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> 30.06 loads
30.06 loads
@ 08:56 am (GMT) |
Sebastian Shandgidday guysI'm just gearing up to do some reloads for my mates tikka t3 in 30.06 and i just wanted to pick some brains on what you all recommend projectile wise. he's been using factory 165grain sst ammo to date under my recommendation and has absolutely loved it after dropping several big reds, pigs and goats. but that ammo is getting harder and harder to find so i said i would start loading for him. i want to use a projectile that is readily available so do i load sst if i can find them and then change to the eld range when they get here or is there another projectile that would be with trying? he is hunting everything from big reds to pigs and a few goats at normal hunting ranges 0 to 300yards and maybe the odd 400 yard shot. cheers |
Replies
@ 11:42 am (GMT) |
Bob MavinRe: 30.06 loadsHi mate.I like 168 A-Max 25th off the lands & 48.5gns of 2209 in my 30-06, 2860fps. You would have to work up the charge for your rifle though. I like the 168 A-Max so much I bought 2000 of them. Cheers Bob |
@ 01:48 pm (GMT) |
Bryan WebsterRe: 30.06 loadsThere is also little to fault the 165 and 180 grain Speer Soft Point Boattail bullets if you plan on awaiting availability of the ELD-X bullets.My .308 Win as well as my son's 300WSM really shoot bughole groups with them, and I have used them for years on animals from mule deer on up to large moose and elk with zero issues in both .308 and 30/06 rifles. |
@ 07:17 pm (GMT) |
Nathan FosterRe: 30.06 loadsHi Sebastian, between what you Bob and Bryan have put forwards, you pretty much have it covered.Try to stick around 165/168gr as an all around weight. Your mate has already had good results with the factory ammo he was using so yes if you can get him straight into a hand load version, he should be quite happy. You could perhaps try the ELD-X later once this in good supply. But for now, stick with the bullet he is already familiar with. |
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@ 11:35 pm (GMT) |
Bryan WebsterRe: 30.06 loadsSo far at least Nathan, I am sure the lightest .30 caliber ELD-X is 178 grain, which was the reason I mentioned the 180 grain Speer btsp.I would hope this might change to add the 165 to 168 grain versions. http://www.hornady.com/new-products |
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@ 10:01 pm (GMT) |
Sebastian ShandRe: 30.06 loadsawesome thanks guys much appreciated.bob do the 30cal amax work well in close if you hit a main shoulder bone? i have purchased 200 sst 165grain so will carry on with these until they are non existent and hopefully by then the eld range is abit better in mid weight 30cal. if i stock pile aheap of sst as to keep my mate going for the next few years will i have problems with age anealing etc?? any advice for good storage technique? |
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@ 10:19 pm (GMT) |
Bryan WebsterRe: 30.06 loadsIn close have him pick his shots with some care, avoiding large bones and he should do fine. When I am out with my .308 with 168 gr a-max and a decent whitetail appears it is normally a lung shot or high in the neck that I tend to use.Hope this helps. |
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@ 10:27 pm (GMT) |
Bob MavinRe: 30.06 loadsSebastian.I've had no problems with 168 A-Max, I bought them labeled Zombie-Max I've been told they're identical. I was using 165 SST's, I found the SST did more damage than A-Max. I shoot a lot of Deer, I've only recovered one A-Max, a long shot around 500m, all the others have opened to about a 30mm wound 50mm from entry, continued that size with a 30mm exit. The only pill I recovered went through the shoulder blade angled into the gut bag, then trapped under the skin. The skin was all loose where the projectile pushed it away not quiet going through 
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@ 10:39 pm (GMT) |
Bryan WebsterRe: 30.06 loadsQuote: awesome thanks guys much appreciated.
i have purchased 200 sst 165grain so will carry on with these until they are non existent and hopefully by then the eld range is abit better in mid weight 30cal. if i stock pile aheap of sst as to keep my mate going for the next few years will i have problems with age anealing etc?? any advice for good storage technique? I never worried about storage a whole lot, but you could ask Nathan about age annealing. I tend to keep them in their original boxes in a cool dray spot in my gun safe...mostly to avoid the grandkids messing with them as well as anything else of a sensitive nature. As well, if you have yet to do so, check out nathan's article in the Knowledge Base on annealing SST bullets. You might find some of that data of interest. As for what I have done, I like the A-max in 168 and 178 grain (or my .308 rifle does) as well as the 165 and 180 grain SST bullets. So, in a weak moment I bought 1 box of 500 bullets for each of those weights/types so am good to go. I also have a box of 500 Speer 165 gr Btsp as well as same for the 180 gr. Years ago when 7mm 160 gr Hot Core spitzers sold here for $11.95 each, I bought a real load of them and still have 1/4 of them left. They have shot a lot of animals like elk and moose as well as large bear over the years, and I hardly used much else in my 7mm Rem Mag until recent years where all too often shots are long and then it is the 160 gr Speer SPBT that gets used. |
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@ 10:50 pm (GMT) |
Bob MavinRe: 30.06 loadsI forgot to mention, even in close I've still had a 30mm wound channel & 30mm exit hole. The biggest animal I've shot is Red Deer , Fallow Chital & Pigs.Cheers Bob |
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@ 05:07 am (GMT) |
Bob MavinRe: 30.06 loadsQuote: Hi mate.
