30-06 165grain gameking loads
- Thread starter jimsim
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243varmint
Well-Known Member
At the moment I’m using 54gr of Ramshot Big game under a 165 gr Hornady btsp.
Good bullet choice!
IMR4350 as been my long time fave in 30-06 (and with this bullet), however now we can't get it reliably here in the UK (REACH compliance) Im going down the same route as you with RS60 and possibly VihtN160. Ive got a few tubs of 4350 left but at present working up a load with RS60.
Load data for RS powders is not as comprehensive as Hogdon, but if you email them directly with rifle/bullet they will send you a quick load output, great service just hope the powder performs!
From what I understand RS60 is the same powder as Reloder17, so its worth bearing that in mind when doing the load research, and by all accounts burns hot so barrel life may be an issue depending on what you're doing. RS62 is a possible cooler alternative?
IMR4350 as been my long time fave in 30-06 (and with this bullet), however now we can't get it reliably here in the UK (REACH compliance) Im going down the same route as you with RS60 and possibly VihtN160. Ive got a few tubs of 4350 left but at present working up a load with RS60.
Load data for RS powders is not as comprehensive as Hogdon, but if you email them directly with rifle/bullet they will send you a quick load output, great service just hope the powder performs!
From what I understand RS60 is the same powder as Reloder17, so its worth bearing that in mind when doing the load research, and by all accounts burns hot so barrel life may be an issue depending on what you're doing. RS62 is a possible cooler alternative?
I really like it, clearly the bullet needs to hit the right spot but its extremely accurate in my Schultz & Larsen. I dont drive it fast (2620fps over 56gns of IMR4350), On Roe theres been no excessive damage or bruising, good exit hole so bullet recovery hasn't happened but internal organs (or spine with a neck shot) demolished so its done its job inside the deer, and they've dropped without running, though I try to shoot deer that are completely unaware of my presence so their adrenaline dump hasn't happened. Critical point for me is its accuracy, most bullets will drop deer effectively if they're put in the right place!
This is almost the exact same load I use. I have found it universally accurate (MOA or less) in at least five 30-06 rifles. My usual procedure: FL resize in small base dies, trim/prep, charge, load to specified OAL, crimp. Fits and shoots well in every 30-06 it's been tried in from bargain Savage bolt guns to Belgian Browning BAR.~Muir
seems to be a universally solid and accurate load I must admit, worked just as well in my old Tikka, and I do like crimping (thanks to solid advice from your good self) If I can get the RS60 to match it I'll be a very happy man!
Among the groups of guys I hunt with, this is known as the "North Valley Universal" 30-06 load. There are three guys shooting the same load from four different 30-06 rifles. All claim better than factory performance and 100% interchangeability of ammo between rifles.
RS60 isn't readily available here. We are just now starting to get Vit powders in any kind of quantity. Unfortunately, they are still prohibitively expensive. (60% more than domestics)~Muir
you can add "North Somerset Universal" to that too then! wonder how many people around the globe are using the same load? real shame that 4350 is getting impossible to source with this REACH compliance here in Europe, Ive got 3.5 tubs left which will see me good for a while, but may as well use the time to work up a viable alternative load.
enfieldspares
Well-Known Member
Thanks for that Muir. I'd always heard that in parts of the US Sierra bullets were condemned as "target bullets pretending to be hunting bullets" in that they were accurate but performed poorly on actual game. I have always believed that 2,600 fps is a almost a magic velocity as it kills but without the unpleasant recoil or worse muzzle blast associated with loadings over 2,900 fps. Like the poster above I'v stocked up and I've five, maybe six, seven, canisters of H414 so given that it supposed to be the ball powder sibling of H4350 what load might work?
A Guy Out West
Well-Known Member
Winchester 760 has proven to very accurate with this bullet weight for me.
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I'll add that name to the loading data sheet. There are some loads that just work and work well. This is one of them.~Muir
I don't know where people get that notion. It's probably a rumor started by people at Nosler! Sierra Game King and Pro Hunter have been a staple for hunters for years. I have used them in 25, 6.5, 7mm and 30 calibers and never put a second round into my target. The most impressive kills I have recorded have been with Sierra bullets. (Conversely, the worst I've witnessed have been with Hornady SST) In one instance, I shot a very large mule deer doe at about 80 yards with my 6.5x55. I planted a round behind her left foreleg through the lungs. She buckled, turned 180 degrees and started to run. On the first lunge I saw a fountain of blood erupt from her side (the off side to the shot) illuminated by he rising sun. I didn't even chamber another round. I announced to my hunting partner that "she is dead" and began walking towards where she had been standing. There was blood everywhere. The brush was painted with blood. I found her 15 yards past the rise she was on when I shot her. Very dead. That was a 140 grain GK. I shot a mule deer buck last fall at 230 yards uphill as it laid on a hill facing, away from me, using a 120 Pro Hunter from my 7-08. I threaded the bullet in behind the left shoulder (rib cage) and it exited the front chest just inside the right shoulder. The deer never moved. It just went limp. Bullet performance was superb.
