly or with a bullet way to heavy; for the game the hunter was firing at. For us a 30/06 is a fine Whitetail gun with 150gr bullets and still excellent with the 165gr if it is a bullet that is designed with a thin jacket that will expand rapidly enough in the deer as many of them wont.................. by the time you get into 180gr bullets , most of them are constructed so they will go right thru a 700 lb Brown Bear so the certainly don't have much trouble passing right on thru even the largest Whitetails that ever walked on this earth. For me there is way to much wasted energy going down into the trees behind the deer and you will not be getting the full effect that the Springfield actually has if it is harnessed properly.Jmho

 

[bullet]

I don't shoot 180 in mine but a friend gets 2800 with 62 grs of RL 22 out of his gun all the time, behind SST's. I have shot 165gr for over 30 years now in front of 52grs of 4064, and that load chronys right at 2920fps. So I guess I would be tempted to try 50 grs and see how it liked that and then possible 51 ????? For us the moment I need more bullet weight; I look to a larger diameter and step right on up into the 225-250gr areana and then its "Whelen Time"
I have spent a good portion of my life tracking wounded game that was hit poorly or with a bullet way to heavy; for the game the hunter was firing at. For us a 30/06 is a fine Whitetail gun with 150gr bullets and still excellent with the 165gr if it is a bullet that is designed with a thin jacket that will expand rapidly enough in the deer as many of them wont.................. by the time you get into 180gr bullets , most of them are constructed so they will go right thru a 700 lb Brown Bear so the certainly don't have much trouble passing right on thru even the largest Whitetails that ever walked on this earth. For me there is way to much wasted energy going down into the trees behind the deer and you will not be getting the full effect that the Springfield actually has if it is harnessed properly.Jmho

Not at all! The Ballistic 180gr will devastate a deer and put him down real quick and my 165gr HPBT by Sierra exits every time. Also, it is a misunderstanding when one assumes you waste energy, you don't, in fact you are delivering much more energy to the animal than if the bullet stops in the animal, because the bullet is still moving and releasing energy the entire length of the wound channel and a bullet that stops ran out of energy. The Ballistic 180gr because it opens quickly not only has more energy that is delivered and therefore more dynamic shock being displace along with more momentum which allows it to do all of the above. On quartering shots they are much more devastating and consistent than the lighter bullets. Now a bonded bullet of this weight I would tend to agree that it is not as efficient because it does not open as quick or as much at 06 velocities, but the 180gr ballistic it is a real killer on deer and hogs. They don't go anywhere and it is not a waste when you consider the less drift down range and still enough to do the job and as a nonbonded bullet it still opens up good down range and much better than the lighter bullets, especially when I hunt gas lines and have long shots.

 

[bobnob]

Good points both. I have no real intention at this stage to run bonded bullets, though I must admit to an infatuation with the as yet unavailable AB LR. I would be more interested in a non bonded version of that bullet however.

I am keen to see if the 180g Interlock shoots accurately at the speed I am after (2700+) and then do some testing on game, possibly backed up by the wet newspaper test. If those ILs don't give me sufficient expansion on game I would certainly look at the NBT and or SST option.

It should be noted that while I shoot a few deer on a good year, and some goats, my most regular game is feral pigs. They are a lot tougher than the average deer in my opinion.

While my 270 Win shooting 150g SSTs will blow through both shoulders of just about any deer short of a sambar, as well as any goat, there have been plenty of times even on an average boar of around 70kg the SST has not come out the other side. They are densely muscled and a good test of bullet toughness.

I would like to think the 180g Interlock will give me the extra penetration to punch through a big pig at an inopportune angle that might not be achievable with the 150g SST in the 270 Win, while still having sufficient expansion for lighter game like deer and goats and smaller pigs.

I probably still see my 270 Win as the main deer rifle up to red deer and pigs of all sizes, with the 30-06 there for general purpose work as well but coming into its own for the likes of sambar or wapiti or even rusa deer, as well as scrub cattle, camels, donkeys, feral horses and the like.


Sure there's a lot of overlap with these two cartridges, especially when using heavy partitions in the 270 and light ballistic tips in the 30-06. But that's good because I should be in good shape to deal with most Aussie game I might encounter regardless of which one I might be carrying.

The new rifle is at the shop but that is several hundred km away , but I should have it within 7 to 10 days so I will be able to put what you folks have shared with me into practice pretty soon.

 

[bullet]

Looking forward to your load work and hunting results and I know you will have a ball. :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[Oldtrader3]

Mike, Terrific grouping with 180 bullets. I look forward to seeing more groups with this rifle as load development is going forward.
Charlie

 

[bobnob]

Rifle has arrived. I have scoped it up this arvo and adjusted the trigger down to a nice light and crisp break...

The 180g Interlocks are engaging the rifling at 3.36 inch and the mag box allows seating about there so I have some scope to seat them as close or far from the lands as I need to. I might start with them about 0.060 of the lands with a mild charge of H4350, around 54g or so to see how everything works and get a feel for what might be in store.

Tomorrow it starts so I will post an update for those interested.

 

[bobnob]

Couple more pics for Mauser pattern fans.

 

[SJB358]

Nice rifle and set up Bob. Looks pretty solid from the pictures. Can't wait to hear how it shoots.

The Warnes and Redfield look great up on top as well Bob. Should be a great combo.

 

[Guy Miner]

Good looking rifle!

Isn't it funny how 100+ years into the .30-06, we're still relying on the ol' warhorse? Three different threads going right now on handloading the ol' beast.

That's pretty cool.

Guy

 

[HeathSexton]

Great looking rifle, is that a Zastava?

They make a 6.5x55 that gets me all hot and sweatty.

 

[DrMike]

It definitely looks businesslike. Thanks for sharing.