30-06 handloads went to the range today!

[Picknlittle]

Well I made it to the range today with the Sierra 165 spbt gamekings backed by 57 gr IMR 4350. Sweet!

Thanks to all who guided me toward IMR 4350 for this rifle. All five shot groups were under 1.5 inch, and most of the slop was me, bad eyes, lack of muscle control, poor shooting form, and my rem 700 has a pretty heavy trigger. I really need to get that looked at!

I wish my day with the CVA 50 cal had been so good!:banghead: Oh well! The whelen has it's 200 gr load, the 06 has a good 125 gr load and a sweet 165 gr load, and now I await the arrival of one dirty, nasty, ugly Chinese Mosin Nagant. Life is good!

 

[Lennyjoe]

Now that you have a decent load, start tweaking it to bring it under 1". Try adjusting the C.O.L. and powder charge at .2gr to see how it reacts. I use 59.0gr of IMR 4350, Winchester primers and fireformed brass (Neck sized only) to achieve .75" hunting loads.

The Sierra Gameking is brutal on deer. I've shot 3 with the load so far and all have hit the ground where they stood. Longest shot was 100yds.

 

[Smokey Joe]

The hunt has but begun...

Picknlittle--+1 on Lennyjoe's comments. Nice that you got a combination with promise. You'll get better yourself the more you shoot. I too would have that 700's trigger looked at.

One little piece of advice I would add, if I may: When adjusting your loading, only change ONE THING AT A TIME in your trials. You mentioned changing charge size and also COAL--Suggest that you work on the charge size first; when you find what is optimum for your bullet/case/rifle combination, then start fiddling with how far off the lands to seat the bullet.

I used to use Sierra Gamekings but was frustrated with how easily the lead tips deformed with handling. And the SGK's poleaxed my deer, too. Switched to Nosler Ballistic Tips, which are if anything even more accurate, and have the plastic tips that do not deform. Haven't managed to shoot a deer with a NBT, but they're supposed to work just fine on deer-sized critters.

Anyhow, now that you've found a "good" load, you are sentenced to spend the next 3 years trying to make it a "great" load. Enjoy.