groundhog 30-06 load

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  • Last Post 22 April 2018
loophole posted this 10 April 2017

Howdy, boys.  I've been shooting cast bullets for forty years but mostly in muzzle loaders, lever guns, BPCR, and revolvers.  Recently I bought a pre-model 70 Winchester--1939 target model with a  with non-factory heavy barrel.  With a unertl 15x scope off a solid bench it shoots 1-2” five shot groups at 100 yards using Harris 2400 and Red Dot loads with a 200gr bore rider gc bullet.  About 50% larger with a 150-170 fn bullet.

I can shoot the rifle pretty well at 50 yards with Lyman iron sights, and I figured I'd have some fun in the ground hog postal match.  I tried shooting a number of pb bullets with loads I got from Harris writings and off this site, but with terrible results.  4-6' groups, or worse.

I need any help I can get finding a respectable load to shoot in this match, and I don't have much range time to work something up. 

Any help will be appreciated.

Steve K

 

 

 

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45 2.1 posted this 10 April 2017

A softer 8 to 10 BHN 180gr. to 200 gr. bullet sized about 0.312” is your friend with 11 to 12 gr. of Unique.

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Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 10 April 2017

... plinking accuracy ... since plinking is my favorite thing to do with old rifles ... i admit to getting a kick out of this groundhog shoot ... even though a stout deer load will kill these flat woodchucks .... we might ... with our plain base pursuit ... find an economical new approach to * plinkables *  .....    you would think 6 grains of bullseye and any old scrap bullet you had forgot you had would be good for 50 yards... right ?  

any good loads with medium powders and fillers to make them burn consistently ? ... hey, plinkers were an art back about 1902 .... but of course we had   * no. 80 * and * bulk smokeless *  figured out ....

i hope we all have some fun with our neglected 30 calibers ... and keep an eye out for a sure fire plinking load ...

ken

we will soon find out .... and have some fun .

 

 

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Scearcy posted this 11 April 2017

+1 here. I started with the same alloy I use with GC bullets - not so good for me.  I am using alloy that is about 11 bhn.  Several loads shoot ok for me but 10 gr of unique or 6 gr of BE both worked from the git go. I am having better luck with a 311291 than with longer bore ride designs.

Jim

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tomon posted this 14 April 2018

Try 28-28.5 gr. of IMR4895 with bullets in the 170 to 190 weight area.   I used Saeco gc'ed 307's  through my Rock Island 03 with good results.

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onondaga posted this 14 April 2018

My best shooting bullet in 30-06 in my 1903A3 is by far the Lee C312-185-1R cast in BHN15 #2 alloy, It is plenty big to size for any 30-06. I size .3105" for an ink tested slide fit on chambering. I use H4895 for 2050 fps clocked. The bullet gets a stable start with a chamber slide fit and consistently groups under 1" at 50 yards. I tumble lube once before size/check and twice very lightly after with Whites 45:45:10 Deluxe. I seat this bullet to engage the ball seat of the chamber .010" .  For Deer hunting I still use this bullet but hollow point it with the large Forster hollow point bit in a drill press on loaded ammo. It shoots as well HPed as not. I wouldn't bother to HP the bullet for Groundhog.  H4895 can be loaded per Hodgdon youth load PDF as low as 50% available room with bullet seated and have no ignition problems, that is considerably lower than I shoot but I started there and worked up till accuracy dropped at over 2050 fps with my rifle.

The trick to get a 30-06 shooting cast well is a heavy bullet that slide fits on chambering and H4895 for a slower start,  flatter pressure curve that cast bullets like for accuracy. I've never had any fast powder even come close to the accuracy of H4895 with heavy cast bullets in the 30-06.

Gary

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GWarden posted this 14 April 2018

Happen to be out working on a load for my 30 06 for the ground hog shoot, following load shot very well in my Rem 700LR. I tried a load with Unique 11.5, acceptable but the best for accuracy was  Lyman 311284 sized .311 with NRA lube, WLR primer and 16.0 gr 4759. Average of 3- 5 shot groups at 50 yd .525". Average using Unique load was 1.18"   The 311284 was shot without the GC on the bullet. Get the velocity down below 1400 and no problem with any leading without GC. 

Bob

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Scearcy posted this 14 April 2018

Last year I shot 6-7 gr of bullseye behind a 311291 and it was fine. I do have  large supply of 4759 so I think I will give that a try this year. 

More importantly I have started to do some stretching so that I can get into something resembling a shooting position on the ground. There is no question that a 1 1/2" load will exceed my capabilities within the constraints of our position rules.

We have nearly 40 rifles entered already. What are others doing with their loads?

