Loads for .30-06

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pmsmith2032

New member
I am looking for some suggestions on some .30-06 reloads to try in a new Weatherby Vanguard Series 2 rifle. So far I've tried 165 grain Speer spitzer points with 55.5 grains of H414 powder, 165 grain Hornady spitzer points with 55.5 grains of H414 powder, and factory Winchester loads with 150 grain points (someone gave me an old box). Of these three, the Winchester factory loads seemed to group the best (only had 20 rounds and was sighting in), followed by the Hornady and then Speer. The rifle will be used for deer hunting in northern Wisconsin (deep woods). Most shots will be under 100 yards. Thanks in advance!
 
If your shots are close, I’d go with the heavies. 180s or 200s. Bullet failures are rare these days but the chances are smaller in the slower, heavier for caliber bullets. They’ll shoot plenty flat for your ranges and pack a whallop. ELD-X, Accubonds, and Partitions are the way I lean.


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I'd go the other way....

For close shots where trajectory and wind-drift don't matter, light and fast monolithic bullets (Barnes TTSX or Hornady GMX).

110gr version of either. ~3,500fps and those bullets will NOT fail.

Groups don't particularly matter for deer hunting under 100 yards. The difference between a bullet that shoots 2" groups or 0.5" groups is still a dead deer... even at 200 yards.
 
55.5 grains of H414 is 1 grain under the Max load for a 165. You work up to that? Or just pick it and hope?
You must work up the load for your rifle from the start load. A 165 will kill any game you care to hunt in North America, including big bears. It doesn't have to be a premium bullet either. Speers and Hornady's have been doing it for eons.
"...factory loads..." You need to try a box of as many brands as you can to find the ammo your rifle shoots best. The price of it means nothing. However, factory loads can vary in accuracy a bit from one lot to another. And old ammo won't be the same as newer. No sighting in with one brand then hunting with another without sighting in again.
"...still a dead deer...even at 200 yards..." Even at 300 plus.
 
I've never used that powder, but several years ago when components were hard to find did pick up some Speer bullets. I didn't get good results with them. I have had good luck with Hornady bullets in several calibers and bullet weights.

For what you want to do I don't think it matters much. Most any standard bullet from 150-180 gr will do what you want. The copper bullets driven fast work and generally you shoot lighter bullets. I'd imagine a 110 or 130 Barnes fired from a 30-06 would be impressive, but dead is dead. Unless you just want to be exotic the cheapest factory or hand load that shoots well is what I'd use.

When shooting larger game and/or at longer ranges then bullet selection does start taking on more importance. Especially with cartridges that are borderline too small for the game hunted. A 30-06 on deer at 100 yards doesn't require anything special.
 
For more than 50 years I have used a 30-06 for deer and elk hunting. I have yet to reload in this caliber for hunting as I have a stock pile of Remington cor-lokt ammo with boxes still marked $5.99 for 150 grain that I use on deer and $6.99 for 165 grains that I use for elk. When I reload 30-06 I reload for long distance shooting and the bullets used are not suitable for hunting. At the distance you are shooting I would use 150 grain and a load where you are not exceeding more than 2700 feet per second, anything faster you destroy to much meat, just my 2¢.
 
Well if you like going with the 165 gr. bullet,I worked up to 56.0 gr. of W760 and the 165 gr. Nosler Accubond for my 30-06, a custom Mauser with 24" barrel. Velocity was a shade shy of 2900 FPS and the average for five 3 shot groups was .65". I've only shot one animal with that bullet, a cow elk that dressed out at 375 pounds. Bullet hit at the short ribs and ended up in her left lung. At least that's where we think it was as we did not find it. :(

I have been thinking of work up to that level using the Nosler Partition. Last shot I had at an elk was December 31 as he was running straight away from me. Choice was try for the head or go for the "Texas heart shot". Bullet hit her at the base of the skull and lights out. Rifle was my .35 Whelen.

