I work a lot with reduced loads.. both for kids and for myself on off season range shooting...
cast bullet manuals are a great reference for that info also..accuracy with H 4895 usually stinks and it makes a load boom for some reason, compared to other powders...
I prefer IMR 4198 ( Hodgdons 4198 will also work) or SR 4759 for reduced loads for kids... both are accurate and easy on the shoulder..
Remington's Reduced Load Managed Recoil stuff uses IMR 4198...
Since you mentioned 3031...out of Lyman's Cast Bullet manual number 3, with a 150 grain bullet ( jacketed bullets will be safe here). 30/06
29 grains gives an MV of 1682 fps, with a pressure listed at 12,000 CUPS to start.
42.5 grains give an MV of 2522 fps, with a pressure listed as 34,000 CUPS
With 4064 and a 160 grain bullet
29 grains to start will yield an MV of 1713 fps and a pressure of 14,000 CUPs
and a max load is listed as 46 grains of 4064 with an MV of 2730 fps and a CUP of 48,300...
so anything in between those points will work for ya, and I can attest via a lot of experience, that they will be much more accurate than most H 4895 loads...
Note, if you do have any IMR 4895 powder, you can substitute it for the Hodgdon data on their H 4895, and get much more accurate results..
Hodgdon only pushes it because the load data they have, was given to them by ADI, the folks who make the powder in Australia....who make this stuff for military use, not civilian use... so accuracy isn't as important to them as to hunters..
sorry I don't have any Varget data, but Varget is a more accurate choice than H 4895... I've used it, and have some data developed by me in my own notes, ( which I can't locate at the moment)... but what I am putting forth here is out of data manuals... not what I have developed....
data manuals are pressure tested... some folks are more comfortable with that before using them..
best of luck to your son on his hunting this fall..
