pharmseller
Handloader
- Feb 13, 2012
- 554
- 88
My son killed his first buck two years ago using a reduced recoil load of Varget and 150 grain Nosler Accubonds (NAB) out of a Vanguard Back Country in .30-06. The rifle has a 24" barrel but is fairly light, and he shoots it well. The recoil using Varget is quite mild.
This year we are stepping up to hunt elk in the Cascades. While the shot, if he gets one, will be under 100 yards, I wanted to up the juice, so to speak, and see how close I could get to the ballistics of my 7mm-08 load using 140 grain Partitions (NP).
I opened my ballistics program and played with velocity figures for the 150 NAB until the energy figures approximated the 140 NP. I found my target muzzle velocity (MV) to be 2785 ft/sec. I then calculated the powder charge that corresponded with this MV, using the powders I had on hand. Since one of my primary goals was to keep recoil as low as possible, I looked at an online recoil calculator to see how each charge would push back.
Then I pulled my head out of my essential orifice and realized that I had never chrongraphed the Varget load in his rifle. I originally loaded three different powder charges and had him shoot each one. He didn't know which load he was shooting but I did. I selected the highest load he was comfortable shooting and called it good. I looked at velocity in a Tikka and an A-Bolt, getting right at 2650 MV, but never the Back Country. So I set up the chrono and ran 3 shots over it. The shells were in my office, nice and cool, so the heat wasn't a factor, but I'll still repeat the excercise later this fall when the temps get down.
As it turns out, velocity averaged 2824 ft/sec, with a low ES (24). This number tracks with Hodgdon's data. I compared this MV to my 140 NP numbers (2884 MV) and the 150 NAB has about a 50 ft/lb edge as far out as you'd care to go. He's been shooting a serious load this whole time. Sighting in 2.5" high at 100 yards, his MPBR is 275.
So you handloaders out there, if you're looking for a good youth load in a .30-06, try 48 grains of Varget with a 150 grain NAB and WLR primers. In a 24" barrel it will generate almost 1800 ft/lbs clear out to 300 yards, which is farther than most young hunters can shoot anyway. And if you hold to the "twice the ft/lbs as the animal weighs" school, it's easily a 400 yard load.
P
This year we are stepping up to hunt elk in the Cascades. While the shot, if he gets one, will be under 100 yards, I wanted to up the juice, so to speak, and see how close I could get to the ballistics of my 7mm-08 load using 140 grain Partitions (NP).
I opened my ballistics program and played with velocity figures for the 150 NAB until the energy figures approximated the 140 NP. I found my target muzzle velocity (MV) to be 2785 ft/sec. I then calculated the powder charge that corresponded with this MV, using the powders I had on hand. Since one of my primary goals was to keep recoil as low as possible, I looked at an online recoil calculator to see how each charge would push back.
Then I pulled my head out of my essential orifice and realized that I had never chrongraphed the Varget load in his rifle. I originally loaded three different powder charges and had him shoot each one. He didn't know which load he was shooting but I did. I selected the highest load he was comfortable shooting and called it good. I looked at velocity in a Tikka and an A-Bolt, getting right at 2650 MV, but never the Back Country. So I set up the chrono and ran 3 shots over it. The shells were in my office, nice and cool, so the heat wasn't a factor, but I'll still repeat the excercise later this fall when the temps get down.
As it turns out, velocity averaged 2824 ft/sec, with a low ES (24). This number tracks with Hodgdon's data. I compared this MV to my 140 NP numbers (2884 MV) and the 150 NAB has about a 50 ft/lb edge as far out as you'd care to go. He's been shooting a serious load this whole time. Sighting in 2.5" high at 100 yards, his MPBR is 275.
So you handloaders out there, if you're looking for a good youth load in a .30-06, try 48 grains of Varget with a 150 grain NAB and WLR primers. In a 24" barrel it will generate almost 1800 ft/lbs clear out to 300 yards, which is farther than most young hunters can shoot anyway. And if you hold to the "twice the ft/lbs as the animal weighs" school, it's easily a 400 yard load.
P