Seriously, if most of your shots run 100 yards or less I'd look at something like a 180 gr. round nose. I killed an awful lot of deer years back when I hunted coastal California. Shots were close unless you worked the clear cuts.
Paul B.
 
Ive been working up a load with Varget and Hornady 150 gr. Interlock. I have it narrowed down from 47 to 48.5 gr. Gonna load up another test batch at .3 gr. increments and the best group is what I'm using for deer in Michigan this year.
 
One thing to remember: the faster you push the bullet, the more meat is going to get bloodshot.

For your distances, I would load something like a 180 gr Accubond to around 2500-2600 fps. You will still get some ruined meat, but not near as much.

Personally, when my shots are 100 yds or less, I hold velocities down to approximately 2400 fps with a 180 gr bullet.

Remember that shot placement is king when downing game quickly and ethically.

I load 43.0-45.0 gr H4895 for mine and I use 47.0 gr H4350 for the faster loads.
 
I would go with a slow speed and a 150 gr bullet (130 would work fine, likely to shoot fine as well) .

You can shoot deer with a 6mm/6.5/243 all day long reliably.

You want to destroy as little meat as possible.

4350 works well in a wide range. There are a lot of powders that do. While 4350 is a 130 listed power, 4895 is, Varget, 3031 and 760 as is H414 in 150 gr.
 
I have heard and witnessed shooters getting good results with H414.

I had 4 different rifles in 30-06 at the time and I could not get anything to brew with it using 150 gr and 180 gr bullets.
 
Over the years I tried numerous loads using 165 and 180 grain bullets. I found some decent loads, more than adequate for hunting with my lightweight `06. On a whim I decided to try 150s.

!50 gr. Sierra Pro Hunters over RL19 are like magic. My gun loves that combination and shoots rediculously tight groups if I shoot slow enough to prevent heat from building up too quickly.
 
What's the twist on the Vanguard?

The Springfield was 1:10, designed to stabilize the original 220-grain bullet in the .30-03 cartridge. That cartridge was superceded by the .30-06, which had a 150 grain bullet, which got bumped up to 174 grains in the 1920s. Among other things, the 174 grainers were better suited to the 1:10 twist.

Civilian arms copied the military twist until some companies started shipping rifles with 1:12 twist in the 1960s, which were more suited to available hunting ammunition. Since then, a few companies have been making .30-06 rifles in 1:14 twist.

The twist has a lot to do with bullet selection. That part is a lot more complicated than "longer bullets like more twist." The bullet and powder companies have tech support lines; the price of running those is built right into the purchase price of the bullets and powder you buy. Few people take advantage of that resource that they're already paid for. The telephone may be nearly obsolete, but it can still be a very useful tool...
 
Vast majority continue to use 1-10. I can't say other than custom barrels I have seen anything else. As it will do 110 gr bullets it seems to be a sweet spot.

Hornady does list H414 as a good one for 150 gr, but not 130. I have never used it so don't know if its an edge powder or just did not work for them.

They do list H414 again in the 165-68 gr group.

Once Hornady gets down to 130 they cut the they worked powders in half from 150.

Burn rate wise its about half way between W748 and the 4350powders.

I may have to try it someday. Its got a wide range where listed.
 
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Senior Member

55.5 grains of H414 is 1 grain under the Max load for a 165. You work up to that? Or just pick it and hope?
How can you assume that?
 
"The rifle will be used for deer hunting in northern Wisconsin (deep woods). Most shots will be under 100 yards."

pmsmith, shooting groups are not all that important according to your needs. Granted, if they go all over the place, probably not a good load. What is important is where that cold barrel first round goes. Is the barrel clean or fouled? What's the temperature?

Run a series of shots over several days firing ONE shot on the same target at your desired distance at the anticipated hunting temperature - this is the group you are concerned about. Make sure that the barrel is at 'hunting temperature'. And that it is clean or fouled.

Just 'my' idea of how to do it.
 
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