Lite 30-06 load for jr shooter

H

Hoomgar

Beginner
Oct 31, 2005
5
0
I did a search and couldn't come up with anything on this one so thought I would post hoping that one of you veteran hand loaders may have a recipe for me.

The need:

My son is 12 and wants to go dear hunting. He wanted to try to hunt with what dad hunts with so I let him shoot my 30-06 and he instantly fell in love with it shooting a 4" group at 100 yds on his very first try. He did however say it had a bit much kick for him. So I set out to find a lighter load since he liked the 06 and if we did indeed get him one I would be all set for loading for him. Money is the main issue here of late so anything I can do to save money helps. I figured with the 06 I could load it light while he is young and heat it up as he grows giving him a gun he can use for years to come to harvest dear and maybe do some varmint hunting.



What has been tried:

We bought him a Savage 30-06 bolt action this past weekend and a box of Remington's Managed Recoil Ammunition and he fired off half the box while sighting in the rifle with no issue at all. I am now confident that he will be able to shoot well this year using this gun with this ammo and I could stop here if need be.



What is desired:

What I would like to do now though to help save with on going costs going forward is try to reproduce this load or close to it as much as possible. I tried a few recipes from my handling manuals and all of them even with using the lightest charges and only 130gr tips came out too hot. They boot him hard enough that it is making him flinch. I would like a nice light load that uses preferably a 130gr tip or maybe a 125 if need be.

Does anyone have any recipes for us to try?

Thanks in advance for any replies.
 
To lessen "perceived" recoil and muzzle blast......make sure rifle has recoil pad. Have your young shooter wear a nicely padded jacket when shoioting/practicing. Both ear plugs _AND_ muffs will help immensly.

I've been shooting for a long time, and still practice all of the steps above.

Lee Carkenord
 
I believe Federal advertizes the `06 125gr load as having ~2650fps. There are starting loads in the Speer, Lyman and I seem to recall a few other books that are at or are lower then this with 125/130gr bullets and should be something you can use.
Good Luck to your young hunter.
 
If you are looking for some very accurate reduced loads, slip on over to the Accurate reloading site http://forums.accuratereloading.com/gro ... /f/2511043
anf do a "Blue Dot" search. I have used Blue Dot in my 06, 7mm-08, 9.3x62 and 7.62x39. All are extremely accurate and the recoil is very very mild. I also have a lot of data for the 06 and Blue Dot. If you are interested in my data PM me.
 
Thanks for the replies and the info guys. It is greatly appreciated.

Steve, I am checking out the forum you mentioned and have sent you a PM for load data.

Thanks :grin:
 
You might also want to check out the Hodgdon Web Site. They have a special section of Reloading Data specifically for reduced loads for Young Shooters.

Larry
 
You're welcome. It's been a while since I looked over that data. Hopefully you will find something that suits your needs.

Larry

PS, never used Blue Dot in a .30-06, but sure do like it in the .223 Remington with 40gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips and the .243 Winchester with 55gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips for Varminting. Lots of loads per pound, low recoil, low noise, low barrel heat and the varmints don't complane abou the reduced velocity.
 
13.5 gr red dot any 100 to 110 gr bullet - Midway for about $.07 per shot velocity about 1650 fps great for pop can or other such practice. Can't shoot the gun fast enough to heat the barrel up. Less recoil than a .223

44.5 gr IMR 3031 150gr bullet = ~2600 fps great starting hunting load for deer and antelope. Used it myself for 2 years starting at the age of 12.

Another option Dad sights in the rifle, son only shoots lights stuff until hunting and as we all know shooting at game you don't feel nothing.

Hope this helps.
Steve D. the HP
 
Another option Dad sights in the rifle, son only shoots lights stuff until hunting and as we all know shooting at game you don't feel nothing.
Click to expand...
Very bad idea IME. My dad did this to me with my first 12 ga. shotgun; I dropped the scattergun at my first shot at a mallard and was gun-shy and flinched badly for months. It is a great way to discourage a kid from shooting though, and it really builds trust in the old man. Some people just don't think.... :evil:
 
I dug through my old records and came up with my old reduced recoil load for a 20" barrel Mod 70:
Speer 110 gr Varminter (hollow point, intended for .30 carbine, I think)
44.0 gr of IMR-4895
CCI-200
PMC Case
Chronographed at 2450 fps @ 60° F.
1.89" 5 shot group at 100 yards
As I recall, it did require a re-zeroing of the scope to dial it in, compared to the 150 gr full power loads that I hunted with. Sure lightened up the recoil in a 7½ pound rifle including scope.
 
Mark,

Just last month my 15 yr old daughter announced to me she wants me to teach her to shoot. Besides startling with a .22 RF, I want her to learn with my Rem 700 in 30-06. So, I went to the Hodgdon web site and tried their reduced recoil formula for the 130 gr bullet. I used the Hornady 130 (already had a bunch on hand from my TC Contender days with the 30 Herrett), looked at their max loads and used their 60% formula which came out to 32 grains of H4895. 5-shot groups were turning in nice round 2" groups with the velocity running an average of 1975 fps (22" barrel) and recoil from my 6 lb 9 oz custom light wt was giving 11.2 ft lbs of recoil vs 31.6 ft lbs when I run a 180 gr bullet to 2740 fps. The beauty of using H4895 is you can keep building "up" the load until you hit the velocity, recoil and accuracy combination you are looking for or hit the listed max.

Good luck,

Big Al
 
This is all good info and being recorded. One load I was given from a member here we seem to have zero'd in on. I tried a mix of several loads with a 130 Gr Hornady SP tips I have around and Federal brass. We tried the Blue Dot loads recommended and found them all to have manageable recoil but the lighter loads were markedly more accurate. We took the load that shot the best group and did up a whole box of them (20 rounds).

I sighted in the rifle for him and found that it was shooting a 1" 3 shot group at 100 yards using 23 grains of Blue Dot with the 130 grain tip. I don't have a chrono but the listed data puts the bullet at around 2000 fps and recoil is... not. He was able to shoot these rounds with confidence and pull a 2" group at 100 yards with them. I sighted them in about 1" high at 100 yards for him for a good 50 to 150 yard shot spread and here is to hoping he gets his first buck!

Thanks again to every one that posted. If you have more loads, please feel free to post them. Every one can benefit from a thread like this.

~Mark
 
Sounds like everything is coming together for you and your son. I have never used Blue Dot in a .30-06, but do use it quite a bit in both the .223 Remington (40gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips at 3097 FPS), and .243 Winchester (55gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips at 3229 FPS).

In fact in my Ruger KM77RFP MKII in .243 the only load I have tried so far that is more accurate than the 55gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips loaded with Blue Dot is the new load I just worked up for Whitetails for this Rifle with 95gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips loaded with H-4350.

I really like using Blue Dot in both the .223 & .243 for shooting Prairie Dogs. The recoil is minimal, as is the barrel heat when things get fast and furious in a gppd Prairie Dog Town.

Good luck to your son with the new load.

Larry
 
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