For many years I used 58.5 grains of IMR4350 and the 165-grain Partition in my Ultra Light Arms Model 24, on a wide variety of big game. This may seem like an "overload" to some (Nosler has listed 57.0 as maximum for decades) but during a project for Handloader magazine I worked up loads for three rifles in different chamberings, using the "pressure indicators" many use. None of the loads showed any of such indications, including the .30-06 load, whether "excessively flattened" primers, difficult opening of the action, or anything else.

Then I had all four loads tested at the piezo pressure lab at Western Powders in Miles City, Montana. The .30-06 load averaged 58,800 PSI, well below the SAAMI .30-06 rating of 60,000 PSI average maximum pressure. Oh, and 3-shot groups at 100 yards still average 3/4" at 100 yards, despite nearly 1000 rounds down the barrel, at 2935 fps from the 24" barrel.


“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.”
John Steinbeck