powders for the 06 bolt rifle

[randyrat]

I see there are many choices for the 30-06. Where is a good place to start. IMR 4895,H4895,3031,2400,#7,#15,H380,A2230,A2460,748,7 60. Where should i start for some good longer range(200 yds or so) hard hitting loads with cast. I'm using a 03A3 and 180 gr gc (whatever alloy i need)......I really like versitlity of #15 with other rifle calibers and J bullets , but is is good with cast. Is there other better choices.

[MT Gianni]

Of the powders listed I have only used 2400 and it is goood to 200 yds though I would not call my loads "hard hitting" as they started out near 30-30 ballistics. i have also used WC860, WC872, both surplus powders, and Red Dot. Gianni

[Ben]

randyrat:

It is fairly easy to obtain great accuracy with several of the different .30 cal. g/c bullets in the 06'.

Catch is, - - - " the fairly easy part " is in the 1400 - 1750 fps. zone.

Loads in excess of 2,200 fps is another completely different ball of wax.

Those speeds place a lot of stress on a cast bullet.

Thanks,

Ben

[docone31]

I like 4895. Primer looks like low pressure, easy to measure, a little more like 4064 according to specs.
My 03 shoots better than I can see, so I am very happy to just print small patterns. From what I read about 4895, it is the one size fits all powder. I use it in my .308, 7.62, .303, 25-06. It works for me.

[runfiverun]

try about 25 gr with a bit of dacron of rl-15 or 4895 you can work up from there easily enough.
28 gr with filler works in my 308. 23 gr h-322 with filler is pretty quick also. use in 7.5x55
it will knock 200 yd rams down, and metal bowling pins at 300
jst gotta keep raising the sights

[AZ-Stew]

In the early 80s I bought a DCM Garand for $118 +$8 USPS shipping. I spent MONTHS while I was waiting for it (used to take 1.5 - 2 years to get one after completing the shooting and paperwork requirements) looking for "THE Match Load" that used 4895 powder and the Sierra 168 hpbt Match bullet. I finally found it in some NRA publication. I had 40 rounds loaded up when the rifle finally arrived. These "match" loads were supposed to be the "be-all, end-all" loads for HighPower shooting. EVERYONE shot these to be competitive in High Power. They, like 150gr common military surplus ball ammo shot 3-4" patterns out of my NEW (never fired outside proofing, as far as I could tell) Garand. In my book, this hardly qualified as "match accuracy".

After sitting back scratching my head for a while, I decided to do some experimentation. I wanted a ball powder for easy, consistent measuring from my Lyman #55 measure, with the ball powder burning fast enough that the gas port pressure would be low so as not to bend the operating rod. That left out H-414 (about the speed of 4350) and I had reservations about BL-C2 and H-380 (about like 4320). After searching around a bit, I found some data for loads using H-335 with 150gr bullets. I spent a bit of time doing load development and settled on 50.0 gr of H-335 (BEWARE! Near Max Load! Check against published data before loading!), CCI-BR2 primer and the Sierra 150 SP SPBT hunting bullet (I think they call it the Pro Hunter). It shoots 1" for 5 rounds from the Garand with the battle sights and shoots sub MOA for 5 rounds from my Rem. 700 BDL Stainless Synthetic's 24 inch barrel, at over 2900 fps. The Garand action operates reliably, but doesn't slam.

I haven't used cast boolits in either rifle yet, but the above load works well with jacketed boat tails in both of them.

Regards,

Stew

[Bass Ackward]

It's not just the caliber and it's not just the bullet weight.

If you want to shoot softer, you are going to need slower powders than those that are on the list. If you don't need to fuss with soft, then I like #15.

The way the game is won is slowing the rate of pressure increase if you want to go faster. If you have a 2 groove, then you will need to be slower still as it takes more time for that bullet to reshape itself. Think #19 / 4831 and s l o w e r.