Practice Loads and Seating Depth variation

[joelkdouglas]

I sort virgin brass by neck thickness variance, keeping the most perfect pieces for hunting rounds. The worst pieces I put in "loads designated for practice only" boxes. This particular group of brass was Nosler 30-06 brass, with neck thickness variance NO LESS THAN 0.002 variation. As in, some of the necks may have had 0.002 variance, some 0.005 variance. It all gets chucked in the box for practice.

I keep trying to find a better powder to shoot 150/155 grain bullets out of my 30-06. Powder is still pretty scarce, and I just happen to have adequate supply of IMR4350. I know, it's too slow burning for optimum performance with 150/155 grain bullets.

Last year some time Shooters Pro Shop had 155 Custom Competition overruns online, boxes of 250. I got three of those to shoot a while.

Primer is CCI200. I haven't seen any improvement with BR primers, so I essentially stopped using them.

What's the result of all these "not good enough" ingredients? 5-shot group:

2.684 inches, measured Cartridge Base To Ogive (CBTO)


Really, though, this is a testament to adjusting seating depth:

2.689 CBTO


2.679 CBTO

 

[wildgene]

...hmmm, doesn't seem that long ago when I started reloading after I got out of the Marine Corps & IMR-4350 was "The Powder" for the '06. Still seems to be working just fine...

 

[DrMike]

I'd say that the combination you hit upon is working just fine.

 

[steve4102]

Nice shooting, but...

I don't think you have a large enough sample to come to any real conclusion as to OAL vs Accuracy. A larger sample may prove you conclusions accurate, but then again maybe not.

Once I find a magic load I shoot several 5 shot groups to verify.

 

[SJB358]

...hmmm, doesn't seem that long ago when I started reloading after I got out of the Marine Corps & IMR-4350 was "The Powder" for the '06. Still seems to be working just fine...

Yeah, but jeeze, we've evolved into using powder not made from charcoal these days buddy! HA!

Great shooting Joel. Looks like that 30-06 really does well with 4350.

 

[wildgene]

...hmmm, doesn't seem that long ago when I started reloading after I got out of the Marine Corps & IMR-4350 was "The Powder" for the '06. Still seems to be working just fine...

Yeah, but jeeze, we've evolved into using powder not made from charcoal these days buddy! HA!

Great shooting Joel. Looks like that 30-06 really does well with 4350.

...yeah, we're living in the "Golden Age" w/ designer powders, fancy-smancy Premium bullets, MOA bargain rifles, optics & electronics to let us take advantage of all these advancements...

...but a wise man would write down the directions on how to find & mix charcoal, saltpeter, & sulphur, just in case... :? :wink: :shock: :roll: :mrgreen:

 

[DrMike]

...hmmm, doesn't seem that long ago when I started reloading after I got out of the Marine Corps & IMR-4350 was "The Powder" for the '06. Still seems to be working just fine...

Yeah, but jeeze, we've evolved into using powder not made from charcoal these days buddy! HA!

Ooooo! Zinger, for sure. Take that, Gene. :grin:

 

[SJB358]

Oh man, it's good to be back! :grin:

 

[joelkdouglas]

Nice shooting, but...

I don't think you have a large enough sample to come to any real conclusion as to OAL vs Accuracy. A larger sample may prove you conclusions accurate, but then again maybe not.

Once I find a magic load I shoot several 5 shot groups to verify.

Agreed.

As this is my practice load I'll shoot it about every trip to the range. I normally load 40 rounds and shoot 5-shot groups for warmups as my first shots at the range. I was using 2.689 CBTO for my last sets, and a buddy suggested I adjust seating depth by 0.005 in based on the shape of the groups. That's how I got to 2.684 CBTO. I'll shoot it for a while and see how it does over time.

I would also like to shoot this combo at longer range than 100 yards, but that's the max at the range here near Leavenworth.

 

[joelkdouglas]

...hmmm, doesn't seem that long ago when I started reloading after I got out of the Marine Corps & IMR-4350 was "The Powder" for the '06. Still seems to be working just fine...

Someone on this forum convinced me to get a keg of IMR4350 a couple of years ago for this 30-06. That was before the current state of the reloading world, so I have been able to shoot this load through the panic. I would tell them thanks, but I don't know who it was!

 

[Darkhorse]

You will never hear me say IMR 4350 is inadequate. Works just as good now as it did back in '71 when I bought my first "Lee Loader" and a mallet.
And the good thing about that old charcoal powder is all it takes is a sharp piece of flint to make it go boom.

 

[Oldtrader3]

I used 4064 with 150 gr .30-06 loads. IMR 4350 works better with 165-80 bullets, generally. Your velocities are low also. The 150 bullets can be loaded to 2900+ fps.