30-06 load data?

R

Rock Knocker

Well-known member
Well it turns out I'm going on a rifle deer hunting trip next week, first time in around 10 years. I'm going to bring the 30-06, this will be the first time shooting it in around 10 years. I might just pick up a box of ammo but I might have most of what I need to start reloading for it.

I've got benchmark, varget, cfe223, h335 and h4831sc around and a pile of BR2 primers. Some meat was given to me last year that was so full of lead and copper jacket that I would just buy a box of copper solids and it will last me the next 20 years. Barnes? Hornady? I'm open to suggestions on make and weight for the powders I already have and I suppose willing that I can find the bullets at the store.

The rifle is a Remington 700 BDL.
 
I eat 4 deer a year, never found any copper jacket or bullet lead parts.

Buy a box of Hornady 180g btsp factory, same of the Remington factory, you will not find any bullets. Best to buy two boxes or three, go to the range, sight in and practice.
 
I dont know what happened last year but a bunch of my dad's buddies made 6 or 8 deer and a pig into brats and other ground meat, I've never seen so much bullet in meat before... ether way I'm going solids for sure.

I would like to start loading and shooting this rifle more but I kind of want a 30 06 barrel before I get dies...
 
The H4831sc is the only powder you have I see that would be a good one for the ‘06. I load 180 gr Nosler partitions and 180 gr accubonds wit it. Where we hunt we occasionally get an elk, thus the 180 gr bullets. A great all around deer load is the Remington core lockt ammo in 180 or 165 gr weights. If you have really big deer Id recommend the 180 gr bullets. I've had 165 gr bullets not get through the shoulder bone.
 
Whoever processed the meat did not know what they were doing. Any schoolboy knows you trim away and toss the meat along the bullet path. There’s no excuse for that unless they were playing a joke on you. Geeze!
 
I used to shoot the Hornady light magnum 165gr, kick and fireball like crazy but I dropped a big bull in his tracks from 300 yard with it. I'm going to look for some 150gr barnes, they have varget listed as a powder to use. Those wont have a problem at all with a whitetail 40 yards away.
 
Carcass moving restrictions pretty much end whole animals. Skin and cut around wounds and dispose of any bloodshot/bruised meat that's where bacteria is.
 
Originally Posted By: Rock KnockerI used to shoot the Hornady light magnum 165gr, kick and fireball like crazy but I dropped a big bull in his tracks from 300 yard with it. I'm going to look for some 150gr barnes, they have varget listed as a powder to use. Those wont have a problem at all with a whitetail 40 yards away.

varget should be find for mid-weight projo's (150-170), but if you get into the 180gr class it falls off the charts.

some of the best groups ive shoot in mine and my bro's 30-06 were 165 SST's over varget. mine will shoot dirty clover leaf's with them, and when we load tested my bro's 700 bdl with them this summer (finally) his *worst* group was like 1¼" and the best group was in the upper .3xx size range.

i know that doesnt help your 'i want copper solids' quest much, but if you decide to go back to more traditional cup and core at some point - its a hunting bullet that shoots VERY well in a 10 twist tube at 30-06 speeds when sitting on varget.

barnes does make a helluva bullet, so you should be able to get both accuracy and performance out of theirs. but i'm still not going all-copper unless im forced to just based on cost. personal preference.

good luck with your hunt!
 
The price of solids have kept me from ever trying them before also but everything else I load for i actually take out shooting a good amount. This 30 06 averages to about a shot or two a year so this pound of varget I have no use for and a box of 50 spendy bullets will last a long time, especially considering my load testing will be half grain increments and pick the best from that, 3 inch groups at 50 yards is plenty accurate.

I'm a big time bow hunter, I've shot 4 deer my whole life with rifles but usually 3 or 4 archery kills a year and I keep the heart and liver. Rifles make a damned mess out of everything at least the solids should keep frag down.
 
