Sighting IN Light Load for .30-06

S

Sea Buck

New member
I am mounting a new 2-7x Leupold scope on my favorite '06,Ruger MkII RSI. I want to go with a light load for sighting in at 25 yds. Just to find paper without killing my shoulder. I'm 72 and getting recoil sensitive. I was thinking of maybe a .30-30 load such as 27 gr 4064 with 150 gr bullet. I will then grit my teeth and sight in with my hunting load.Any ideas would be appreciated.
 
+1 on the PAST pad.

I've had arthritis since I was 18 and now that I'm almost 50, I notice the kicks. I think I could shoot all day using my PAST pad. Feels a little weird getting started with it, but worth it.
 
You're going about this the wrong way. Only develop one load and work on you zeroing technique. I can zero a rifle at 100 yards with 3 shots. Then I fire a 3 shot group to see how accurate it is.

If you want to hunt with some lighter loads, fine. And that would be my advice, but practice and hunt with the same loads. I'd look at Nosler 125 gr Ballistic Tips for whitetails. They can be loaded up to 3200 fps in a 30-06, but I use them @ 3000 fps in my 308. Recoil is almost non-existant and they are a deadly whitetail bullet.
 
Thank you for your comments. Appreciated. I use a PAST for my 06 hunting rifles and with my Garands. It's still jarring and after a session with my Garand I feel like I've been sparring with Holifield. Since in the field you never notice the recoil I've taken my factory recoil pads off and have a solid pad installed. I notice the recoil back at the camp.
I was just looking for a light load to sight in my new scope to find paper at 25 yds, a relative centering group, not accuracy. I don't need all the blast of a full house load to do this. I already have a nice accurate load for this rifle, and have had no complaints from Mr. Whitetail.
 
I've had pretty good luck "finding paper" after mounting a new scope on a bolt action by taking the bolt out of the gun and then placing the gun in a good rest. Look down the barrel from the action end and find an object appearing in the barrel (a street light works well at night). Without moving the rifle, raise you head up and look through the scope. Move the cross hairs until they center on the object you are seeing through the barrel.

That should get you on paper at 25 yards which is what you asked. Easy on your shoulder too :D
 
27 grain of IMR4064 is 20 grains below minimum. Likely to detonate vs burn. That will be very bad for you and your rifle.
Can't imagine an M1 having excessive felt recoil, but use a lighter bullet(a 125 or 130 might not cycle the action.) and the PAST pad. You can get slip on recoil pads from Pachmayr too. Adds about an inch to the LOP though.
 
jmr40 said it right. Get some lighter grained bullets, load them within spec limits for the powder, and shoot them. Anything under a 165 grain in the '06 is light on recoil. I'm talking 223 light in the 125 grain range. God bless
 
Look down the barrel from the action end and find an object appearing in the barrel (a street light works well at night). Without moving the rifle, raise you head up and look through the scope. Move the cross hairs until they center on the object you are seeing through the barrel.

That should get you on paper at 25 yards which is what you asked. Easy on your shoulder too
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Gets you on the paper at 100 yds too.

Agree one should avoid going below the minimum charges in the load books.
Idaho Gaiters
 
I believe Hodgdon website lists some reduced recoil reload data, for .30-06 and H4895 powder. You might find it is good enough to keep and use for hunting load.
 
H4895 is known to let you go lower than most. IIRC, Hodgdon says 60% of maximum listed loads can be made using it. I would not go below about 60% case fill, though, just based on experience.

For light loads, Trail Boss loads are great and seem to group well out to 100 yards which will give you a baseline zero for a new scope, for example. However, rifle barrels are subject to recoil-induced flexing and slight elastic barrel deformation by high pressure and the timing of getting the bullet to the muzzle. As a result, what zeros with a mild load can be off several inches when the actual load is used. So, after zeroing with a mild load, you want to at least test a few of the actual full power loads you intend to use to look for zero displacement caused by those other factors. The bottom line is the only way to reliably zero for a load is with the load itself at a range long enough to see those load dynamics at work. 100 yards is sort of a minimum for seeing that clearly, IME, but you could try at a shorter range.

25 yard sighting assumes certain factors about the load velocity and the height of the site above the bore line that may or may not apply in your particular case. Check the out on a ballistic trajectory program like the free ones at the JBM ballistics site. I've had some rifles that gave me a 100 yard zero with anywhere from 18 to 32 yard targets, depending on actual setup. If, for example, you want a 200 yard zero for deer hunting, run that zero with your bullet and expected velocity in the software and see where it first crosses zero, then set up your rough-in and check sighting at that range.
 
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