Bullet type and powder for 300 yard 3006 loads

[LAKEMASTER]

The local range has a 300yd bay. I've considered joining but I have no idea what kind of load /bullet mold I'd need to get...

Would it be possible to get a reduced load for a distance like that? Until this point, my reloads were intended for killing 2 liter bottles and coyotes. So I've never really thought of 300yds

[Scharfschuetze]

My best loads for the longer ranges are generally centered on 311284, 311334 or 311299 in most of my 30/06 rifles. NOE and other makers produce duplicates or near replicas of these designs.

My favorite powder is SR 4759. It is now out of production, but I have enough to last a while. If you don't have that powder, try IMR 4198 or 4895 for good results. There are lots of similar powders so only testing in your rifle will tell the story.

My most accurate loads all leave the muzzle at between 1,800 and 1,900 fps. The heavy boolits listed above (200 to 210 grains depending on mould and alloy) have a reasonable trajectory and fight wind deflection better than lighter boolits. At 300 yards even a mild breeze from 3 or 9 O'Clock (full value) will push your cast boolit out further that you would suspect. In the summer, I often shoot these loads out past 600 yards. A good military sight or civilian long slide aperture sight will get you out there with good results.

Good ballistic uniformity is needed at the longer ranges to preclude vertical dispersion due to high extreme spreads in velocity. I generally get along without a filler, but sometimes they can make or break a load by providing consistent pressures and velocities.

With a good cast boolit load, you'll be able to hit those plastic gallon milk jugs out there at 300 yards more often than not.

Lyman 311299 (left) and 311334 boolits sized to .311 for the Ought Six.

[quilbilly]

I am partial to 5744 for the longer range shooting with my 338 WM and 308 but that powder is expensive so I found out RE-7 can be almost as good. In my 308 and my 30/30, that Lee 160 gr RNGC has shot very well out to 400.

[ak_milsurp]

What a out 311284. And 2400?

[ak_milsurp]

Dang... 2400 powder and 20-22 gr. With 311284 boolit should do it

[charlie b]

Everything above is great.

You might want to do what I did when considering cast for my .308. Montana Bullet Works has bullets from several of the good .30cal molds. You can buy boxes of those that might interest you and try them in your rifle. They will even size them at different diameters. Then, if you find one you really like then buy the mold and sizer for it and cast your own.

I also bought a Lee 309-180 mold and started shooting them (I already had a pot and such from shooting muzzle loaders).

It is reasonably easy to get 1.5-2 MOA and not too hard to get below 1MOA with cast bullets and the right loads. So far I have found that the velocity is best below 2000fps, but, will be trying some loads beyond that with powder coating. I plan on trying some shooting at 600yd as well.

For extra information try the cast bullet association match results. Shooters give full information about their rifles, bullets, lubes and loads along with the match results. Quite interesting on which bullets are used.

It is quite satisfying to hit my 4" gong out at 300yd with cast bullets.

PS so far I have been using IMR4198 and 4895 for the faster loads. I have a bunch of Blue Dot I use for plinking loads (<1000fps). I shoot all my reject bullets with the Blue Dot at 100yd. The surprising thing is I can sometimes get sub MOA groups with that setup, even with poor bullets.

https://castbulletassoc.org/match-results

http://www.gmdr.com/lever/lowveldata.htm

[Hick]

Lee C309-200GC works well for my M1 in 30-06 over 44 grains of IMR4895 out to 400 yards (maybe farther, but I haven't tried at longer range yet).