30-06 flat nose problems...

[mdr8088]

To say the least I'm frustrated. I'm wanting to kill a deer with my own bullet this year, and I'm running out of time. Unless theirs a zombie outbreak I'm going to have to wait till next year to kill something. I'm using the lee 170gr flat nosed mold, which I originally bought for my granddad's 30-30. I'm ok with hundred yard shots with my savage axis 30-06. I can shoot 2 1/2 inch groups well, but take it out to 200 yds and I suck. I could probably hunt elephants, but nothing smaller. Is it the flat nose bullet causing me problems? They're hitting way high compared to the Hornady 150gr sp's I zeroed it at 200 yds. with. I'm using 16 grs. of Unique, with .5 gr Polly fill. I lube with allox, and use Hornady gas checks, win brass, rem primers. I am getting a little leading at the muzzle. I'm guessing this load is about 17 to 1800 fps. Using data from the Lyman book. Would I be better off with the 160gr round nose? Or should I reduce the load some? Don't have a lot of powders to play around with. Where is all that stuff anyway? It's getting mighty sparse out here. Just wanting to see what you all thought. Thanks.

[NC_JEFF]

Lead near the muzzle is often a sign of inadequate lube, are you double coating with the alox? I've never used any filler when loading my '06 with Unique but I've never tried for those velocities with unique, I use it with 90-120gr boolits for killing paper. How much clearance off the rifling are you seating your round? Lots of cast shooters seat their round just into the rifling for improved accuracy. Some of the more advanced cast shooters here will be chiming in soon with very detailed help for each of these issues. Enjoy shooting the cast boolits, I know I do.

JD

[Silvercreek Farmer]

I have good luck with that boolit and 21 grains of 2400 in the 30-06. I zero for 175 yards which is about 6 inches high at 100. What alloy are you using?

[44man]

Not the flat nose. 30-06 is not a candidate for Unique. Go to a powder! Try 4895 or 3031. Step up the velocity with a slower powder.
Dump Alox right away. My gosh, that boolit is over 1900 fps in a 30-30.
You are not spinning it.

[Ben]

30-06 is not a candidate for Unique.

I guess I have been wasting my time shooting tiny groups with Unique in the 30-06 for 40 years and just didn't know any better.

Ben

[trapper9260]

30-06 is not a candidate for Unique.

I guess I have been wasting my time shooting tiny groups with Unique in the 30-06 for 40 years and just didn't know any better.

Ben

I say if it works for you stick with it.That is how I see how things are.Not all guns are the same no matter if it is the same make and all.because the barrel is differnet when made. I could not find data for semi auto for 308 that would work but I made it up my own and made it work.

[Char-Gar]

Alox type lubes have a limited velocity range for their effectiveness and you are going past that. It is not the be-all, do-all bullet lube that some folks represent it to be. Time to rethink your lube. If you don't want to invest in a lube-size machine, then pan lube and use a Kake-Kutter.

200 yard accuracy can be had with a variety of powders, bullet weights and shapes. However a damaged bullet can't be made to shoot at that range. Folks tend to think of leading as just a rifle cleaning issue, but that lead comes off the bullets and that does nothing good for accuracy.

At, 1.7 to 1.9 K fps, I would not get all wrapped around the axle over fast powers, as they will work well at those speeds, however they are reaching their limits. When you reach 2K fps and over, your are much better off accuracy wise, with a slower powder.

Also bear in mind that older barrels were not all that smooth. When I look down the barrel of my 1954 vintage Winchester 70 and see all those tool marks, it tells me to slow things down with that rifle. More recent barrels are glass smooth in comparison to some of barrels made a generation or two ago.

[44man]

I will never understand why cast needs shot so slow with shotgun powders. The 06 has a range to 4350 and 4831, Varget works great. So does 4064. You don't use Unique with jacketed, why with cast?
I far outstrip all powders in a 30-30 with 3031 and 4895 with accuracy. Even 4759, be darned if I would go with a faster powder.

