Shotgun powders in the '06

[Marlin Junky]

I'm looking for reduced velocities (1300 to 1700 fps) from my '06 and was wondering what powders others have found to consistently provide good accuracy with 150 to 180 grain boolits. I can start off with gas checked boolits and work my way to PB's later since the only .30 PB mold I own is 311410 (which I'm not particularly fond of).

I'm almost out of 4759 and not planning to buy anymore just yet because I feel it works better with 175+ grain boolits at around 2000 fps. I have a bunch of WC-820 but that stuff works better with a grain of Dacron and I'd rather find a suitable shotgun propellant for this type of application. Unfortunately, QuickLoad doesn't provide data for the IMR Shotgun powders so I could really use some advice. Are the Alliant powders (Unique, GreenDot, whatever) more suitable? It seems like there's a better selection among the IMR powders; i.e., the SR's and the HI SKOR's.

Thank you,
MJ

[mpmarty]

I have found that seven grains of Red Dot seems to be a very happy solution to this in almost any 06 size 30cal case (7.5X55 Swiss in particular as well as 7.62X51 Nato)

[Von Gruff]

11.5gn Red Dot gets 1500fps in my 7x57. 160gn boolit and good plinking accuracy.

Von Gruff.

[Marlin Junky]

OK, two votes for RedDot. I was thinking RedDot is a little fast burning. Is it possible to stretch things out a bit to small game-like accuracy out to about 150 yards? I guess my stated requirements didn't articulate my intentions, so please allow me to take another whack at it.

Primarily I want to build '06 loads that'll be dependable on a day to day basis, no matter what the weather, that will cleanly take up to coyote sized game out to 150 yards. I was thinking all this could be done with a 40-50% density charge of a shotgun type powder and a water-dropped 50/50 (Pb/WW) gas checked boolit.

MJ

[skeet1]

Marlin Junky,
Ed Harris has written a very good article on using Red Dot. Here is a link http://members.shaw.ca/cronhelm/TheLoad.html hope you find it useful.

Skeet1

[runfiverun]

red dot is okay the pressure is pretty high though for the velocity. 13 grs is 40k.
i like 2400 with the boolits/alloy you describe.
if i were to try for bulk density i'd try 800-x it's fluffy and a bit slower than unique it's also not affected by the cold.
i'd also look at using lp primers for consistency.

[Marlin Junky]

I don't have any RedDot but I think it's too fast. I've got some #2 and 453 which have similar burn rates to RD which I could try even though I've already tried them in the 30-30 with less than stellar results. I was thinking I'd need to go with something like GreenDot 700X or maybe Unique (or a bit slower) in the '06. I may be able to borrow or trade for some Unique. 800X sounds interesting but I wonder how well it will meter. I believe I also have some Alliant 2400 but according to QuickLoad, at 1/3 capacity we're doing over 1800 fps and that sounds like we're going to need a filler in order to perform consistently. How well does 2400 work as a reduced load powder in the '06 with 150-170 grain boolits?

MJ

[beagle]

I started of with the 311291 and Unique. I always have about 10 pounds around as it good for everything. I've always been a bit leary of Red Dot but have shot a bunch of it and have never had any problems./beagle

[MtGun44]

10 Unique or 16 2400.

Bill

[selmerfan]

Red Dot and Unique both work well for those velocity ranges in my .30-06

[RU shooter]

Unique works very well in the application your speaking of. I've found excellent accuracy with several boolits in the 150-185 gr range start at 10 grs and work up to your rifles sweet spot mine has been 11.0 and 14.5 with the lee 155 , 15 gr under that same boolit is exc. in my 7.5 swiss

[Marlin Junky]

10 Unique or 16 2400.

Bill

Tell me more about your 16/2400 load.

I was thinking about trying 22/2400 with my RCBS 30-165-SIL (175.5 grains dressed in my alloy) next Monday. According to QuickLoad, it should produce 25.2K PSI and hopefully good stats over the Chrony. If all else fits, maybe even a nice 10 shot group will result. My boolits are plenty hard enough at 26 BHN.

MJ

[MtGun44]

16 gr of 2400 is a "standard" cast boolit load that has worked well in many of the
large milsurp bottleneck cartridges like .30-06, .303 Brit, 7.7Jap, 7.62x54R, etc.
for many shooters over the years. It is moderate in all the ones that I have tried,
watch out for smaller cases like .30-30 or 6.5 Carcano, may need to reduce and
work up.

16.0 of 2400 has worked very well for me in my Ruger 77 7x57 and in .30-40 Krag.

10 gr of Unique, 16 of 2400 and 13 of Red Dot are pretty widely used as moderate
loads for cast boolits in large milsurp bottleneck cartridges. Ed Harris wrote a ground
breaking series of cast boolit articles for the NRA in the 50s (maybe early 60s) and made the
Red Dot load famous - I have never used it, never kept Red Dot around in the past,
ran into a old can cheap at a gun show last year, will try it one of these days. I have
used the Unique and 2400 loads in multiple calibers with good to excellent results.

These loads are well worth noting as really excellent starting places for moderate
power cast boolit loads in the above class of rifles. Adjust up or down as
Mr. Target recommends. Mr. Target never lies.

Bill

[Eagles6]

I like Unique t 17 grs for a 165 gr boolit w/gc since I'm thrifty...allright cheap. Gives you around 1900 fps with 37,000 c.u.p.<p>
I've used 13 grs of 700x that works fine for around 1600 fps and around 37,000 c.u.p. Works fine 'cause it was free.<p>

[Calamity Jake]

You can't go wrong with 16-20 of 2400 with 150gr to 210gr boolits

[noylj]

See Trail Boss:
http://www.imrpowder.com/PDF/Trail-Boss-data.pdf

I've used unique and Blue Dot.

[runfiverun]

800-x meters pretty well for me [about like unique does] steel powder don't meter well though which is odd as they are quite similar.
2400 don't need a filler and has become my go to powder for general cast fun in everything from 223 up through the 0-6.
if i am looking for super accuracy then i go to the medium [4895 etc] powders with a filler.
remember to try a few different brisance level primers.

[Marlin Junky]

22 grains of Alliant 2400 behind the RCBS 30-165-SIL seems pretty mild according to QuickLoad (25.2K PSI). What am I missing here?

MJ

[Bret4207]

As Bill said 13.0 Red Dot or 16.0 2400 work fine. I'm using both in 308, 35 Whelen, 8x57, 7.65 Argie, 35 Rem too IIRC. Ed Harris found the 13.0 Red Dot load in the early 80's, Col EH Harrison was the guy back in the 50's.

You might "think" the Red Dot is too fast, but I can assure you it works. You can extrapolate with similar and slower powders from there.

[Will]

I've used 20gr 2400 with 150grgc for 30yrs with never a missfire or wild shot. It is my standard cast load for the 06. Good for anything from tin cans up to small whitetail.