Jim

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Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 14 April 2018

last year for fun i went pretty low on the velocity scale ... in 30-06 and 308 i went 130-140 pb cast with only 7 gr unique with no filler .. we did tip up the rifles before each shot ... this seemed to burn clean .....  it also is working ok in a 30-30 with 150 gr pb cast .

this 7 gr unique is not burning well in my 45-70 which i think is because i am using very light bullets with not enough initial resistance .   even the fastest pistol powder is not burning clean with very light resistance bullets .

the above is for 50 yard plinker loads that i can shoot without earmuffs ...

ken

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TRKakaCatWhisperer posted this 14 April 2018

Ken - I burn a lot of Unique in light loads.  Adding a 3/4x3/4 square of paper towel helps two ways.  One, it helps position the powder and two, it really helps it to burn clean!  (.405 Win and .375 Win)

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Redleged posted this 16 April 2018

Hey Steve and guys. I just got back from the range working up some loads for the upcoming groundhog shoot using "plinker/ practice" quality casts (i.e. minor wrinkles or slightly out of 0.5% weight spec.) So, for Steve's question about .30-06 loads, I settled in on two. My Garand (1:10" twist) really likes 9.0 gr Blue Dot under a 165 gr, 30XCB PB (NOE 310-165-FN 30XCB) sized to .309. Obviously, there's not enough juice there to cycle the action, but I can manually operate it and it shoots well. My scoped Browning B78 (Miroku,) with it's 1:12" twist barrel, really liked 8.0 gr Blue dot under the same bullet. I've included pics of the groups below (50yds.) These aren't the greatest, but will certainly stay inside the 10 ring on the groundhog target (if I do my part.) BTW, the green circle is 2" and I shot that with the M1 with 10.0 gr Blue Dot. Next step is to chrono them to get some hard quantitative data. Ed

M1 with 9.0 Blue Dot

B78 with 8.0 gr Blue Dot

M1 with10.0 gr Blue Dot

Growing old is mandatory, growing up, however, is totally optional!

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onondaga posted this 16 April 2018

Lots of loaders use pistol powders for reduced rifle loads and the most common remarks include poor group sizes and ignition problems. I cannot ever remember that kind of complaint with H4895 reduced  rifle loads. Any cartridge/bullet weight that has any Hodgdon recommendation at all with H4895 can be loaded safely down to 1/2 available room and that is a very low plinking velocity loading that is recommended by the powder maker. I don't understand why this is blindly rejected like bad politics, it isn't politics, it is proven ballistic science. The OP Loophole is asking about 30-06 and H4895 is certainly applicable and has a good reputation for accuracy and good ignition in 30-06 reduced loads.

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Redleged posted this 16 April 2018

onondaga,

Hi. I agree with you regarding H4895. It's my go to powder for most of my rifles, .22-250 to .30-06 to .45-70. I really do like how one can use reduced loads, and still get fairly consistent results. I have found, however, when shooting lower level cast loads in my M1s (I have three,) I get better accuracy when I use a 0.75 - 1.0 gr tuft of dacron to keep the powder positioned (fluffy, not wadded.) It has no effect on the cycle of the action, but really makes a difference in group sizes. Same goes with the .45-70 and it's big old cavernous case. In my post above, I went with Blue Dot because of the relatively short range we're shooting (50 yds,) and the ease and economy of such a small charge. BTW, I found the Blue Dot in an '06 case is virtually position insensitive (much like Bullseye or Unique.) Ed

Growing old is mandatory, growing up, however, is totally optional!

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onondaga posted this 17 April 2018

Loophole,

You don't need range time to verify and maximize your bullet fit for match shooting. Fast pistol powders are more sensitive to bullet fit than slow powders with a gentile start like H4895. A bullet that has less than an ink verified slide fit on chambering has accuracy potential lowered. Ink a bullet on a dummy load and chamber/unchamber it. It should show smeared ink on at least the first exposed driving band. any less fit decreases accuracy potential. A stable start from a good fitting cast bullet is the best you can do. You can also likely adjust your LOA for your bolt rifle so the bullet ogive engages the chamber ball seat .010",  if they will fit your magazine that long. You can verify that in ink also. Cast bullets fit differently than jacketed bullets and without a stable contacting start they wobble down the bore and shoot all over the place.

It is unusual that a factory bullet sizing die is the perfect size, all my Lee bullet sizing dies are honed for specific rifle ink test fit. This is the main reason all my cast bullet rifles shoot under 1" @ 50 yards.

Matching your alloy strength in psi to your load level per Lee suggestions also helps match shooting.

If you haven't done these things at home yet, do them and they will shorten range time load trials dramatically.

 

Gary

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Scearcy posted this 20 April 2018

I shoot the 311291 sized to .312. With the 3006 I flipped the bullet over and sized the first band to .309 last year. That improved accuracy some. This year I also intend to shoot a 308 single shot. Without the camming power of a bolt action, I suppose the entire bullet may need to be sized smaller.

Jim

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Scearcy posted this 20 April 2018

Given we are shooting a plain based bullet anyhow, is there a problem with seating the base below the case neck?

Jim

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Brodie posted this 21 April 2018

None what so ever.

 

B.E.Brickey

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Larry Gibson posted this 22 April 2018

Loophole

Not shot any woodchucks with cast in the '06 but have shot numerous rock chucks with a 311041HP (177 gr cast of COWWs + 2% tin) out of several '06s.  I let the bullets AC and lubed with Javelina (no longer available but similar NRA 50/50 lubes or 2500+ will work fine), sized .311 and GC'd with Hornady GCs.  I also loaded them over H4895 and used a Dacron filler (1 to 1.5 gr).  I used 29 to 31 gr H4895 depending on the rifle and cases used.  Accuracy was best in all the rifles at 1850 to 1950 fps. 

At the time the Lyman factory 311041HP mould had a long HP stem that HP'd the bullet to just below the drive band.  It performed quite well on rock chucks out to 150 yards. 

LMG

Concealment is not cover.........

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