These are a couple of examples. Needless to say, I cn't find fault in Sierra bullets.~Muir
(H414: Good powder)
H-414 and W760 are the same powder. Because of the variation in lengths of bullets in the 165 to 208 grain range, the best load may vary, even for the same weight of bullet. It burns a bit on the dirty side until you get close to 100% fill for THAT BULLET. For the 165 / 168 gr bullets, somewhere around 54.0 grains should be very accurate at about 2,750 fps. Some bullets can be loaded as high at 59.0 grains in the right rifle, for over 2,900 FPS, without excessive pressure. But 56.0 to 57.0 grains, just like the 4350 powders, is going to work best in the most rifles. It is a fine ball powder which meters very well, but you should try magnum primers along with your standard primers, as you start out, to compare velocity and groups at 54.0 grains: Federal 215 Match or CCI 250 primers should be tried alongside their the Federal 210M and CCI 200 or BR-2 - try to compare apples to apples. If the magnum primers are working well at 54.0, increase your powder charges from there.
PS: The Sierra bullets are very good, very consistent accuracy. And some of the Sierra GK bullets are more solidly constructed than the soft points. For example, the 7mm 160-gr HPBT is a bit slower to expand than the SPBT. For most hunting, inside 250 yards, the flat base Pro Hunter is all you need, and half the price of the Wonder Bullets - just like the Hornady Interlock, Speer HotCor, and Remington Core Lokt.
While I am editing, I should add that H414 / W760 is excellent in the 7x57mm Mauser and the 7mm-08. There are so many good powders for the lighter bullets in the 7mm-08, and H414 was so impossible to obtain for several years, that I allocated the first I found to my 7x57R and later, my 7x57 Mauser. If you have a 7x57 Mauser or 7x57R combination gun or drilling, try H414 in it: 42.0 to 44.0 gr in the 7x57R, and 44.0 to 48.0 gr in the 7x57 modern bolt action rifles, with 140-gr bullets ( or 120 or 130).
PS: The Sierra bullets are very good, very consistent accuracy. And some of the Sierra GK bullets are more solidly constructed than the soft points. For example, the 7mm 160-gr HPBT is a bit slower to expand than the SPBT. For most hunting, inside 250 yards, the flat base Pro Hunter is all you need, and half the price of the Wonder Bullets - just like the Hornady Interlock, Speer HotCor, and Remington Core Lokt.
While I am editing, I should add that H414 / W760 is excellent in the 7x57mm Mauser and the 7mm-08. There are so many good powders for the lighter bullets in the 7mm-08, and H414 was so impossible to obtain for several years, that I allocated the first I found to my 7x57R and later, my 7x57 Mauser. If you have a 7x57 Mauser or 7x57R combination gun or drilling, try H414 in it: 42.0 to 44.0 gr in the 7x57R, and 44.0 to 48.0 gr in the 7x57 modern bolt action rifles, with 140-gr bullets ( or 120 or 130).
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Grandhubert
Well-Known Member
The 165 grain Sierra Gameking soft point boat tail is a good bullet for the UK, a tiny bit softer than their Prohunter flat base of the same weight which is in turn a little bit softer than their 165 hollowpoint Gameking, which despite being a hollowpoint is not a varmint bullet at all.
I use RL17 in by 3006 and RL15 in my 308.
I do push them fast in the 3006 (I've worked up to a stable load of 2800fps) but at around 2750 in the 308 and they work very well.
I prefer slightly softer bullets in the 308, the ordinary soft point gameking working very well.
Edit RL17 and RS60 are the same powder I believe.
I use RL17 in by 3006 and RL15 in my 308.
I do push them fast in the 3006 (I've worked up to a stable load of 2800fps) but at around 2750 in the 308 and they work very well.
I prefer slightly softer bullets in the 308, the ordinary soft point gameking working very well.
Edit RL17 and RS60 are the same powder I believe.
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