Subsonic 30.06?

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TX1911fan

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I had a friend ask me if it was possible to load a subsonic 30.06 round. I didn't think so, but I thought I'd ask.
 
It is possible, but with some risk. Using lead projectiles and fast burning bulky pistol powder such as Trail Boss or Red Dot sub-sonic velocities can be achieved, but at some risk. The main concerns are SEE (secondary explosive effect) and sticking a bullet in the barrel.
And the possibility of double or worse charges of powder :eek:
 
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Secondary explosive effect with light loads of pistol powder is a Myth.

People who blow up guns with light loads of pistol powder double charge them, or worse.

rc
 
There are lots of light lead bullet loads to choose from in the cast bullet manuals.
 
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I had a friend ask me if it was possible to load a subsonic 30.06 round. I didn't think so, but I thought I'd ask.

Your neighbor is still going to hear when you shoot their cat; I would invest in a Gamo Whisper & go for a behind the ear shot.
 
One of our semi-regular match shooters shot one of our rifle side matches last year with a suppressed Rem 700 in .30-'06, loaded subsonic.

It was more than a little surreal, watching him chamber those big cartridges and then hearing "whack," instead of "BOOOOM."

Yeah, it's possible, if you're careful to follow an established load.

-Sam
 
SEE is only a problem with reduced charges of slow powders in LARGE cases (think belted magnum/.50 cal). Subsonic loads with pistol powders? Heck no. You DO, however, need to make sure you don't stick bullets in the bore, then follow it up with another shot (especially with jacketed bullets), and you damn sure need to make sure you don't double charge. If you have ironclad safety procedures while reloading, and you have some basic knowledge, it's not dangerous.......kind of like reloading in general. There are just some new rules to follow, since you are trying to achieve a different effect.

Bottom line: Cast bullets of a soft(ish) alloy, like air-cooled pure clip-on wheelweight alloy, over a small charge of fast-burning pistol/shotgun powder are safe provided your barrel isn't five feet long. In a similar cartridge I load about 7 grains of red dot under a 160gr cast bullet. I haven't chronographed it, but I'm sure it's subsonic, and I've fired a couple hundred of these without incident from a mosin 91/30. Possible? Yes. Safe? Provided you know what you're doing. For the new reloader? Probably not, but I was doing it within 6 months of making my first reloads.
 
This is a great thread, a subsonic .30-06 sounds like loads of fun :)

Now I just need to find some cast lead .308 size bullets and load up a couple test rounds with Win231 (recipe in one of the links)
 
The Lee Manual has a whole section on light '06 loads using IMR4895. IIRC, I've loaded as light as 38 grains of 4895 and a 150 gr FMJ.
 
Good info guys. Looks like Hogdon even has a subsonic for my 308. I'll have to give it a try.
 
The Lee Manual has a whole section on light '06 loads using IMR4895. IIRC, I've loaded as light as 38 grains of 4895 and a 150 gr FMJ

I'd be REAL careful loading FMJ for any *subsonic* load. In fact, I wouldn't do it at all. It's just too damn easy to stick one in the barrel and not notice it. The follow up shot will ruin your day, your gun, and maybe your life. Not worth it.
 
The 38 grain load with H4895 and a 150gr bullet is rated at 2550 fps in the book.
 
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The 38 grain load with H4895 and a 150gr bullet is rated at 2550 fps in the book.

Yeah, I know. But with a thread title referencing subsonic loads, I didn't want anyone to get confused about loading jacketed in those kinds of rounds.
 
Hodgdons has subsonic loads using the Nosler Ballistic Tip, which is, I believe, a jacketed round.
 
I don't believe so.
If they do, I'm sure not seeing any in my 2009 Hodgdon manual anyway.

The Hodgdon Youth & reduced loads using Nosler BT's are light loads all right.
But they are certainly not sub-sonic.

Jacketed bullets are just not suitable for sub-sonic loads due to the very real risk of getting a bullet stuck in the bore at much under 1,100 FPS.

BTW: Just went to the Hodgdon website and I do see the Trailboss load. Very surprising to say the least.

Odd that they deleted it from the new 2009 manual.

rc
 
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I was told by IMR that Trail Boss was for LEAD BULLETS ONLY, has something changed ?
Nosler ballistic tip bullets are jacketed.
 
has anyone tryed one of the .32acp 'adapter' inserts to fire .32acp ammo in their '06?
seems to me that this may be the way to go for quite practice (cheap too) with your bolt '06 useing lead slugs. I suppose a 'suppressor' of sorts could be made from plastic bottles to fit onto muzzle to quite it down even more for cat shooting.:scrutiny:
 
That Trail Boss load using a Nosler 150gr BT bullet I posted above came directly from Hodgdon like I said in my original post. Go to the Hodgdon Site and check for yourself. It's the only Trail Boss load for the 30-06 on their site. (their site is current too)
 
Considering the burn rate/pressure curve of TB, the 13.3 grain charge weight stated, and weight/type of the bullet, I'm really scratching my head how they only got 1061 fps and 14,700 psi with the stated mix? I recently chronographed some 155 grain cast bullets driven by 9.2 grains of INTERNATIONAL, and got:

1330 1329 1324 1317 1333 AVG 1326 ES 16 SD6

I fully understand the dynamics involved between cast and jacket bullets as it relates to velocity delivered, just the same I am surprised (confounded?) at the velocity Hodgdon reports with the data in this thread... Would have thought the velocity and pressure numbers would be much more.
 
Go to the Hodgdon Site and check for yourself.
I even saw a .223 rem load with a 55gr FMJ and 4 gr of TB for 1074 FPS. There must be a dozen rifle cartridges with TB and jacketed bullets. So do you start at the upper end and work down :confused:
Thanks for sharing this ArchAngelCD
 
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