Ive been looking through an 11th edition Speer manual and noticed a few reduced .30-06 loads. I have IMR 4198 and an assortment of 180 gr bullets. The load listed started at 26.0 gr and worked to 30.0 gr(180 grain bullets). Anyone tried any of these? I'm not a cast bullets guy and don't load pure lead projectile though.
Reduced .30-06 loads
- Thread starter Visionz45
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NuJudge
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I've shot lots of IMR4198 in the .30-'06 with cast Lead bullets. So long as the Lead bullet fits the groove diameter and the Lead bullet design is compatible with the rifling design, they shoot really well together.
Before you do anything, decide what you are trying to do by trying reduced loads: cut recoil, cut costs, cut noise, or something else? You'll cut recoil a lot more by going to a lighter bullet. Faster powders will cut noise. Sticking with Jacketed bullets will not cut costs much.
I've never tried 4198 with Jacketed bullets in the '06. If I was going to load a Jacketed bullet down, I'd probably use something like 4895 (it is forgiving), or SR4759 with 125gr bullets. There's a very famous article from years ago that talks about "the load", featuring either a Cast or Jacketed bullet in .30-'06 class cartridges, powered by Red Dot.
Cast bullets are not difficult, within limits. If you're going to go over about 1300 fps, use a gas checked design. Bell your case mouths slightly so you can insert bullets without damage. Be really careful not to double charge with powder or your rifle will spontaneously disassemble itself.
Cast bullets are cheaper than Jacketed, especially if you cast them yourself or bum them from somebody who does. They can be bought:
http://www.westernbullet.com/30caliber.html
https://secure25.securewebsession.com/proshootpro.com/order.htm
http://www.montanabulletworks.com/page5.html
Before you do anything, decide what you are trying to do by trying reduced loads: cut recoil, cut costs, cut noise, or something else? You'll cut recoil a lot more by going to a lighter bullet. Faster powders will cut noise. Sticking with Jacketed bullets will not cut costs much.
I've never tried 4198 with Jacketed bullets in the '06. If I was going to load a Jacketed bullet down, I'd probably use something like 4895 (it is forgiving), or SR4759 with 125gr bullets. There's a very famous article from years ago that talks about "the load", featuring either a Cast or Jacketed bullet in .30-'06 class cartridges, powered by Red Dot.
Cast bullets are not difficult, within limits. If you're going to go over about 1300 fps, use a gas checked design. Bell your case mouths slightly so you can insert bullets without damage. Be really careful not to double charge with powder or your rifle will spontaneously disassemble itself.
Cast bullets are cheaper than Jacketed, especially if you cast them yourself or bum them from somebody who does. They can be bought:
http://www.westernbullet.com/30caliber.html
https://secure25.securewebsession.com/proshootpro.com/order.htm
http://www.montanabulletworks.com/page5.html
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What I would like to get out of a reduced load would be less noise. Recoil isn't an issue, Ive always worked with powders like RL-22, H4831sc, IMR 4831, IMR 4895, and IMR 4064 and these faster powders seem like quite the change.
robctwo
Member
I've shot a bunch of "the load, 13 grs Red Dot, in my .308 with 150 gr down to 110 gr bullets. Very nice. The article says 30-06 works great.
GP100man
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9.5grs. of 700x is my start with these , I cast these from 10.5 bhn alloy & GC the ones in the `06 cases , got a good lube & should truck along at 1500 or so , we`ll see , the bare ones give up in the 30-30 around 1250-1300fps
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