My Old timey 30-06 load

Polaris · Oct 23, 2015

Just made up a new load for my M17 sporter that I use in the swamps for whitetail and hopefully someday moose. Vintage rifle, close range, tough angles so I thought I'd go with an equally vintage load. Kept it on the mild side as I may be loading it for a Canadian friend's Win 95 if results are good.

Used Hornady brass, WLR, nice even number 50 gr of IMR 4350 and the delightfully blunt 180 gr Norma Alaska. Hope to have some target results and on-deer performance later in the fall. Should be in the .308-300 savage velocity range with 300 Sav level pressure.

Guy Miner · Oct 23, 2015

4350, and a good 180 are great from the .30-06 cartridge!

Guy

filmjunkie4ever · Oct 24, 2015

How long is the barrel on your 1917 sporter?

I bought one years ago, did a lot of work to it and ended up selling for 4 times what I paid for it.

It was a fun gun! A friend bought one just like it that still had the original 26" barrel.

These are well made guns -

Dale

preacher · Oct 24, 2015

Should be pretty mild. I always used from 56-57gr of IMR 4350/180gr in my old 1917 I used to have. My father used the M1917 to fight the Japanese in WW2.

PJGunner · Oct 24, 2015

A few years back, maybe three or four I picked up a 1917 Eddystone that had been rebreed with a two groove barrel similar to those used in the 1903A3 Springfields. Somebody put a reasonably decent stock on the gun sometime in the past that looks a lot like a Bishop or maybe Fajen. They did a rough job removing the ears, installed a receiver sight and left the barrel the full 26". Bore is quite dark due to corrosive priming but I like the gun so am thinking of taking it up tp Danny Pederson up in IIRC Flagstaff and have him rebore it to either 338-06 or .35 Whelen. I have three rifles in the Whelen right now which would make it the least expensive way to go and I could get a proper 1 in 12" twist. I only have $150 in there whole gun so it might be something worth playing with.
I don't know the bullet you'll be using but that might be a bit too light a charge with the 4350's. The Sierra manual which I consider a bit too conservative shows a start of 47.7 gr./IMR-4350 for 2400 FPS and a max of 55.3 gr. for 2800 FPS. For H-4350 the start is 46.1 gr. for 2400 FPS and 53.6 gr. for 2700 FPS.
Sierra used a 26" barrel. I have used the 180 gr. Sierra round nose bullet way back in the 1950's and 60's when I lived in California and hunted the thick stuff where the coastal Blacktail Deer hung out. Worked quite nicely in fact.
Paul B.

Polaris · Oct 25, 2015

This load is deliberately on the mild side. At the range today it grouped well and was quite pleasant to shoot. I was looking for a short range load that would perform well on tough angles on deer and allow for rapid follow up shots. I think I've achieved that goal. My m17 barrel (R 18)has been shortened to about 23". The rifle is a well done sporter probably made in the 30s or 40s with a vintage glass bedding and trigger job. The stock and recever were modified for a Lyman sight and it was since drilled and tapped for scope bases, all quality gunsmith work. Payed a whopping $125 for it. Needs a refinishing to really be right, but using it as is for now.