Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Ask John Barsness Questions About "GETTING THE MOST OUT OF YOUR .30-06"

Mr Barsness..
Fusions and accubonds. I don't reload, can buy 165 accubonds in custom ammo, and of course the fussions from dealers. Personally I feel they are missing the boat by not coming out with 150 or 165 in the 30-06 accubonds, now only available is 180gr.
Question is performance between these two.
180 for Elk
165 mule deer
150 for smaller deer
I've been using the 150 fusion on Michigan deer and satisfied with the results. Just curious if the accubonds out-preform the fusions or are they close being the same... Thanks

The 150 Fusions will open a little wider so the 150 AB's will penetrate a little deeper. But in my opinion you could shoot a lot of deer for many years and never notice much difference.

I remember the same study. They also ruled out the 458 due to recoil and slower follow up shots.

When I was a fishing guide one guy would have a 12 gauge riot gun for night use and another a rifle and everyone a pistol 44mag or heavy45 Colt usually. Never needed to use it but came close several times.

For guiding a longer going away shot is as likely as a close in shot and the 375s or 416s are what I would want if in that position. But if you handle a 458 well it would do the job. And it would be the best stopper of the bunch. I would load it down with 450-480 grain slugs.

Friends working gold claims like the Marlin guide gun for it's portability and power with Buffalo Bore or Garret ammo. But the range limitations make it not as good for guiding.

Ringworm:John,
I am at a loss as to how someone can write an entire aticle about the 30-06 and never once utter the words "core-lokt".




100% agreed

I read the first couple pages and grew tired but just FYI I still and will as long as they make them, hand load 180 and 220 grain round nose for my 06' Speer, Hornady, Sierra who ever. And when I get to it I'm going to work up a load for 170 gr flat points that are typically used in 30-30's Not everyone shoots at game a mile away.

Wow! 17 pages...:)

My two cents is Sierra, Speer, Hornady, Corelokts, Power Points, Silvertips (albiet a tad soft) are all cup and core and about the same if you push them at under 2800 FPS..I have seen few failures..Drive them at 3000 plus and you might get a blow up from time to time..I like them for deer size game and wouldn't get down and out if I had to use them on elk or plainsgame.

MY favorite for no particular reason other than I have had successes with them are Sierra, Speer, Hornady, Corelokts, power points and Silvertips! actually depends on what caliber I use them in..I love the RN 180 gr. corelokts in my 308 Sav. 99, I love the 165 Hornady interlocks in the same rifle for elk..Gimme a 130 Speer in a 7x57 or 284 for deer and even push it to 3000 FPS if you wish. My favorite cup and core bullets are Sierras for the most part, cheap and affordable and they work well indeed at 2700 or less in most all calibers. Powerpoints are another all time favorite..

My favorite all time bullet for anything has to be the Nosler partition in any caliber over .270..but not under..

If I was limited to one gun and one bullet it would be the 30-06 with a 180 gr. Nosler partition at 2700 FPS..I would hunt anywhere in the world and shoot anything on the planet with that if you would allow me a pocket full of solids to up the anti.:)

Damn sure a lot of good bullets out there today, the bullet manufacturers have done a super job and they just get better. The premium and super premium market is oozing with great bullets, and that is a pretty darn good investment for any hunter. A $2.00 bullet on a $10,000 hunt ain't a bad idea, or a free hunt for that matter.

"If I was limited to one gun and one bullet it would be the 30-06 with a 180 gr. Nosler partition at 2700 FPS..I would hunt anywhere in the world and shoot anything on the planet with that if you would allow me a pocket full of solids to up the anti.:)"

Jeff Cooper used to write about his major big game hunting expeditions in the US and Africa. He was a 2 gun man. The first was a .30-06 with 180 NPTs at 2700. He used the -06 for the vast majority of his hunting. The gun he used for the remainder was a .458. He said he could not justify any stops in between as the -06 could take care of anything that didn't require the .458.

Expat

AMEN
Shoot stuff with thee aforementioned load and it is DEAD. I use Nosler Partitions for 99% of my big game hunting.

Dear Mr. Barsness....Have been following your writings re Ramshot powders for 30/06...I have Nosler 165 Partitions inbound...OK..which powder..Big Game or Hunter..???? Starting Load for each..??? Use a Magnum primer also..???? Thank You...

I would try Hunter first, starting with around 56 grains. Probably about 60 will be max, with muzzle velocity 2900 or a little more, depending on your barrel.

Often Ramshot loads do work better with a magnum primer. The Ramshot manual lists a Winchester Large Rifle primer with their .30-06 data, and the WLR is about the hottest standard primer available.

JB

I have a particularly finicky 06. It throws different loads all over the place. It's a thin barreled commercial Mauser that measures .590 at the muzzle. I have had my best luck with a 165 Hornady btsp and IMR3450. I've tried H4350, but that was with 165gr Nosler bt with no luck (poor accuracy). The bt's I couldn't seat close to the lands and I'm sure that had an adverse effect. I need to revisit the H again with the Hornady's, but with that being said:

What would you suggest as a temp insensitive powder, for a finicky rifle, that might give the best accuracy? Something comparable to IMR4350 accuracy wise. What would be your first choice.?

I mention the finicky part because this is a rifle that will not shoot accurately with just any load. With the 165s and IMR4350 it's sub moa. With factory 180 corelokts it throws a three to four inch pattern. I've done enough load development with 180's to realize that it prefers 165gr bullets.

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

fish head

THANK YOU, MR. B.....!!!!!

fish head,

I had a 98 Mauser .30-06 with a real lightweight barrel and it was the same way, despite the action being blueprinted and everything.

Given the results you've already gotten, I'd try H4350. Most of the time it will give accuracy results comparable to IMR4350, but it's far less temp-sensitive.

Thanks JB

That's about what I thought. I've read through all your stuff on temp sesitive powders and 06's. I figgered I'd get your opinion to try and save buying an unnecessary pound of powder.

I have H4350, but I've yet to try the partcular bullet, oal, etc. that I've found to work with IMR4350. The other thing I hadn't done before was load up to the equivalent powder charge/velocity that I'm at now - 57.5 gr IMR3450. I'll bump the charge with H4350 a little beyond 57.5 and see what happens. I know it needs a little more H than IMR to get there.

Thanks again,

fish head

Not necessarily. H4350 used to be consistly a little slower than IMR4350, but since Hodgdon bought IMR I have noticed that the burning rate tends to be very similar in recent lots. That's reflected in Hodgdon's data as well.

Is the IMR slower now?

Most data is pretty similar for both powders. And "slowness" varies with both cartridge and bullet weight....

Very interesting,

I do a lot of reading here and on other sites and I can't recall seeing that mentioned before. Good info.

One question. About what year did you notice or become aware of this? The reason I'm asking is that the bottle of H that I have is about six years old.

I'm sure others would like to know too.

Thanks,

fish head

In the past year or two--partly because i get a new copy of the Hodgdon Annual Manual every year, and read it.

Your lot probably is slower than most IMR4350.

Thanks JB

Once again you are the man in the know.

I appreciate the info.

fish head