I like 168 A-Max 25th off the lands & 48.5gns of 2209 in my 30-06, 2860fps. You would have to work up the charge for your rifle though. I like the 168 A-Max so much I bought 2000 of them. Cheers Bob Woops!!! that's 58.5gns not 48.5 |
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@ 05:15 am (GMT) |
Sebastian ShandRe: 30.06 loadscheers bob. haha i was scratching my head at 48.5 grains at 2860 |
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@ 12:14 am (GMT) |
Sebastian ShandRe: 30.06 loadsgiddayjust thought id do a quick up date and thank you all for your time and help it is much appreciated. so i ended up with 165grain sst projectiles on top of 59.5grain of 2209 which puts me .5 over book max, no pressure signs and seems to be running well. I'm using hornady cases cci large rifle primers and full length sizing using hornady dies. i have seated 1mm off the lands and i have just over 1mm of clearance in the tikka magazine so they feed fine without any hookups. 
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@ 12:20 am (GMT) |
Sebastian ShandRe: 30.06 loadsonce again thank you for all your help! I'm sure my mate will be happy with this load. we are off hunting next weekend so will hopefully get to see them in action!righto I'm off to throw some powder at some swede cases and drop a sexy amax on top |
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@ 07:23 am (GMT) |
Bob MavinRe: 30.06 loadsWell done Sebastian. That should take care of most critters :)[b] |
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@ 07:37 pm (GMT) |
Sebastian ShandRe: 30.06 loadsSo a quick question I've been wondering about with group patterns when I was loading up in increments and then went back over 3 of the best loads and picked the best one I noticed the same powder charge shot the same pattern group each time. The load I went with of 59.5 grains as you can see above has no hieght dispersion but slight left and right were is the other powder weights tended to be more trianglier in shape changing slightly from load to load. Now I picked the load above mostly because it held the tightest group but also because they are parallel because I assumed I had hit the sweet spot harmonically, am I way off in my thinking here? |
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@ 08:34 pm (GMT) |
Bob MavinRe: 30.06 loadsHi Sebastian.If they were shot at 100yds, there's always a possible bit of human error. If it's a light weight barrel heat can make it can walk like that too. Bob |
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@ 08:50 pm (GMT) |
Sebastian ShandRe: 30.06 loadsGidday bob,100yards over sand bags I left it to cool for 20 minutes between groups. I'm just wondering because the actual group patterns were the same shape if that makes sense? The the size of the group changed slightly due to abit of human error and barrel fouling etc but the patterns stay the same shape so I'm wondering if I picked the right load harmonically? |
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@ 04:00 am (GMT) |
Bryan WebsterRe: 30.06 loadsWhile doing load workups for nearly any rifle, I leave around 5 minutes between shots. My .308 has a heavy barrel and I have shot five fast rounds into 0.5 inches at 100 yards but leaving time between shots to cool it settles in around 0.25 to 0.375 inches. Remember that you want to find the cold bore shot accuracy load eventually and you have to eliminate as many variables as you can. |
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@ 11:06 pm (GMT) |
Sebastian ShandRe: 30.06 loadsSorry guys I must be explaining myself terribly on this one.I'm wondering about harmonics in the barrel and wether or not there's any correlation to how the group patterns turn out? And if so wether there is certain group patterns to look for along side of accuracy? |
@ 12:01 am (GMT) |
Warwick MarflittRe: 30.06 loadsHey Sebastian. When I was doing my 6.5 SWEDE the pattern was triangular and as increasing loads where tested the triangle got smaller and then started to open up bigger so I stopped at the 2820 fps load that was the smallest of the group's. I have to bed it then I'll redo the same thing but in .2 grain steps. Use and Follow Nathans books. I'm finding that I don't use them enough for reference. Like I do a car service manual for tappet adjustments, plug gaps, points dwell angle settings and Carburetor adjustments.? Nathans books are just the same thing. Full of the right information. "All knowledge exists! Man only discovers it" ? |
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