30-06 loading on a snowy day

Snowing pretty heavily today here in central Washington, so I've been hanging out in my gun room, loading 30-06 ammo. I'd like to rely heavily on it again this coming fall for my big game hunting. I'll be hunting mule deer & pronghorn almost for sure. Possibly elk and bear. We will see...

My well-proven load is: 165 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip, a near-max charge of H4350, R-P cases and today I was using CCI primers. I've also used Magtech and Federal primers but haven't ever seen a difference in the accuracy.

If you load to this level, (I'm at 59 grains) please work your way up to it. It's over max in some manuals and not quite max in other manuals.







Fall of 2016, the same load did very well in the hunting fields!

Regards, Guy

The old 06 is a formidable force.........that should be a stout load. Ungulate's beware!! :mrgreen:

Now time to put some of those on paper. :mrgreen:

I've been forced to find a different powder to replace H-4350. My old favorite load for many years has been 57grs H-4350 behind the 165gr BT. I found Vihtavouri N-550 to be just as accurate and cleaner. This will be my new favorite powder for my favorite bullet the 165gr BT.
Billy

Guy

That's a winning combination right there.

JD338

We had a cold miserable day in Az today. It actually frosted, this morning and struggled to make 68 in the afternoon. You got to be tough to live here in the winter. To bad about the 4350 I have used it in several rifles for a number of years. If I am lucky I have enough to last me for the rest of my years.

Elkman":3e1m1vs9 said:

We had a cold miserable day in Az today. It actually frosted, this morning and struggled to make 68 in the afternoon. You got to be tough to live here in the winter. To bad about the 4350 I have used it in several rifles for a number of years. If I am lucky I have enough to last me for the rest of my years.

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Cruel. :mrgreen: Last week it was cold enough here to freeze the you know what off a brass monkey.

What's the story on the 4350??

Well, H4350 was simply unavailable for what, a year?

But a shipment has come in, and that shipment was scooped up FAST. I expect that there will be more coming.

In the meantime I have about 12 pounds of the stuff, so I'm feeling pretty good about my own supply.

Good powder. I use it a lot in my 30-06 and my 375 H&H. Have also happily used it in the 6mm Rem, 25-06, 7mm Rem mag and probably some more I've forgotten about. Not always the best, but usually good in the right cartridges.

TackDriver284":cqp6wtt8 said:

Now time to put some of those on paper. :mrgreen:

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Gosh, I've been using this stuff so long with the 165's... At least a decade... Fall of 2016 the combo resulted in:

black bear at 325 yards from unsupported sitting
pronghorn at 245 yards from prone
mule deer at 140 yards from prone
cow elk at 338 yards from prone, rested over a pack

So... I'd guess it's been accurate enough! :grin: It's generally under one MOA from my 24" Rem 700 CDL from a good rest. I'm pretty satisfied with the load, and can easily substitute the 165 Nosler Partition if I think more penetration is a good idea.

All I do with it at the range anymore is just practice with it from prone, sitting, kneeling and standing. Am working at laying in a good supply of loaded ammo, so I can practice a lot before the hunting season rolls around. Meanwhile, I'll do most of my practice with a 22 rimfire and my 308 Win.

Guy

Guy Miner":1jluirw6 said:

Well, H4350 was simply unavailable for what, a year?

But a shipment has come in, and that shipment was scooped up FAST. I expect that there will be more coming.

In the meantime I have about 12 pounds of the stuff, so I'm feeling pretty good about my own supply.

Good powder. I use it a lot in my 30-06 and my 375 H&H. Have also happily used it in the 6mm Rem, 25-06, 7mm Rem mag and probably some more I've forgotten about. Not always the best, but usually good in the right cartridges.

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Gotcha. It was available here at a local sporting goods last I seen, but it could be gone now I don't know? My 4350 loads are with IMR so I guess I missed the H4350 disappearance. I know for a while there everything was tight. I was good on powder but was scrounging for 22 ammo for a couple yrs.

I switched to IMR 4451 for the 30-06 since there wasn't any H4350. Now, that's my go to for 30-06.

Hard to beat a day on the loading bench Guy and what better cartridge to load for than the all-time great 30-06! I'm in my own man cave sharpening 3 butcher knives for our old pastor at our church. Similar tranquil feel to loading ammo!

Whew.... that is a pretty impressive press you have there!

Guy, does the Partition group as well for you as the BT? Velocity?

A few years ago I gave up on H-4350 not because of performance but availability and switched to Ramshot Hunter for my 30-06 with 165 grain bullets. Never looked back but recently H-4350 is showing up on the store shelves and it is still my top performer with 180 grain bullets and heavier.
My late-winter to early spring shooting consists of my 22 and AR in 5.56. May timeframe I start with sighting in the rifles I plan on using then off of the bench. I typically use ballistic tips for target practice then switch to Accubonds later in the year. Sitting, kneeling, prone then off of my folding shooting stick. I also add stress to my training by jogging out to the 300 yard gong with spray paint and back. If I can't do that I will do some burpees to get my heart rate up.
Last year a single cow at 80 yards with 30-06 165 grain interbond with complete pass through.

jason miller":1evis277 said:

Guy, does the Partition group as well for you as the BT? Velocity?

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Jason I got lucky with my 30-06. Originally I loaded 165 gr. Partitions in it using 57.4 grs. of IMR4350. When they made the AccuBond I tried it. I loaded the exact same load without touching the seating depth and the AccuBond shot essentially to the same POI and equally as well. My 30-06 will put three rounds in about 1/2" at 100 yards if I don't screw up with either bullet. I was surprised, pleasantly!!