30-06 load questions

[Firebird]

Pretty tough to find options for
Bullets these days but midwayusa did have some Norma in stock as welll as some recent stock options from Barnes. I like the heavier option as well but they might be tough to come by. Good luck!

 

[YancyW]

@wswolf
If you can get hold of Reloader 22 you can get upto 3,000 fps with the 165 grainers.
Bob

That was my first thought, 2500 with a 165gr is a lightly loaded 308 round.

 

[YancyW]

I want to thank everyone for taking the time and providing their experiences and opinions. I have decided to go with the 168 grain Barnes TTSX bullets. I was able to find them on optics planet. As I start to develop my load, I will post updates.

Again, thank you all.

You are going to need to get that velocity up some, I love the TTSX bullet, but they need some speed behind them to take full advantage of the design.

I would want to be over 2900fps for sure, but I tend to run hot.

 

[hawkeyesatx]

My 2 cents worth:

The above posts are correct about using a 180 gr bullet compared to the 165 - 168 grs.

Even though it doesn’t seem like much velocity, a premium 180gr bullet is the bread and butter of bullet weights of the grand old .30-06!
I was given the advice a couple of years ago that a 180 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip, going 2750 - 2800 fps will take anything on the N. American continent.
Now, with that being said, I wouldn’t hesitate to get a Nosler Accubond, or a Hornady 178gr ELD-x, or Hornady 180gr SST.
Also, H4350 seems to be THE powder for the ‘06 too. If you go with 57grs, which is max, or close to max, that will get you excellent accuracy on top of energy for several hundred yards.


Hawk

 

[C.W. Richter]

Nosler partitions or swift-a-frames would be perfect and the partitions are just fine on non-dangerous game. As stated above use a heavier bullet with a higher SD like a 180 200 or even 220 grain. The lower SD 165 is a great bullet for thinner skin deer and antelope at longer range. The tried and trusted IMR 4350 generally shows the greatest consistency in the 06 case. My son and I have used 200 to 220 grain partitions on combined deer and black bear hunts as well as on plains game. Thinner jacketed lighter low SD long range quasi-target bullets are not ideal for modest range PG shots in Africa.

If I recall correctly, the load we're set up for now is a 200 gr NP, using 56 gr of IMR 4350 (yielding 2,550 fps in an 18.5" bbl Rem pump-'perfect gun for thick wooded areas/swamps and shots at moving game.) 'Only take 2 shots per year w/ it now (test sighting, deer or bear lol) so double-check one of the reloading forums or the bullet mfr's manual/online guide. With a std 24" bbl, you should get much better V, but even at that speed, the end result is always flawless! 'Used to love the old 190 gr Hdy interlocks (the originals) but they don't make 'em any longer.