[white eagle]

big case small amount of fast burning powder(unique)in my opinion is a hit and miss
I would probably do as others have already noted and go with a slower powder,more case fill.

[leadman]

I do shoot Unique in the 30-06, but at around 1,200 fps. For the speeds you want try a powder like 2400 or slower. As 44man said, 3031 should work and I know for a fact that 4895 does.
I use mostly SR4759 and for the speed you want it would work.
For hunting loads you can use a lube like Carnuba Red available here from White Label lubes and use it like a crayon to smear it on the boolit, then size and you are good to go, with a gas check installed. I have used this lube to almost full jacketed velocity with no issues.

You didn't say what size your barrel slugs to so don't know if you checked it. Your Savage should be .308" unless it has seem alot of bullets down the barrel so .309" might be good. I normally size .310" for the 30-06. Try the lube and powder change first before changing boolit size.
Another thing you might do is find some JB Bore Paste and follow the instructions to clean your bore with it. This will also help smooth it inside.

[Ben]

I'm not the only person who likes to shoot Unique in the 30-06 !

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...ddystone-30-06

[dk17hmr]

Very much wasting your time with Unique in the 30-06....any powder is better than Unique in the 30-06 case.

Don't tell this Antelope and my 1903 Springfield though......because I used a cast bullet and unique to kill it.


Your not likely as fast as you are thinking though.

[Ben]

Yea, Doug......that looks like a total waste of time with Unique.

You better get another powder quick.

Ben

[dk17hmr]

Yea, Doug......that looks like a total waste of time with Unique.

You better get another powder quick.

Ben

I just dumped the rest of the jug in the garden so I'm not tempted to use it again.....I'm done wasting time with that powder...hopefully my tomatoes grow well next year.

[Char-Gar]

big case small amount of fast burning powder(unique)in my opinion is a hit and miss
I would probably do as others have already noted and go with a slower powder,more case fill.

If you want to see how hit or miss small amounts of fast burning powder are in the 30-06 case, try about 7 grains of Bulleye under a soft cast bullet of nominal weight. No filler, just the powder. Shoot a ten shot 100 yard group and take a gander. I think you will be surprised. No need for a gas check.

[nagantguy]

The horror, please don't dump any more unquie, please send it to me for proper disposal! I've alreadyblearned what a waste of time it is in rifles, really, seriously, my 30-30 won't hit a barn from inside with it, Mauser either. Please note sarcasm, I have several favorite loads with cast in large rifle. But don't dump any I'm down to my last pound and afraid to open it haven't seen any on shelves for 2 years.

[mdr8088]

Nice lope, nicer Springfield. I use Unique in my 9mm, it was on hand and in the Lyman book. I seen some IMR 4064 at Wall mart the other day. I'm going to have to order powder pretty soon, or I'll be throwing rocks. I'll try the powder and lube first. I'm using half wheel weights, and half of some kind of Linotype lead I found at the recycling center. I was digging around in a huge box they keep their lead in and there it was, a bunch of Lyman ingots and some bullets. It kind of made me sad, probably some guy passed away, and never will get to shoot them. I water dropped them, they should be pretty hard. What's a good velocity to shoot for?

[Duckdog]

I use 31 gr of 5744 with that very boolit for 2150 FPS,(Chronographed), with excellent accuracy. I also use 2 coats of Liquid Alox with that load and get zero leading. With straight WW, it thumps the deer.

I messed with Unique in the 06, but never really seriously stuck with it. The loads I did load up were pretty accurate, but slower than I wanted.

That boolit is a pretty good one in the 06, so keep at it.

[white eagle]

6 gr of red dot should give you exceptional accuracy at 1000 plus yds
all the benchrest shooters use unique just ask em

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Not to state the obvious, but you are using gas check, right? And sizing to .309 or .310? Lose the poly, drop back to 12 grains and work up again 1 grain at a time. Stop when your groups tighten up. You mentioned jacketed, did you use copper solvent before switching to cast?