Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Gentle 30/06 loads

I have always been a 180s in the 30/06 kind of guy but for this project they aren’t needed.
I have a super nice Remington M30 Express and a nice 1950,s M70 FW as well as a nice late production 721. All of them are sporting the original steel or aluminum butt plates and they’re staying that way as long as I own them. I plan to take the M30 to Colorado this fall to hunt my 3rd season buck tag and bring one of the other scoped rifles as backup in case of bad weather or if I choose to hunt the higher more open part of the area one day.

I have IMR 4895, 4320, and 4350 along with 150gr bullets from Hornady and Norma. I’d like to develop a good shooting load that’s a little easier on the shoulder so I can get a bunch of practice with the peep sighted M30 before I head out to hunt. Hopefully the load will shoot well in both or all three rifles and I can zero and take my pick.

Any magic light to mid range loads I need to try to start with? I’m thinking 2700fps will be plenty at the 250 yards or so I’m confident in my irons abilities.

46.1-46.4 Imr 4895 with whatever bullet you plan on using

I had real good luck with the basic Hornady 150 grain flat base bullet ( interlock) and 48 gr. of IMR4895...almost duplicate to that is 47.0 Gr of 4064 if you've got it.

48.0 gr. of 4320 would give the same results

killed game up to #300 Aoudad with the load without a hitch...

I have had both shoulders rotator cuff repaired so I needed a "gentler" load, I am now shooting a 165gr. Sierra Game King over 56.0gr. IMR 4350. In my pre'64 M/70 it an accurate load and it is the load I used to take both '019 whitetails. It gave excellent performance.

Hell I was clear down to 150 hornady and 43 gr of h4895 i must be a wussy boy lol

Use the Barnes TTSX 130 grain with Varget.

I have been using the combo in .308 for several years and the 130 TTSX is very effective and pleasant to shoot.

I worked up the 130 TTSX for my wife and nephews, but it has turned into my favorite WT deer and pig bullet.

Aim for the high shoulder, it will punch through reliably, but does not tear up much meat.

I’ve had great luck with Hornady 150 fltbases at 2600 or so out of the 300savage but I’ve always loaded the 30/06 to full power.

Listen to jeffbird 👍. 58 gr varget3200 FPS/130 ttsx or 58gr.varget/125 nbt3275 FPS in the 30-06
Both are death ray and gentle 😜

TheKid,

Have generally found that different shooters have different notions of "gentle" recoil. Plus, some are convinced that lighter bullets recoil less, regardless of the muzzle velocity or amount of powder. Others are convinced slower muzzle velocity results in less recoil, regardless of bullet and powder weight:

Ran some of the loads mentioned here through the standard recoil formula used for decades. When the poster didn't provide a muzzle velocity, I calculated one from published loading data. Here are the results, listed from most recoil to least, in an 8-pound rifle:

165-grain bullet, 56.0 grains powder, 2750 fps, 21.34 foot-pounds
130-grain bullet, 58.0 grains powder, 3200 fps: 19.76 "
125-grain bullet, 58.5 grains powder, 3275 fps, 19.53 "
150-grain bullet, 48.0 grains powder, 2800 fps, 17.27 "
150-grain bullet, 46.0 grains powder, 2700 fps, 15.99 "

For comparison, here's a pretty common load for 180's, which pretty much duplicates the real-world performance of most factory ammo:

180-grain bullet, 50.0 grains powder, 2650 fps, 20.95 foot-pounds.

John, you did a lot of work there to help out the OP and other respondents. Thanks so much for the time you take to mentor this forum.
Cheers,
Rex

P.S. if you aren't too tired of the 7 Mag thread, take a look at what I just posted to it - question for you there.

55 - 55.5 grains of IMR 4166 and a 125 Accubond in a 22” ’06 gives about 3100-3150 fps and seems pretty mild to me and it works well. Six, four shot groups of 1” or less.

I'd start here, if reduced recoil and 2600fps with 150's is the goal. You may have to a grain or two. Let the recoil level you want decide. 200yds with a pointy 150 at 2400 mv can be a zero for your optic, like a pointy 30-30.

Put a Gentry Quiet muzzle break on the rifle, which worked after my shoulder surgery(3rd).

