Any 30-06 shooters present?

i have one

Muir,
I have a Parker hale .30-06 which i love. I have been using 150 gr speer spitzers in it but i am just in the process of working up a 165 gr spbt load in it. It is a superb cartridge, i am a fan

i am using imr 4350. i think 58- 59 gr will give me slightly under 3000 fps. with the high bc of the bullets i think it will be fantastically flat shooting and hard hitting

swampy
 
Swampy: It will be all of that! I too am a 30-06 fan. I have several including an "Improved" chambering that actually, never gave velocities as high as the standard chamber.

I too like 4350 for just about all bullet weights up to 200 grains. I think that 58 grain load is maximum for the 150 grain. I ran into a kid shooting a Savage 30-06 last Spring and he was experimenting with seating depths. He started at the lands and worked his way back until his accuracy peaked. It was right at SAAMI length! He was also using 4350 and tagging some very nice sub-MOA clusters.

I recently bought an FN Model 1950 in 30-06 that I shortened to 19.5" due to a bulge in the barrel. I have some 220 grain Hornady bullets I'd like to try in that gun just for fun!

I have a PH as well but in 308 Norma Magnum. I haven't fired it yet. The previous owner put a Boss Muzzle Brake system on it and I'm sure it kicks like the devil as it only weighs about 7 pounds with no glass on board! I'm going to replace the recoil pad before I try that one out!

But I digress... Have you ever tried heavier or lighter bullets? Ever consider cast bullets? ~Muir
 
06, the king of the deer cartridges

When i was going to take up deer stalking i spoke to an expierienced stalker friend of the family. I told him i wanted one rifle to do it all. He said go for the .30-06. I took his advice and found the rifle for £200. (thats cheap over here) i bought some federal 150gr soft point and a lee loader. i found that the rifle was more accurate with the handloaded speer rounds. I have used it on muntjac, roe, fallow and red. it is really accurate. It kills stuff on the spot and doesn't do much damage with a soft point bullet.

The local "chairborne" rangers told me it was too much rifle and i should geta 243 instead. i bought one aswell and it was not a patch on the 30-06 comparing the knockdown power. The 6mm was more damaging to the carcasses aswell.

I now use a 7mm08 i currently load 145gr spitzers but i will change to 139gr btsp with Blc2. the 7mm is a model 7 with an 18.5 inch barrel, i want to use faster powder in the very short barrel. so i will step up in wieght to the 165's in the 06. there is no point using two rifles so closely matched in energy (in my view)

I haven't tried any cast or anyother wieghts. i reckon that the 180 gr partitions would be mustard on boar! But reloading componants and powder are really expensive so it limits the experimentation a bit.


all the best
steve

30-06.jpg
 
Swampy: Our PH's could be twins but for the chambering and the compensator on mine.

I wouldn't trade an '06 for a .243. With proper bullet selection the 30-06 can be made to perform like an number of other cartridges. Did you get the Lee Reloading Kit, or the basic ("Classic") Lee loader? I use a lot of Lee equipment, myself. It seems that you have found the sweet load for your game and there can be little sense in playing around unless, perhaps, it may be the realm of cast bullets.

I shoot a lot of cast lead in my rifles. If I only used them for target shooting they would already save me a bundle, but I also use them for hunting so I get double duty. I have killed everything from prairiedogs to bison with them. They work well. I especially like them in the 30-06. I shoot a 220 grain round nose bullet sized to .311" over 16 grains of Alliant Unique powder. This load is powerful enough to kill deer at close range, superbly accurate on paper, and makes my off hand practice very affordable. I killed a nice mule deer at 100 yards with a 30 caliber, 188 grain cast bullet at 2400 fps. The poor beast didn't know it hadn't been shot with a jacketed round and fell over dead! ~Muir
 
I originally bought a lee hand loader, what a great piece of simple heath robinson engineering it is!
I now have a lee challenger press but supplimented with dies from rcbs, lee and redding. I bought an anniversary kit but i have added bits to it as i have gone on. I have an rcbs chamfer tool which i like a lot.

I would like to have a look at cast bullets, but i don't get many shots a year and i think i need to be using the best stuff i can when i get the the chance. Quite a lot of my shooting is over big open fields with longer ranges than i would like. Thats the idea with the 165's. with the top accuracy i get from the rifle, good velocities and high BC from the bullet it will be better for reaching out than the stubby little 7mm08.

