thanks, 3006... if the heavier lead shoots slightly slower BUT more accurate, why not just stick to that load? this is an innocent question from a longtime hunter, newbie to reloading
Not a question that can be answered as there are minor variations from chamber to chamber. What you need is a Stoney Point/Hornaday Over All Length gage so you can find the proper length for your chamber. You may, also, be constrained by your magazine length.I have a dumb question to ask!
With a Nosler 165 grain Ballistic tip bullet (30/06), what would be the overall safe
length of the entire cartridge....Since the bullet does not have a crimp groove, I will
need to measure every bullet for correct allowable length!!!
Thanks ahead of time!!
Depends on what are you hunting for?
I have settled on the following:
Deer, 168 grain Ballistic Tip, 59 grains RL 17, 3.41 OAL, 200 CCI primers. This shoots 5/8 to 7/8" and velocity is 3012 fps.
Elk, 180 grain accubond, 56 grains RL17, 3.41 OAL, 200 CCI primers. This load shoots 3/8 to 5/8" and velocity is 2820 fps.
These loads are right around 65,000 PSI according to quickload.
It is only a 1/4" difference at 100 yards and the Ballistic tips are alot cheaper than the accubonds to shoot with. I should also mention that I hunt whitetails in western PA and long shots are not the norm at all where I hunt. I hunt elk in colorado and of coarse longer shots are readily avaliable. I am going to try changing seating depths to see if I can dial that in a bit further.