Powder To Base .30-06 Hunting Load On?

[splattergun]

4895, 4350, and 4064 have given me all pretty good results. With 165 gr Speer Hot-core bullets I get my best groups with near-max 4350 and it is devastating out to 500+ yards With 150 gr I get best results with near-max 4895. 4064 works real well with 150s too, but it works best in my .243.
Pick your bullet first, and try any one of these powders. You will easily find a very respectable hunting load. Sub MOA? Maybe, maybe not, but likely better than any standard-grade off the shelf ammo.

And I agree with you. Your friend needs to be hands-on involved with his ammo so that he understand what he's shooting.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

The good thing is, at least in my experience, is that the .30-06 is not picky. I've tried a good variety of loads that were very good.

As far as ball powders go, I love H380. Meters like butter. Set the Uniflow and forget about it.

I was talking to a guy at the range a while back (actually I was drooling over his rifle) and he asked what my load was. I told him a 165 grain SST and H380. He asked, "Isn't that a fast powder for that heavy a bullet?" Then he watched me shoot a 3 shot group well under MOA. (I was set up on a bench with sand bags. I'm not that great of a shot.) He didn't question my powder selection any more.

Now I'm sure there are powders that are more efficient and offer better ballistics. But I've never had a deer shrug one off and walk away.

 

[Bexar]

I like the Sierra Gameking boat-tail hollow point in 165, with Reloader 15 or IMR 4895, in that order.

That's my new favorite with 45.5 gr of IMR 4895 in LC brass with CCI 250 primers. What COAL have you settled with?

To answer the OPs question. IMR 4895 and IMR 4064 for me because I load for my Daughter's Garand. The Garand. because of its gas/op rod design needs approx. that burn rate powder.

I used to have The need for speed kinda of guy; however, when I realized what is needed at practical deer hunting ranges (under 350) and the 165 Gameking in her bolt gun IMR4895/4064 work just fine and certainly accurate enough.

Thanks for the thread.

 

[otisrush]

You all are so awesome. Thanks for the wide variety of perspectives.

I'm meeting with my friend tomorrow night so we can do some planning. Selecting the bullet - and then the powder - is high on the list of what I want to get done. He's eager to see what this reloading thing is all about. So hopefully it becomes a fun project with mutual benefits: I get to help see what this gun can do - and he ends up with a more accurate rifle.

Thanks again!

OR

 

[Ifishsum]

H4350 is my go-to powder for .30-06 bolt-action rifles, and 165+ grain bullets. For 165s I start about 54-55 grains and almost always find the best accuracy around 57gr; often enough that I almost want to just start there but I know better and always work up to it anyway. Still nice to find the best load exactly where I expect to.

 

[25-5]

I've been using Varget for some time with good result for .30-06, .308, and .243.

 

[cosh]

4350 variants for 150 and up on .30-06, but I use 4895 in 150 and lighter or reduced loads. 4350 for hunting loads, 4895 for plinking. +1 for 4064 too though I don't see it for sale too often at the LGS. More 4064 for 243 as already mentioned.

 

[mikebsr]

When I did a lot of 30.06 shooting my go to powder was always 3031, worked great for me

 

[Bart B.]

My comments regarding ball powder and accuracy produced by it are based on what's used to win the matches and set occasional records doing it by the best marksmen on this planet. Many have tried all sorts of loads with ball powders; none have proved all that accurate in the long run.

A top ranked marksman was once asked how many shots of a give load was enough to prove its worth accuracy wise: several hundred was his answer. I think a few dozen's good enough. And using the smallest few-shot group as the best indicator is a bad idea; those only occur when one of two things happen. One's when all the variables are zero. The other's when all the variables cancel each other out. Nobody's yet devised a way to tell the difference.

Ever wonder why the short range benchrest records for aggregates are caused by stuff shooting 5/10ths MOA but that for a single 5-shot group is under 10/1000th MOA?