30-06 lightweight "training loads"

[trebor44]

100 gr Speer Plinkers, loads are list in the #10 manual or later, they shoot like a .22. Quite often these can be found at gun shows as partial boxes.

[popper]

MBC has carbine and 135/165gr coated rifle boolits. The Speer/Hornady plinker would be a good choice as no lube is required and they are fun, accuracy is actually reasonable at 50 if you don't run them too fast. Both run ~ 12 cents/ea. I run a 170gr PB cast ~1400 with unique, no real recoil - my shoulder is shot too.

[rondog]

Here is a 4 shot group at 100yards with my nephew's Rem. 700. Data iAttachment 177028s on the image. I am not sure why only 4 shots, but I was happy with it.

My Rem 700 .30-06 only HOLDS 4 rounds, maybe that's why....

[TCLouis]

I would convert (trade) the 150 and 180 grainers off for something 100-125 grain cast and use those powders you have.
I used the 115 grainer with 13.5 2400 for an accurate load long ago in an Enfield I had.

[Lead Puller]

The M1909 Guard cartridge for the Springfield was a 150-grain M1906 FMJ Ball bullet with 9 grains of Bullseye.

I have successfully loaded jacketed bullets from 110-174 grain military pulls with 8 grains of Bullseye, TiteGroup, 700-X or similar fast-burning pistol or shotgun powder in the .30-'06 with good results for junior training ammunition out to about 100 yards. No filler is needed. You can go up to 13 grains of Red Dot or 700X or 16 grains of Unique or Universal with a jacketed or gaschecked cast bullet.

I know this is an old thread, but I tried to duplicate the M1909 Guard load with some Turkish 30-06 pulls and thought the information was worth sharing.

A friend gave me some MKE Turkish 30-06 after he experienced case ruptures and gas in his face. I thought I would replace the powder with a lighter charge and see if it was worth the trouble. I did not have Bullseye on hand, so I tried some Titegroup with good results. I pulled 5 bullets, dumped the stick powder and started with 8.2g of Titegroup. I checked the bore after each shot to make certain the bullet did not get stuck in the barrel. It worked. I pulled bullets from 15 more cartridges and replaced the stick powder with 8.2g, 8.5g and 9.0g of Titegroup, 5 rounds each. I shot 5 round groups at 50 meters using my 1903 Springfield with iron sights and the results were surprising.

The worst group was with 8.5g of Titegroup, printing a 1-5/8" Wide x 1-7/8" High group at 50 meters. The best group was with 8.2g of Titegroup, printing a 9/16" Wide x 1" High group at 50 meters. My vision is not as good as it was 50 years ago, and no doubt someone with better vision, or a scope, will shoot better groups.

I am glad I stumbled across this thread, as the M1909 Guard load information was very useful.

[ulav8r]

Did not previously see this thread and have not tried loads of this type in an '06, but in 1969 I loaded some 130 gr Speer hollow points in a .308 using Unique. Would take a while to find out if I have any left to determine what the load was but velocity was probably under 1300 fps. They were deadly on turtles in the pond.

[Outpost75]

I always thought the guard load was neat. Where'd you come across the data?

I'd like to load up some pointy bullets over some pistol powders for short range plinking / small game in my K31 which seems to have about the same capacity of '06

Data in Hatcher's Notebook.

[charlie b]

There is also all this data:

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

I use 8gn of Blue Dot in the .308. Before the primer shortage I'd always have a bunch of those to shoot. Mostly using the bullets that don't make it through my final QC checks My targets at 100yd were the mini soda cans. Really fun to shoot.

Haven't tried the light stuff in my .30-06 (Garand). These were with the Lee 180gn bullet running 1200 or so fps. Note: these are from a really good day. Usually 1 1/2" groups are the norm.

[Charlie Horse]

If you ever run across SR 4759 grab it. It's the best reduced-load rifle powder. Unfortunately, it's been discontinued.

[Larry Gibson]

Data in Hatcher's Notebook.

WHAT!!!!

You didn't get it off the internet......how can that be........

[charlie b]

You know that the digital computer had not even been invented when Outback found that load

[Larry Gibson]

You know that the digital computer had not even been invented when Outback found that load

I'm suspecting Hatcher may have plagiarized the load from Outback.......

[trapper9260]

You can also use 00 buck shot sized and use ALox and use that for a small game or just target shooting

[dverna]

Much of this loses its attraction when LR primers are $150/k at the cheapest place I can find them online. There are more economical ways to plink and deal with small game.

[jdgabbard]

Much of this loses its attraction when LR primers are $150/k at the cheapest place I can find them online. There are more economical ways to plink and deal with small game.

Don, if you have a BassPro near you check them out on their website. I've been able to order Winchester primers in any size/variety for $79/k for a few months now. Have them shipped direct to store and just walk in to pick them up once you get the email that they've arrived.

[dverna]

Don, if you have a BassPro near you check them out on their website. I've been able to order Winchester primers in any size/variety for $79/k for a few months now. Have them shipped direct to store and just walk in to pick them up once you get the email that they've arrived.

That is great information and thanks for sharing!!

I am set for the rest of my life on LR primers. Others who are not in that boat will benefit from your post. LR primers are not easy to get.

I might buy some SP primers though!

[challenger_i]

I am really pleased I stocked up back during the Obama Components Shortage Era... And we thought $50/1000 was highway robbery!

Eternally grateful I purchased a chamber adapter for 303 Brit that used 32 S&W: has been a REAL hoot for plinking and makes a good rabbit gitter when out at the hunting camp.
Wish I could find one for 7.65x53...

Much of this loses its attraction when LR primers are $150/k at the cheapest place I can find them online. There are more economical ways to plink and deal with small game.