The Barnes bullets aren't "solids." Solids don't expand and are most likely illegal to deer hunt with. The monolithic all copper bullets expand, as they should for thin skinned game. And for what it's worth, fairly often at close range high velocity impacts the mono bullets lose a petal or two from the expanded mushroom along their path through the game. That puts you back to square one. If I were in your shoes and not really interested in working up a proper load, I would buy two boxes of Hornady American Whitetail 150 or 180 grain Interlock, sight in and go forth and slay deer.
 
I’m also primarily a bow hunter when it comes to big game. A couple years ago I was in a similar situation as you. I was going to take a rifle out and fill some tags but didn’t have a lot of time to work up a load. I bought a few boxes of factory copper bullets from various manufacturers. I didn’t get past the first box of Barnes TTSX 168s that I tried. They shot so well I couldn’t believe my eyes.

Since then I have shot 3 deer and an antelope at ranges from 75 yards to 375 yards. All were one shot kills and all bullets were complete pass throughs. I butcher my own meat and the damage is different than lead projectiles and I’ve found no fragments.

Since you won’t be shooting much you may want to buy a box of the Barnes TTSX. Midway has them on sale now and there is a factory rebate on top of the sale.
 
Well no big deal I just totally chickened out. They had RCBS and Hornady dies for $37 plus they had Barnes 150 ttsx for $37 also... I ended up buying a box of Winchester copper impact bullets 150gr.

I just moved 2hrs away from my normal rifle range so I will have to find a spot to get these zeroed in. I will try to muster some rudimentary test data, if I get it zeroed in a couple shots maybe I can get some shots from 200 yards or more.

Hopefully I can squeeze one between the heart and liver!
 
There are laws that I should know better than I do but.... I know I can no longer bring whole deer into MN from Wisconsin, maybe the laws are that no whole deer can be brought into the state at all?

Hopefully I'm not missing other changes.
 
Originally Posted By: SlickerThanSnotOriginally Posted By: spotstalkshootCarcass moving restrictions pretty much end whole animals.

what does this mean?


Many midwest and western states have detected CWD within wild herds of deer and elk. Those states have implemented restrictions on transportation of animals from known infected areas both inter and intra state.

For example, it is illegal to transport the head and spinal column of a deer out of units within the state of ND that have had deer test positive for CWD to any other area within the state. It is also illegal to transport the head and spinal column of deer and elk into the state of ND from MT.

If the heads have been cleaned or boiled and are free of soft tissue they can be transported.
 
Not to derail from any useful legal chat but here's the ammo I got.

The first round I pull out of the box is cracked, split or something similar up most the neck. It's not a small blemish either, my thumb nail gets stuck in it. The bullet crimps are a little all over the place, one was crimped .080 down the neck, most of them measure 3.230 but a few of them must have been accidentally set up with the metric system and are way off at 3.210 but everything else looks fine. Advertised 2920fps.
49021454228_ca6ce4ddb7_k.jpg


Note the large ballistic tip.
49021977561_28f0fa39e5_k.jpg


Wow, good thing the pictures are big enough to see everything.
 
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Originally Posted By: Uncle JimboOriginally Posted By: SlickerThanSnotOriginally Posted By: spotstalkshootCarcass moving restrictions pretty much end whole animals.

what does this mean?


Many midwest and western states have detected CWD within wild herds of deer and elk. Those states have implemented restrictions on transportation of animals from known infected areas both inter and intra state.

For example, it is illegal to transport the head and spinal column of a deer out of units within the state of ND that have had deer test positive for CWD to any other area within the state. It is also illegal to transport the head and spinal column of deer and elk into the state of ND from MT.

If the heads have been cleaned or boiled and are free of soft tissue they can be transported.

makes sense now. thanks.
 
My MN rifle trip got called off but now I'm heading to Wisconsin rifle season, which is pretty much squirrel hunting. WS is giving out three deer tags with one purchase again with nearly unlimited bonus tags, these winchesters will be tested.

They shot on paper just about exactly how I expected, half the ammo checked before firing had COAL and crimps all over the place, the other half was all matched up much better. Half the bullets I fired were landing in a one inch group and the other half flew all over and opened it to nearly 6 inch group... factory junk ammo.
 


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