30/06 ammo

Deer season is cooming up and my son wants to use his 30/06. I don’t have a die for it but have a 308 full leingth and a 303 full length and 303 neck sizer die . The 303 will probably be to big for jacked hunting bullets but can i use the 308 full leingth die to just neck size the 30/06 brass? I also have the 7.62/39 with the 308 and the 311 sizer button also. There lee dies. The only wack a mole lee die I have is a 303 Brit that’s also a neck sizer die. I went to Walmart today and they only had a few boxes of white box Winchester 30/06 ammo 150 gr for 39$. the guy at the counter said one guy came in and bought all the cheep hunting ammo over 4,000 worth.

You could probably get by with a .308 neck sizer if you're careful with it.
But this late in the game, I'd just buy the box of 150s, get sighted in, and go hunting.

Then next year, get a earlier start.

I got ammo and guns he can use but he wants to use his 30/06. He just bought it last month. He only bought one box of ammo with the gun and I used most of it sighting it in. The scope was way off. He can use my sks my 308 many 7.62/39 25/06 308 Norma mag 6.5 sewed or my 7.5 Swiss. Also my 303 Brit. He still wants to use the o6 that he bought

I know everyone likes to size new brass , but I would just buy a bag of brass if I was in a desperate situation,and load them as long as the necks look good,and round. You should be able to find them for around $20-$25 per 50.,or maybe a member here would sell you some once fired brass already full length sized. You may not get match quality ammo,but speaking from experience I know you can seat bullets in a pinch with dies that are similar enough.

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Originally Posted by Jniedbalski

I got ammo and guns he can use but he wants to use his 30/06. He just bought it last month. He only bought one box of ammo with the gun and I used most of it sighting it in. The scope was way off. He can use my sks my 308 many 7.62/39 25/06 308 Norma mag 6.5 sewed or my 7.5 Swiss. Also my 303 Brit. He still wants to use the o6 that he bought

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Would be cheaper and faster to buy one of the QUALITY "in-bore" laser targeting things for your 30-06. I have one for 5 different cals and it sure saves time and ammo sighting in the 1st time and checking in the field later to verify.

Sent you a PM with potential answer to some of the problems.
Thanks.

Thanks kywoodwrkr got it. I got brass 50 or more. Got a lot of 25/06 and 270 but not going to use that. I found 50 real easy in my stash so probably have a lot more. Plus’s he still has the mostly empty box he bought with the gun. He dosent want to borrow any of my guns at all. He is 22 my oldest and this is the first ever deer rifle he has bought himself. My reloading buddy I use to work with ,retired local police Sargent has a Rcbs die set that he will let me use but knowing him will probably just give me. He said it’s at least 50 years old and he hasn’t used it in over 20 years. Said he use to load for his garand in the early to middle 70’s. I got plenty of powder and primers so now just need to buy some bullets. Got a box or two of .308 150 gr FMJ’s and a box or two of Sierra .308 jacketed pro hunter 150 gr hollow point made for the 30/30. I tried them years ago in my sks at 100 and 200 yards and they shoot very Good. Walmart is sold out of everything but win 150 gr white box at 39$ for 20. He said he’s not paying that so off to the local fun gun shop to buy a box of bullets. The Sierra pro hunter should work fine for 200 yards or less just got to keep the velocity down. Sierra recommends 2500/2600 FPS on these bullets.

You can use the 308Win die to neck size the 30-06. Just load a case in your shellholder...run the press ram all the way up then without the expander installed...start screwing down the 308 die. Keep screwing it down and bumping up the case until the entire neck is sized. Then put the expander back in the die...screw it in to that same spot and size away.

As long as the 30-06 cases were fired in his chamber...it should work just fine to do case neck size only. If the cases weren't....verify each will chamber in his rifle after neck sizing before you load them up.

redhawk

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Originally Posted by elmacgyver0

You said "most of it", how many rounds of 30/06 does it take to kill a deer?

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Excellent point. I would be very comfortable going with 3 rounds.

How many rounds? Trust me, a single .30-06 hit in the boiler room with any common hunting bullet is all that anyone will need to kill a deer. Now that's not always true of a solid Texas heart shot but it usually works even then.

Borrow your friend's .30-06 dies and load a box full because the boy will certainly need to recheck the zero with the new ammo you'll make.

I will reiterate the suggestion of trying the fired brass in the gun first to see if the bolt will close on it. If the fired brass fits then you have a fighting chance of turning it into usable ammo with just neck sizing. Also Try the loaded rounds in the gun ,in a safe area ,just to make sure they will fit and not jam up the rifle when you are trying to get a second shot off. I ran into this problem with my very first 30/06 using a good old lee loader. Some of my rounds just would not chamber until I was able to full length size my brass from various sources.

I used the old Rcbs die set. It’s been sitting for 20 years or more. He said he hasent had a 30/06 grand since they where 150 to 200$ . Said he sold them for bills and said he would always get another one some day. He gave me a almost full box of bullets about 100. Half where 180 gr soft point and the other where 180 gr round nose. The only thing I can read on the box is browning 30 cal 180 gr. And part of a number. The box looks 30 years old or older. I loaded them up with 55 gr imr 4350 . Will try a few out soon. The oal I used was 3.330 on the soft points and 3.300 on the round nose.the weird thing the cannular on the bullet is still way out of the case with the soft point and the round nose. If I seated to it then crimped the oal would be .050 to .075 shorter way to deep. Next I want to load some horandy 150 gr fmj with win 748 powder for practice ammo. 46 to 48 gr Sounds like a good load for shooting paper.

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Originally Posted by 1hole

How many rounds? Trust me, a single .30-06 hit in the boiler room with any common hunting bullet is all that anyone will need to kill a deer. Now that's not always true of a solid Texas heart shot but it usually works even then.

Borrow your friend's .30-06 dies and load a box full because the boy will certainly need to recheck the zero with the new ammo you'll make.

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Three. You never know what additional opportunities might come along. Three is a lot for one morning. One day, I needed four, though. Feral hogs came in. Four shots, five kills. Two made the mistake of lining their heads up.