RL 25 and Retumbo in 30 06

[C.Smith]

I have almost a pound of both pouders and only my 30 06. I was wondering if any knows if I would be able to safely load either in my 30 06, or am I playing with fire? If so what kind of starting charge am I looking for?

I'm not looking for a hunting load mostly just plinking and using up powder I have and not having to waste it.

Corey

 

[Richracer1]

Have you checked the Hodgdon or Alliant web sites???? I think those two powders are way to slow for the 30-06, buts that's just a guess.

 

[C.Smith]

yes I have checked them, not recently but I did. I figured it would be to slow, but I was wondering if I can shoot it through it.

Corey

 

[FOTIS]

They are way too slow for the 30-06.
Your pressures will be real low as your velocities.

 

[kraky]

I would contact both manufactuers and see what they say but I will give you a 99% bet they will say no. Funny thing is that Accurate arms lists loads with 200 grain bullets and their super slow burner 8700 for the '06.
Even if they did give you the "go ahead" to run the powders you'd probably find that they were terribly dirty burning (or "not burning") and would give you really dirty case necks and a quickly fouled barrel.
This fall I found a really accurate load with the above 8700 for my 300 win mag that was somewhat reduced but still safe according to Accurates data. The case necks would get so carbon fouled that it took alot of scrubbing to clean them and I could only figure the same might be happening to my super accurate Tikka barrel so......that was the end of that experiment.
I guess what I'm saying is.....even if they say you could.....you probably wouldn't like the end result.

 

[Alaska]

I do suggest either in the 30-06..........H4350 works real good with 165/180 grain bullets in the 06

 

[C.Smith]

Thanks for everyone's responses so far. I do have IMR 4350 and a good load but I don't like the velocity loss in the winter time I get. I think I will have to go to Rl22 which I have tried and try some H4350. Thanks again.

Corey

 

[JungleJim]

I would think RL 25 and Retumbo would be much to slow burning in a 06. But If I was to try it I would use some 220 grain bullets.

Reloader 22 does work excellent in the 06 with 180 grain bullets provided you use lots of it along with about a 1 1/2 foot drop tube to help get it all in.

 

[C.Smith]

Where can you get a drop tube at?

Corey

 

[JD338]

Go with RL22, great powder choice for the 30-06.

JD338

 

[C.Smith]

Any one know where to get a powder drop?

Corey

 

[JD338]

Give Midway a try.

JD338

 

[C.Smith]

Thank you.

Corey

 

[JungleJim]

Any one know where to get a powder drop?

Corey

The longest commercial drop tube I have found is made by Forster its only 5 something inchs long it does help a fair amount. But I have found with certain top end loads of mine such as Reloader 22 in the 30 06 a longer drop tube helps even more. Years ago I ended up making some up some drop tubes in 12", 18", 24" inch lengths in different diameters. Out of copper tubing by flaring the ends (kind of a trial and error thing). Found I could gain even more up to 18" long.

Here is the Forster one.

http://www.forsterproducts.com/Pages/funnel.htm

 

[Antelope_Sniper]

You could load them. Just don't expect velocities over about 2400 fps, maybe even slower. If you were going to load it, try a heavy bullet something in the 200gr+ range. Wouldn't be very fast, but sometimes these slow powers and heavy bullets can create some very consistant loads. Overall if I had 60 pounds of the stuff I might try it, but with only two pounds, and the price of bullets where they are today, it's probably not worth the effort.

 

[C.Smith]

Overall if I had 60 pounds of the stuff I might try it, but with only two pounds, and the price of bullets where they are today, it's probably not worth the effort.

That's a really good point, thankyou.

Corey

 

[GSSP]

Corey,

You can but before I would be willing to get into it, what bullet weight are you looking to shoot and how experience of a shooter are you? I say this because you pretty much need to be willing to shoot 180's and heavier and be willing to compress your propellant quite a bit.

Big Al

 

[C.Smith]

I'm a pretty experienced shooter I believe. I normally shoot 165s in it but I'm considering the 180s. Especially since there are seconds so cheaply right now.

Corey

 

[C.Smith]

So what would be a good starting point?

Corey

 

[GSSP]

Corey,

I load upto 71 gr of Rel 25 in my 30-06 Ackley Imp behind a 180 BT/AB and get upto 3100 fps from a 26" ss Lilja barrel. I've not loaded a 165/8 and have no intention to. My rig is built for long range shooting/hunting. I also load upto 68.9 gr of Rel 25 behind a 200 PT/AB and get about 2950 fps.

Now, with that in mind, you will NOT get that kind of fps from your '06. I typically see a 4 gr increase in case capacity when Ack Imp'ing the Winchester brand '06 case. My max is 71 gr of Rel 25. Mind you, the pressures are akin to 65,000 psi. I only see about two loads per case before the primer pockets are toast. So, my preferred load is 68.5 gr for 2997 fps and 1/2 to 3/4 MOA. I've got 4-5" 800 yd groups to prove it. Primer pockets are great and I get 5+ loads per case before I pitch them due to the necks getting hard and inconsistent bullet release.

Shooting a 165 BT/AB, I'd start around 62 gr and go no further than 66 gr. Also, you won't just be able to drop that much Rel 25 into an '06 case. I'm talking neck sized only, slowly trickling in the powder via a Forster 8" drop tube and compressing the living heck out of the powder.

Before I took on this much compression stuff, I talked to Hodgdon and their techs about compressing powder in "gerneral terms". I did not want some knee jerk answer without some actual thought on their part. They totally agreed that compressing, by bulllet seating only, a charge of powder which came upto 3/4 of the case neck was totally acceptable as long as the powder was not too fast. Which basically means you are not going to get so much Rel 25 into a case that your going to hurt something.

I will also tell you this. Compressing that much propellant will play dickens with your seating depth being consistent. For every increase in propellant, you will need to add more depth to your seating stem to get the bullet to seat to your intended depth.

Some will think I'm crazy, but I obtained my data from a very experienced reloader who with his LOAD program (the name escapes me at present) has actually successfully been there, done that, and my research, has worked for me. YMMV.

Proceed with caution.

Keep on Patterning

Big Al