I have spoken to other remmy model 7 users on some american forums and they suggested the BLC2 and hornady 139grbtsp as the most accurate in thier rifles whilst still producing 2900 fps from a 18.5 inch barrel. I am not hugely impressed with the accuracy i am getting from the 145 speers over re19.-- but it is reloaders curse. searching for the holy grail.

steve
 
Indeed! Sometimes though, the search for the Grail is the fun part. I am a peculiar lot:Once I find a good MOA or less load that gives me the trajectory/knockdown power/accuracy I want, I stick with it until I find a reason not too. One of the worst things that can happen to me is to buy a new rifle and have the first load I try shoot bug-holes. It just takes away all the fun! ~Muir

PS: Ever try IMR 3031 in your 7-08? I have a friend that likes it....
 
favourite loads

yes i agree with you. when i can get the 7mm shooting the groups i want then i will leave it alone and stay with that load. It has to ne a load that is always available and componants can be sourced all over. so really hodgdon or viht powders and main stream american bullets. I tend to get the bullets from a store in america and have them mailed over. or rely on american contacts from THR to buy them on midway then send them over.

I am hoping to find the load to stick with with the hornady bullet. a pack of 100 bullets here is about $40usd i can buy 2 packs in america and have them sent here for that!

it's good to talk

swampy steve
 
That's interesting. I have a Cuz in the Highlands that I'd like to send bullets to but we are vague on the legalities involved. Any problems getting supplies from the US?

I agree that the prices you folks pay are out of site compared to the same product in the States. It's a shame. It would push me into buying a set of 4-D Bullet Swaging Dies in a heart beat! If there is anything your contacts can't locate here give me a shout. ~Muir

PS: Just had a thought: How about H-4895? Very versatile powder and one that has been reported to give good accuracy in the smaller 7mm cases. I have used it in 7x57 and 7mmBR. (and .222, 30-30, 308. 30-06... the list goes on!)
 
Thanks. I don't know exactly where these bullets would fall as they are hollow point bullets. I'll let him study it and see where the facts lie.

Yes. The USPS has a single, flat box rate of $18 for up to 20 pounds weight now. It's not as bad as it used to be. ~Muir
 
okay i hold my hands up
i also use a 30-06
fantastic piece of kit
running it on 180 nosler solid base ,does everthing it say's on the box and more
 
£18 usd for 20lb

That $18usd for 20LB is an excellant deal! 20 lb is 10 boxes of bullets. for £10 postage. so you can get the bullets at us prices plus just £1 per box.

anyone up for a group buy?


swampy
 
Muir said:
How does this cartridge fare on that side of the Pond?? ~Muir
Muir,
getting fairly popular in Ireland since we are now allowed 30 cal. Some think it is too much gun. I think it is nicely balanced. After a couple of years with the 308 I've collected quite a few bullets out of deer that didn't come out the other side. Maybe the tiny bit extra of the 06 could have made an exit wound..? i don't know, wouldn't have made a difference because they all dropped on the spot anyway. I wouldn't mind trying one, even though I'm a fan of the short action.
edi
 
swaging

Hi Muir,
I like the look of swaging but the costs involved seem huge, i have looked at corbins site and i would need to win the lottery!

swampy
 
4d

I also did a search on the 4d swaging dies that you mentioned. I might be reading thier site wrong but i think that it says you get 2 dies to swage your bullet giving a pointed soft point profile $129usd. these can be used in your normal reloading press. That seems really good value. i think if i got a load of jackets from and moulded some cores ( i could make a mold) got some of that core bonding chemical i could make a load of bullets which would pay for themselves after about 1000. Then i would need a new rifle!

but i like the look of them. i might have to go down that line at some point. I don't think you can swage powder though!
 
You read it right. Of course, it's a one caliber operation but then if you are set on one caliber, then it's no problem. I was looking to make 9.3 bullets and mentioned the lack of .366" jackets and the fellow at 4D said he used fired .223 shells swaged into 9.3 bullets. I asked them how they worked and he sent me a picture of him sitting on a large African antelope with his 9.3 across his knees, followed with the words "...just fine!" The guy practices what he preaches! ~Muir

PS: I have a buddy who makes bullets for his .222 using spent 22LR casings. Been doing it for years!
 
any one got a 30-06

Hi muir in the summer i took delivery of my custom border barrels 30-06 it has the remmy action in lh with 27"rifle cut varmint contour barrel and a piller bedded mcmillian thumbhole stock and jewel trigger the scope is a leupold mk4 lrt 6.5x20x50 with a holland custom reticle in it using home loads it will one hole group at 100m.Muir if your ever thinking of any custom gun stuff check out www.hollandguns.com the prices are half they are here.shoot safe shoot streight and good luck.
 
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