Question about loading for 3006

[hydehunter]

That is awesome shooting. I am going to Hammer bullets in all our rifles and have great results with them. I bought 180gr and wil try them but maybe should go lighter160 or 160's.

Mark, 150 gr under 500 yards will do what ever you want, I shot Zebra and they are tough animals to kill, Sable, Kudu etc. with that bullet and with Hammers you do not need heavy bullets. they go in a few inches and the front breaks into 4 pedals and the base goes right thru for a wound channel. call Steve the owner and he will advise you. I shot the first animals with the Power Hammer 150 bullet with him 2 years ago in Africa and that is the only bullet I will use in my 06 now. also IMR 8208 xbr powder works great with that load

 

[Stadoc]

my .06 has an 18 inch barrel suppressed and I am shooting the 150 gr Power Hammer mono bullet at 2942fps using 57.5 gr of H4350 with a Fed 215 primer and shooting 3/4" groups at 200 yards, I have shoot plenty of deer with this load and so far 13 animals in Africa with it all have been one shot kills and only 2 bullets recovered and will be going again in April for 8-10 more animals. if I was you I would also get a suppressor for that as it has a good muzzle blast

Just ordered a sample pack of these, the load they show on their website is a starting load?

 

[marty67]

24" barrel. 154gr Hammer Hunter tipped. 55gr IMR 4064. 3200fps.

 

[Rotten]

I have reloaded for the 30-06 for a few years (since 1972 as I recall). 1:10 should stabilize anything from 100 gr to 220 gr. IMR and H 4350 work well for 150-220 gr bullets in my experience. Your results seem unique. Be certain to check all your fasteners, ie, action screws, scope mounts, etc.
I currently have a Kimber Montana 30-06 I am having trouble with that I bought from a LRH member. For some reason the 24" barrel had been cut from 24" to 23". After wasting a bunch of factory ammo and reloads trying to find a load I started looking things over only to find the muzzle crowning was awful! I have an order in to PT&D for a 45* crowning tool to see if that helps. You may have the same issue.
FYI the heavier bullets shoot better with the bad crown than the lighter ones in mine.

Also John Barsness has a good article called something like "getting the most out of your 30-06". It may help you work up a load.

I load from 100 gr Speer Plinkers to 200 gr Nosler Partitions all depending on what the task is. The 30-06 is still a great universal cartridge IMO&E! Don't give up on it!

On your kimber Montana check the box magazine and see if there is any movement in it back and forward. Mine was pinched between the action and stock not allowing for a good fit. Also check the forward screw to make sure it's not bottoming out on the barrel threads.
These are the 3 main problems with the Montana rifles I've found.
Hope this may help out anyone with a Kimber Montana.
Also lapping the bore also made it not so ammo picky either.

 

[Stadoc]

my .06 has an 18 inch barrel suppressed and I am shooting the 150 gr Power Hammer mono bullet at 2942fps using 57.5 gr of H4350 with a Fed 215 primer and shooting 3/4" groups at 200 yards, I have shoot plenty of deer with this load and so far 13 animals in Africa with it all have been one shot kills and only 2 bullets recovered and will be going again in April for 8-10 more animals. if I was you I would also get a suppressor for that as it has a good muzzle blast

For h4350 it says to start at 54g, what would be max?

 

[JAYgs8163]

The 150 TTSX will be the easy button here. They shoot extremely well and are very easy on load development. I've done 2-3 30-06 loads for friends using this bullet with Varget and have excellent results. All have shot well under MOA and will be good to 400-500 yards. They're not expensive either and are devastating on game.

 

[med358-boise]

Hopefully I can find some and will give it a go.
Thank you

Referring to the TTSX, have loaded a ton of those in my 308 win. Barnes bullets love a good jump to the lands. I always start at .060 of the lands. Once I find my OCW load, I then try farther to see if I can get improvement.

 

[Buttermilk]

I've shot a lot of short barrels with rifle cartridges in Contenders, Encores and XP-100's. Barrel lengths as short as 14". Powders that produce the best velocity in rifle length barrels typically do the same in short barrels.

My 30-06's short barrels were actually a 30-06 AI, a 30-06 JDJ, and a 30-280 AI. Barrel lengths of 15" in those three. H4350, RL22, H4831, Varget & IMR4064 with lighter bullets gave me good results.

 

[AussieWriter]

For h4350 it says to start at 54g, what would be max?

I use 60gn with 180's and 61gn with 168's to get the usual velocities others get with 4-5 grains less so there is no max, only your findings with your rifle.

Also powders change. I used 64 grains of 760 with 150's 35 years ago and only use 62grains with contemporary lots.

Trust nothing and check everything. It always works.

 

[JAYgs8163]

Referring to the TTSX, have loaded a ton of those in my 308 win. Barnes bullets love a good jump to the lands. I always start at .060 of the lands. Once I find my OCW load, I then try farther to see if I can get improvement.

I jump mine .070 out of the 308. Super accurate. 130 and 150 TTSX

 

[med358-boise]

Another comment on Barnes TTSX & TSXs, is each bullet weight and each style TSX vs TTSX within a given caliber have a different minimum impact velocity; e.g., per Barnes 150 TSXs is 1800 but a 168 TTSX is 1500 but a 165 TSX and TTSX is 1800.

 

[hydehunter]

For h4350 it says to start at 54g, what would be max?

for my rifle 57.5 is the max I would go, easy bolt lift but using Lapua brass primers are slightly flattened but not bad

 

[Philward]

My dad used to load for my moms 18.5" barrel rifle in 30-06 with IMR4064 and 165g bullets.

 

[Huntslow]

I used IMR4064 for many years as a "go to" for target loads and hunting. When the .30-06 was common (as the military cartridge of record) I think 4064 was the most common powder for the long range crowd. Since it is faster burning than H4350, that could also be a +.