load question for REM 700 BDL - 30-06 springfield -

[hbkennel]

Hello

I am new to the site and was wandering if anyone on here loads for a Rem 700 BDL in 30-06 springfield. I am going to start working some new loads for my gun and wanted to know if anyone has any proven loads in the 165 nosler PT or BT. I have a very accurate load using a Sierra 150 grn SPBT with IMR 4831 at 58.5 grns, OAL 3.205", Winchester Brass, CCI primers, it shoots 3/4" groups at 100 yds.

I have looked at many reloading manuels and was hoping I could get some proven loads for starters rather than doing it the old time consuming way. My loading and testing time is very limited at this time.

 

[rick smith]

Try 58.5-58.8grs of IMR-4350 with a 165gr seated 10-15 off the lands. It is the load I use for several 30/06s.Rick.

 

[hbkennel]

Thanks Rick. I will try that, but have a question of what you mean with 10 - 15 off lands. I am not real familiar with that term. What is the OAL?

 

[Britz]

Every rifle is a little different. What rick is talking about is to be just a few thousanths of an inch away from the lands. If he would give you his OAL, or I would give you my oal, it wouldn't do you any good since each rifle's chamber and throught is a little different from the next. Find the point where the bullet hits your rifleing, then back it off a little. Caution, seating bullets touching the rifleing will increase chamber pressure a little.
happy shooting.
Also thought I would add that many people adjust their loads for fine tuning by playing with seating depth. Some bullets are more fussy than others for certain rifles.

 

[Guest]

You may also find that your rifle will not feed bullets seated out past a certain point, as they won't fit into the magazine. I have that issue on a couple of my guns, so I start at max length for the magazine, and work back a tad from there.

Ditto on the caution on seating too close to the lands and pressure spikes.

If you need help on figuring out how to determine what the correct seating length is, just ask, as there are plenty who will tell you their secrets.

 

[hbkennel]

Thanks Fritz and dubyam. I now understand the the term lands.

 

[84jeepj10]

I have a Tikka T3 LSS 30-06sprg wit ha 22 7/16" barrel. I use:

Nosler Solid Base Ballistic tip Boattail .308dia 165grn
Remington brass
Federal bench rest large rifle match primer #210m
H4350 min 53grn max 59grn I get the best accuracy with 54.5grn
Cartrige overall length 3.3"
Havent chrono'd it but loaddata says it should be riding somewhere under 2700fps.

It's an easy on the shoulder load as it's just under half of max powder. I haven't shot it over 50m yet because of range availability but I shot a 3rnd group under 1/4" at 50m which will open up to 1/2" to 3/4" at 100m (about 110yards).
I got this load from the Hogdgon load data website. Loaded up 3 shot groups in .5grn increments from 53grn to 57.5grn and started in the middle group, worked up one, then down one, and followed the group that got tighter, so I saved ammo and was able to salvage some and reload it to my new target load. http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp

 

[rick smith]

Following the group that got tighter will cause you to possibility miss shooting your best charge.Rick.

 

[hbkennel]

Rick

Please expand on what you mean.

If I understand you, you are stating that tighter is not always better. Is this correct? I thought the whole concern was working the tightest group poosible for the shooting situation you are going to be in.

IE.... Benchrest shooters want the tightest group possible at all distances they shoot and are not worried about the knock down power to a certain distance as hunters are.

I might be way off on your post with my above anology but that is how I understand things. I am somewhat of a novice at this game still and I am trying to learn as much as possible.

 

[Britz]

I may be wrong, but I think what Rick means is that you should continue experimenting with more bullet powder combinations. You may find one that groups much better. If you are getting 1.5" groups and get one that is .75" and start leaning on that bullet, you may not get to the other bullet that will allow you to achieve a .5" or less group.

Some people use a ladder test to test one bullet and one powder to find the optomum powder amount (I have not had much luck with it though). The theory is that you creep your powder charge up slowly and shoot only one bullet with each charge at the same target a few hundred yards away. you will see your bullets grow tighter and looser as you increase your powder. Supposidly these tight spots indicate a approximate powder level that your gun bullet combination likes. After the ladder test, you can start shooting multiple shot groups of the same combination to fine tune your load.
good luck.

 

[rick smith]

I gave the same load to a friend and told him to work up to the load as is the correct procedure. He started at 56gr, then 56.5, then 57.0 and the group opened up so he didn't load any farther and called me to say what happened. I took the rifle and loaded two bullets he wanted to use with the loads I had given him. At 58.5 the Nosler 165gr Partition was shooting tight cloverleaf groups. The other bullet he chose was a 165gr Sierra BTHP Game King. It shot best at 58.8grs, 1/2" or less with each firing. He used the 165gr Partition to take his best Elk last season. A one shot kill at approx 250yds. You will find that most loads will have more than one sweet spot, you may have to play with seating depth or different primers. Some rifles are more difficult to get to shoot well and some just won't shoot any combo you try. I just finished a 7Mag for a friend that has given me fits. I am glad to be finished with it. Thought I was going to wear the barrel out before I found the right combo. Finally came down to neck tension change by 0.001". With the heat we have now, it takes all afternoon to shoot a series of loads and not overheat the barrel.Rick.

 

[84jeepj10]

Thanks. I think I'll keep it at this sweet spot (54.5grn) though. I recently had back surgery and it's a lighter load, easier on my shoulder and back. Besides, it's shooting better than I had expected and I can still make improvements, I think this dog'll hunt!

 

[taylorce1]

I was trying to find a good load for my M700 ADL .30-06 for a recent bear hunt in AK using 200 grain Partitions. I picked the 200 grain Partitions beacuse I had them setting on bench collecting dust. I used H4350, CCI Large Rifle Primers, and Federal brass. I didn't have any good data using this powder so I went to Hogden's web site and found a loading for a 200 grain AccuBond was using 50-53.7 grains so I worked with that.

I loaded up 45 cartridges starting at 50 grains and jumping .5 grains every 5 rounds. I worked all the way up to the max load of 53.7 grains. I found that my rifle liked 52 & 52.5 grains of powder the best. My groups went from 3-4" to 1.5" as soon as I hit 52 grains. They opend up to 3+ inches but when I hit 53 grains. My group tightened up to less than 2" without any pressure signs at Max load of 53.7 grains.

This is pretty much the way I load all of my bullets to find out wich powder bullet combinations works best.

 

[trays7940]

Iam realy proud of this load. It is 61grns of RL-19, Winchester brass, Winchester large rifle primers and 165grn Accubonds, with a OAL of 3.340. The top pic is a 3 shot group at 100yds with no wind. The bottom is a 3 shot group with a 15 to 20 mph wind also at 100yds. The pics are about 2 weeks apart. I shoot a factory Remington 700 BDL with a 3 x 9 x 40 leupold scope. Good Luck! :wink:

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z162 ... l1961g.jpg

 

[hbkennel]

Thanks for all the replies. All the info is very good and very appreciated.

 

[JD338]

trays7940

Nice load you have there. Those 700's can shoot too. :wink:

JD338

 

[84jeepj10]

It makes sence that there may be a couple sweet spots in a load range. One on the low end and one on the high end, where the bullet velocities and exiting the barrel meet up with the harmonics. I'm still happy with a .5" group from a 30-06sprg hunting rifle! Practical accuracy, I'm not going bencrest...yet