low noise roundball .30-06 load

[Newtire]

Hi all,

Looking for a load that won't alarm the neighbors but would be good for perhaps dispatching a raccoon or a coyote. I was thinking about a round ball in a .30-06 (headshot). Any ideas?

[Bob B]

Try 3 grains bullseye or other fast powder with round ball,work charge up or down to control noise and accuracy.Bob B

[Shiloh]

Try 3 grains bullseye or other fast powder with round ball,work charge up or down to control noise and accuracy.Bob B

Ditto This. Try a .311 round ball. Charge your cases carefully.

Shiloh

[mooman76]

You could also try the same grainage with Unique or red dot.

[Newtire]

OK guys. I will work up a few to take to the range this weekend. I have used a small charge of Unique and a round ball in my .444 but forgot what it was..It was great at 25 yards and sounded like a big air rifle. I'm thinking it was 5 gr. of Unique. As usual, thanks!

[Thumbcocker]

Size 0 buck shot lubed with liquid alox and 3grns of red dot. May have to enlarge primer hols on a selected lot of brass. Same load is excellent in .30-30 and .30-40. No need to resize cases if you have a universal depriming die.

[BAGTIC]

I prefer Red Dot for light roundball loads as it is bulkier and fills more space. In a case as large as the .30-06 I suspect you may need to elevate the bore before each shot to settle the powdedr near the primer.

[TAWILDCATT]

I use a cartridge adapter in 06. shoots32 acp. I also have them in 30/40 krag and
8 mm mauser/303 brit.my 303 is winchester pat date 1899

[mingol]

I had a fun afternoon with some 30-06 cases loaded with 3 gr Bullseye and 311284 bullets. Fairly quiet, minute of rat to 65 yards or so, and they delivered a marvelous wallop on arrival. I was shooting at a small pond and they made huge holes in the wet banks. Velocity around 500 fps I think.
This makes me think that you needn't bother with the round balls, just find some cull bullets, lube 'em, and go with the itty-bitty charge of fast powder. I think I went as low as 2.7 grains but I would not do that again. Stuck bullets are easy to drive out, but it is a bother.
Best regards
John

[mroliver77]

Now you're talking fun! We call the quiete ones "cats sneeze" taken from the following article;
http://www.guns.connect.fi/gow/arcane1.html
The trick is to go with heavier boolit and fast powder. The longer the barrel the better. I have played some with the round balls and while they are a blast and can be very accurate and deadly they are not "shoot in the burbs" quiet. A 220gr .30 slug at 500fps has enough energy to kill reliably. I use pure lead to cast these and flatten the point as much as possible.

[Bob Krack]

Hi all,
Looking for a load that won't alarm the neighbors but would be good for perhaps dispatching a raccoon or a coyote. I was thinking about a round ball in a .30-06 (headshot). Any ideas?

I have not loaded nor shot the load, but a friend claims 5 to 6 grains of IMR TrailBoss, now Hodgdons but still called IMR.

My nephew uses 6 grains of TrailBoss for light load 30-06 (100 grain boolit)). He has a 22 inch Howa and a 17.5 inch Mexican Mauser. He tells me the Mauser is not very quiet at all, but the Howa is not not extremely loud and very little kick at all.

Vic

[Larry Gibson]

Use 3.2 gr of Bullseye (no wad or filler) under the Hornady .32 swaged lead pistol bullet. Will run 800-900 fps depending on barrel. No leading and extremely good accuracy. A .31 M die helps as seating the soft lead bullets into .30 sized necks can cause deformation of the bullet. Or just try push seating the bullet in a primed/charged case without sizing the neck. I shoot lots of them in my .30/.31 cal rifles as they are much better than any RB. The Lee TL314-90-SWC is the cast bullet to use in lieu of the Hornady. Cast it of lead or recovered .22LR lead and lightly tumble in LLA.

If your anticipated range on the coyote is 50 yards or less the Hornady or Speer .32 swaged lead WCs over the same 3.2 gr of Bullseye is a real killer. Feeding more than one round out of the magazine may be a problem with the WCs though. Other than that they also are much better than an RB.

Both loads are pretty quiet.

Larry Gibson

[kycrawler]

i am in a rural area with some fairly close neighbors i use the lee 200 gr round nose mould and cast them out of soft lead i use 4 grns of bullseye and have killed a few coyotes at 75 yards i have 22and a 30 cal suppressor but they are illegal to hunt with here in indiana

[Ricochet]

4 grains of Bullseye may not sound like much compared to the powder charges we usually stuff in 30-06s, but that's about a standard .45 ACP hardball load. Nothing to sneeze at.

[Alferd Packer]

This is a good thread to return to.
With older powders getting scarce some other of the faster powders could be substituted for subsonic loads.
Titegroup, titewad, trailboss, they can be used as well. Clay's, 700X, Bullseye, Red Dot, WW231, AA No.2, Superlite, Green Dot too.

[Goofy]

For purposes of this conversation I'll call this the .30-06 Short Rimmed.

[Alferd Packer]

Thanks Goofy
very good!
That's showing them !

[MT Gianni]

I must be getting old. 30+ years ago in Star, ID a full load of 06 wouldn't alarm the neighbors.

[crandall crank]

I've been using the Lee 113 "soup can" in both 30-30 and 30-06, loaded as cat sneezes. Sub-sonic, so no "crack". No recoil and a hoot to shoot!

[Rooster]

I need one of those molds. My wallet takes umbrage at this ancient post. Thanks!!