[Lead Puller]

I collected some chronograph data using my 1903 Springfield. I used the MKE 150g FMJ pulls, the Turkish brass and primers, and replaced the stick powder with Titegroup powder. The bullets were seated for a C.O.L. of 3.315".

10.0g Titegroup - Average Velocity = 1248 fps/Group = 1/2" Wide x 1-5/8" High @ 50 meters.

9.5g Titegroup - Average Velocity = 1213 fps/Group = 1-1/4" Wide x 1-1/4" High @ 50 meters.

9.0g Titegroup - Average Velocity = 1152 fps/Group = 1-1/8" Wide x 9/16" High @ 50 meters.

8.2g Titegroup - Average Velocity = 1030 fps/Group = 9/16" Wide x 1" High @ 50 meters.

I put together one reload using IMI bullets I purchased from Widener's Reloading. 147g FMJ + 8.2g Titegroup + Winchester Large Pistol Primer + HXP surplus brass @ 3.250" C.O.L.
Average Velocity = 1131 fps/Group = 5/8" Wide x 2-5/16" High @ 50 meters. 4 shots were inside a 5/8" x 3/4" group. The 2nd round of 5 rounds fired was 1-7/8" above the small 4 shot group and the report sounded lighter than the rest, which may account for the vertical dispersion.

I tried using Titegroup with one 8mm Mauser reload and it worked well enough to use in our vintage rifle match.

I examined every piece of brass and saw no signs of overpressure on the brass or primers.

Thanks again for pointing me in this direction. Trail Boss powder is impossible to find, and I now have an alternative.

Caveat: I would never, ever use a Large Pistol Primer with rifle powders. I only use Large Pistol Primers with light charge weights of pistol powders, such as Trail Boss, Titegroup or HS-6.

[trapper9260]

Much of this loses its attraction when LR primers are $150/k at the cheapest place I can find them online. There are more economical ways to plink and deal with small game.

I had stocked up on what I needed and extra on hand . I am not worry about it. I done this when everything was in stock before any of this happened. I also have a back up plan also if things gose down fast .

[MOC031]

I put together one reload using IMI bullets I purchased from Widener's Reloading. 147g FMJ + 8.2g Titegroup + Winchester Large Pistol Primer + HXP surplus brass @ 3.250" C.O.L.

Wrong caliber for this subject... but the mention of HXP surplus brass led me to shed a tear for the now-gone days when HXP surplus .303 British ammunition was cheap like borscht, as tight grouping as any military ball ammunition I ever sent down the barrel of my 1950 Long Branch No.4 Mk1... so much so that many using it didn't bother to pick up the brass. And I'm not talking about the 1980's or 90's.

One of my past projects was deciding to try and find what existing brass came closest in dimensions to duplicating .303 British military ball from the war years of WWII and Korea. After pulling a selection of military ball from participating countries and then getting the measuring tools of destruction out, the results said that HXP ball ammunition from current day replicated the military ball ammo almost exactly when it came to dimensions and case capacity. It provides case life as good as any manufacturer's brass that I have tried.

When HXP .303 British military surplus became so scarce the prices became similar to what people are now asking for a brick of primers, reloading became my only chosen option for my Lee Enfield. That is what also, at the same time, led me to get a lot more serious about bullet casting for more than just generating bullets good enough for plinking at the range.

Initially, the empty HXP brass became my go-to for reloading .303 British for both fun and competition, regardless of what domestic manufacturers were offering. And then somebody brought Privi Partisan brass for the .303 to my attention, I bought a bag, measured it up, and found that it was like HXP in that it very closely matched war years military ball ammunition from the arsenals of the free world.

Potential crisis averted. PP brass offers owners of Lee Enfields one advantage over the fine HXP ball: you can prep the brass for its first firing by creating a false shoulder on the brass for a crush fit in the chamber before firing - eliminating the stretch of the first firing in those Lee Enfield military chambers that happens with HXP military ball.

I only have about ten boxes of HXP ball remaining, labelled from about 1985. I have developed reloads for my .303 British that in my rifle do just as well as the HXP. I have thought a few times about offering it in ten round lots for sale to Lee Enfield owners who want to find out how well their rifles will group using quality .303 Mark VII military ball. It would be easier to just plunk it on a friend's table at the next gun show, but either way, for the .303 British in Lee Enfield military rifles HXP military ball is more valuable to sell to fund more shooting than to send down the barrel at the range.

As far as primers go, I wandered into the Cabela's Outpost in Kalispell a few miles down the road from our house after Christmas. Rifle/handgun primer availability is up, while the prices are going down. Shotgun primers are still non-existent.

Apparently a large manufacturing facility is about to be built near Glendive here in Montana. While the CEO claimed in an interview they hoped one of the results would be to make ammunition more available to citizen shooters, it looks like their primary bread and butter is fulfilling military contracts. I would guess they don't manufacture their own primers, and source them from one of the bigger companies... meaning another business buying primers ahead of reloaders looking for primers.

https://montanatalks.com/125-million...cturer-coming/

I just don't see concern for supplying citizen shooters and reloaders (or any group of citizens) being more than part of the marketing strategy of the company when you look at their history. Probably don't hate us, but given their history and base, I don't think citizens are on their radar other than where their virtual social licensing is concerned.

Brixtel started out as a Washington, D.C.-based technology services start-up.

Today, the company's core business areas—Data Center Consolidation, Mission Support Services, Defense Applications, and Transportation Systems—have flourished into leading industry technologies and management systems.

In other areas, including cyber security and RFID, Brixtel is committed to expanding and improving upon its products and systems to meet the diverse needs of national defense and intelligence communities.