MtnCreek,
About 10 years ago, myself and another guy (MontanaMarine) on Sniper'sHide.com, both had the same idea at the same time: Make use of the .30-06's generous case capacity, by using large amounts of a slow burning powder with a heavy bullet, to generate velocities approaching factory .300 Win Mag velocities. We were castigated by many members of that site for even attempting this, and simply told it could not be done. The bullet selected for use was the Sierra 190gr MatchKing. The brass used was Lapua, and I selected two powders with a similar burn rate to play with: H4831 and RL22. To make a long story short, H4831 was a complete disappointment, generating velocities about 125fps below that of RL22. RL22, on the other hand, was found to be a perfect match for heavy bullets in the .30-06, generating high velocity without any pressure signs. We ran the numbers through MontanaMarine's QuickLoad software, and for my load of 60.7gr of RL22, it estimates pressure at ~59k psi. The 49th Edition of Lyman's Reloading manual lists a 60.5gr load, so this is certainly not an "over-the-top" load. My barrel is a 26" Krieger, and I have used this load for the past 10 years in both Lapua and LC M72 Match brass (they weigh about the same and have essentially the same case capacity). I have also used Norma brass, which is extremely light and has the highest case capacity of any '06 brass that I have seen, and have used over 61.0 grains of RL22 in this brass to generate the same velocity (2900fps). Since in both cases this is a compressed load, I have come to the conclusion that RL22 is the ideal powder for heavy bullet applications in the .30-06, and that you simply cannot get enough powder in the case to get into trouble with it. Oh, and it is now established as fact on Sniper'sHide, that what was said to be "not possible" is indeed possible and easily doable.
Don
