Hi Neil, a pleasure mate. When I started loading for the 06 a couple of years ago nobody seemed to have much data for it in the UK, I have noticed that more and more people seem to be shooting it recently.
On your choice of powder I use exactly the same the bullet and powder as you and 51.3 is in all fairness too hot for my particular rifle. I use norma cases which have slightly more capacity, in theory providing for slightly less pressure for a given charge, than some Remington ones I have tried. If you are still getting soot on the shoulder at what is the book maximum load perhaps your rifle just has a wide neck, keep an eye out for pressure signs.
Often when I think I have found a load I will shoot the same case again and again until the primer pocket gets too loose for comfort. You can do this at the range with a hand press, neck dies and pre-weighed charges. A load that shoots the pockets loose after only 5-10 loads is too hot in my book.
The Speers can be a little soft, on the manufacturers website they note that the boat-tailed bullets are a little softer than the flat-based hot-cor design. This last is very similar in performance to the sierra gameking which is pretty much the benchmark for reasonably priced 150 gr softs.
My max load for deer with them is pushing them at 2850 fps (the 51.3 gr load ), this is as fast as I would want to go with this bullet on big game as the 3000 fps load is almost reliably explosive...
I am beginning to think that shooting the lighter bullets fast in the 06 demands premium bullets.
Shoot a few deer with it and see how you get on but but remember that my loads may not be safe for your rifle and work your way up. If you are not getting the results you need with one powder then try another. H4350 is the most versatile powder for the 06 and usually shows the best speed together with decent case fill.
Many eventually settle on a 165 grain bullet of description for the 06 and declare load development at end.
Regards,
Amir
