Dependable.

ShadeTree

Handloader
Mar 6, 2017
3,515
3,019
Amazing how many 30-06's this load works for right out of the box. Generally 1" down to tack driving territory in a rifle capable of shooting. No load workup required. Sometimes life goes easier when you don't try to re-invent the wheel.

So the older gent that gave me a bunch of once fired factory cases and 5 1/2 boxes of 180 RN reloads I pulled the bullets on, still has an 06 in his arsenal and still does a little shooting.

I told him to drop off his rifle so I could check the chamber length for these bullets and I'd load some up for him if they shot. He says this rifle shoots factory 180 gr 1.250-1.5". Not bad, not great.


Old style powder, old style C&C bullets, runs 2700 and change in a 22" barrel the few times I've checked it with Spitzer style.......the standard for 06 with 180 gr cup and core bullets for decades.

56.2 gr IMR 4350, 180 gr C&C bullet in an 06 loaded .060 off the lands will get you close.

He had the rifle clean so I took one fouling shot, then 3 on target. Measures .807. Guess I'll be loading him some up. Like the Geico commercial, this combo makes things so easy a caveman could do it. :grin:


 
There are so many great loads, well-known loads, for the 30-06 cartridge.

IMR 4350 & H4350 both produce great results with 165's and 180's.

Guy
 
The cartridge has been around long enough that every iteration of powder/bullet available until the very recent production has been tried and proven. It should be easy to find a workable load for the venerable cartridge if the rifle itself isn't trashed.
 
That’s pretty danged neat. I’ve heard of that and the 165 load so many times it’s gotta be a thing.
 
Dependable ? Yes very dependable.
Some times I wonder why I spent the money trying different rifles to take Elk hunting when I already had my 30-06 that has proven it's self to me time and time again.( Oh those enablers )
Yeah it was fun working with different calibers and rifles and I learned a lot in the process but I could have saved the money and still have been a one rifle one cartridge man with the do it all 30-06.
 
SJB358":2e27o4vk said:
That’s pretty danged neat. I’ve heard of that and the 165 load so many times it’s gotta be a thing.

For sure Scotty. Be hard to argue differently, at least for me.

That same load/bullet shot in the 5's in my M70, shot just a tick under an inch in my Browning A-bolt, and this one low 8's.

All different overall lengths, but all .060 off. Changes in seating depth of course would make some rifles better. My rifles were loaded in Rem cases. This one with Federal cases from factory ammo he had shot. Doesn't seem to matter, the combo just works.

The 165 load with 57 gr of IMR 4350 is the same deal. I will say that all the testing I ever done in 06's with that combo was with Rem brass which tends to run less case capacity. Some guys claim around 58.5 works real well, but in Rem brass 57 gr's seems to be the ticket.
 
Guy Miner":2i4nxe0c said:
There are so many great loads, well-known loads, for the 30-06 cartridge.

IMR 4350 & H4350 both produce great results with 165's and 180's.

Guy


Guy, I don't have personal experience with H4350 in the 06, but I know a lot of people like it. No doubt it is a better powder if hunting at sub zero temps as it's pretty much proven it's less temp sensitive at the extremes. It's a really good well proven powder.
 
Here is a few of mine.
 

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Rednek rampager":1og6q8qq said:
TXbaldhunter":1og6q8qq said:
Here is a few of mine.
Nice groups, all shot at 100 yards or 200 yards?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Those are from a 100yds,here are some from 200yds
 

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TXbaldhunter":2s0clq0f said:
Rednek rampager":2s0clq0f said:
TXbaldhunter":2s0clq0f said:
Here is a few of mine.
Nice groups, all shot at 100 yards or 200 yards?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Those are from a 100yds,here are some from 200yds
Nice job. I should’ve picked up some of that Big Game powder last time I saw some.

Apparently it works pretty good for the ‘06.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
The only rifle I've ever owned that would produce a true 1 hole group, on more than one occasion, was a bone stock FN produced Model 70 in 30-06...I put it in a McMillan stock and bedded the action, but it was all factory otherwise.

58.5 grains of H4350 under a 168 Ballistic Tip was the load...2,850 fps and dang near benchrest accurate, I realize it was an exceptional specimen because factory rifles don't come along like that very often... but that load, in that rifle, worked like a charm.

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Those 168gr Ballistic Tips are about the most accurate hunting bullets I shoot in my 30 cals.If you cannot get them to shoot well,you need to look for issues with your rifle.
 
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