New load for the 03A3

[West Creek]

I have a freind who is wanting to get started loading for his the 03A3 - he has one with a new two groove barrel and is tired of spending a buck a round on it. SOOO I told him to come on over and we'll get him started.

That leads me to my question. Where do I start?? I recommended to him to use cast bullets. He doesnt do any formal shooting or hunting mostly just informal target shooting so I figured a nice midrange lead load would make him REAL happy.

Can anyone suggest a mold and load or powder that would work good in the 30-06 two groove barrel?

Thanks
West Creek

[NVcurmudgeon]

Two groove barrels give good support to bore-riding boolits. Check fit of boolit in muzzle. A friend has had good results in his 03A3 using my 314299 Lyman (Lyman 311299 is the same boolit) and his RCBS 30-180. OTOH, both boolits also give good accuracy in my four-groove Springfield. With a bow to C.E. Harris, it's hard to beat a starting load of 16.0 gr. Alliant 2400.

[West Creek]

Thanks curmudgeon

I figured the 16-2400 load would come up - was exactly what popped into my head. Would a dacron puff over the powder be a good idea, not necessary??? I'm thinking that the 2400 load would be well within pressure limits for the 06.

I'll start looking for one of those molds.

[David R]

Lyman suggests 20 grains as a starting load. I tried 16 and it worked great. My Enfield has 2 grooves and won't shoot a bore rider but I think its because it has a looong throat. 311466, lovern style 150 grain shoots well. That is ONLY my gun. It also shot well with 12.5 unique or 13.5 Herco.

[NVcurmudgeon]

West Creek, now you've done it, brought up the controversial filler question! There are about equal numbers of people whom I respect, nay esteem, on both sides of this one. I never found fillers to be necessary FOR MY USES AND FOR MY LOADS, but there are many who have conducted careful tests and can document great improvement. Like many things in this more art than science hobby, what works for you, in your rifle, is good.

[Char-Gar]

West Creek..You asked the question.."Where do I start?". At the risk of being redundant and stating the obvious..start with having your pal clean ALL the metal fouling out of the barrel.

So often, I run into folks who tell me they tried cast in their rifle, but it was not a good experience. Most often I find out they didn't clean the metal fouling of of the barrel before going to cast. This isn't an Ol Wives Tale or a cast bullet myth..this is real.

There are many good bullets for the 30-06, but I have had nothing but good results with Lyman 311291, 311284 and RCBS 165 Sil.

[crazy mark]

I've had good luck using the 311332, 311334 and 311335 in my 2 groove 03. I've used 2400, 748, 4198 and 3031 for powders. Mark

[Buckshot]

............Yup, we're all hitting the same numbers here. Of course you can give him a real powderpuff load with the Lee C303113F and 10grs or Unique :D .

I like the 311291 and 311284 for boolits. My favorite load is 23.0 H4198 + dacron and the 311284 for 1650 fps. However 16/2400, 18 - 20 SR4759 or 4227 work well also.

If the barrel is good, and his boolit fits, chances are it's gonna shoot a whole bunch of stuff well. If you can, a super thing for newer shooters is to go someplace where you can shoot at stuff that clangs, rings, blows up (milk jugs) flies up like cans or falls over. That's ALWAYS fun!

.............Buckshot

[West Creek]

Well guys ya'll went and did it - lookin at all the different molds that popped up it maybe just that all I gotta do is stick a fitten bullet innit and some powder behind it and it oughter shoot well. I've got a good idea the barrel is in pretty good shape. Probably aint fired more than a hunert rounds through it.

I've got 4198, 4227, unique, 2400 on hand so I oughter be able to come up with suptin that works good. I'll do a little shoppin over on Ebay or gunbroker and pick up a mold for him. I do recon a bore rider would take kindly to the two groove barrel and I thinks that may be the way to go.

I have a rifle range set up with siluette targets and a couple bangin targets out at 100 yards - an old feed bin full of milk jugs and such. I think he'll be tickled when we git sumptin dialed in.

West Creek

[sundog]

West Creek, 16.0/2400 soots the case in some 03s, 18.0 might be better. One of my ALL TIME FAVORITES is 21.0/4227 and the Ly 311291 - just a dandy load. My current match load is 23.0/N120 and the RCBS 30-180-SP. No filler required in either. sundog

edit: Ooops. almost forgot to mention it. We have a gut that used to shoot high power (at 200) with us with a tricked out 03. His load was the 311291 and 18.0/AA9. I've tried this load with 820 and 108 and it shoots. Lots of choices.