That's the exact same load I worked up for a 30-06 and then found it's one of the most accurate loads used across four separate 06's - Ruger 77, Ruger #1 and two Model 70's. It consistently produced some of the best groups ever in an otherwise somewhat persnickety Model 70.

Fwiw, 48.0 IMR4895 and a Hornady 130 Spire Point is also a very accurate "load that works" in two Model 700 .270's.


Uh, so I've heard, I don't personally own a .270, nope, not me...

I'm having a good time with several 30-06's using a load of 46.0 grains of H4895 and Nosler 150 grain Accubond's. I'll be using 150 NBT's when the seconds become available or maybe sooner 150 Hornady Interlocks.

Jeez, all those loads are what I call normal '06 loads. Most of my '06 shooting is with Springfields/Garand and I pretty much stick with 150/2700-2800fps loads as a duplicate of the old Ball M2 load.

I never understood the point of hotrodding an '06 even though they'll take it.

One of my '06's is an old German guild gun that I stuck a slender Parker-Hale '06 barrel on. At six pounds, with receiver sight, and wispy/skinny/dainty stock, it's a real mule killer with "normal" loads. Painful doesn't best describe it. Aside from a plethora of mild cast bullet loads that make it a joy to shoot, for a jacketed load I settled on 40 gr. H-4895 and the Sierra 165 HPBT. Accuracy was so astonishingly good and felt recoil so mild I never felt the need to experiment farther. Oh, and the couple deer I shot with it got knocked ass-over-tincups.

gnoahhh,

Yeah, that's the other side of all this. Killing deer, even big deer, really doesn't require all that much zip.

A few years ago Eileen and I hunted mule deer on the plains of eastern Alberta, just before the rut started. One dawn we found a pair of mature bucks by glassing across a wide, shallow draw, close to a mile away. We watched them wander off to bed as the sun rose higher, then stalked the area, in our faces. Eventually we spotted their antlers rising out of low brush, and as Eileen sat down one of them stood up. She shot, and it dropped, and then the other buck stood and I shot it too, though gave it a finisher when I walked up. The range was about 275 yards.

My buck was a little bigger-bodied, but not much--and the boned meat weighed 130 pounds. In general, the boned meat of a deer will be about 1/3 the live weight (and yeah, such bucks aren't unusual up there). Did we use the cartridges usually advised for such huge deer? Not exactly. Eileen used a .308 Winchester with a 150-grain bullet at around 2800 fps.I used a 7x57 Mauser with a 160-grain bullet at around 2700.

On the Hodgdon site, they have a formula for using the H4895 powder in a reduced recoil loads. I’ve never loaded this in 30.06, but I’d try this formula first.

“ HODGDON® H4895® REDUCED RIFLE LOADS
For Youth Hunting, Informal Target, and Plinking
__________________________________________________________________________
Hodgdon Powder Company has found that H4895 can be loaded to reduced levels. H4895 was chosen because it is the slowest burning propellant that ignites uniformly in reduced charges. To create reduced loads, the 60% formula is recommended.
Find the H4895 load in the Reloading Data Center for your caliber and bullet. Take the maximum H4895 charge listed and multiply by 60% (.6). The load may
be adjusted up from there to achieve the desired velocity and accuracy.
This works only where H4895 is listed. DO NOT use in a cartridge where H4895 is not shown.
Example: 30-06 cartridge with 125 gr. Sierra SP bullet. Max load shown in the Reloading Data Center with H4895 is 53.7 grains. 53.7 X .6 = 32.2 grains. The shooter begins with this load, and may work up from there to obtain the desired velocity and accuracy for his reduced load.
Call Hodgdon Powder Company if additional information is needed, 913-362-9455.”

I had good luck both accuracy wise and on game with the S&B 150SPCE factory load in the M30. It seemed pretty mild, blast and recoil wise. Alas, I’m out of them and not really looking to buy any factory ammo. I may load up some ammo this weekend and go shoot early of a morning before it’s 100deg.

And as much money as I made over the years installing brakes I despise them. Especially on an unaltered classic rifle.

Gratuitous field shot of the rifle in question

Aren’t federal and maybe Remington still making low or reduced recoil loads? Otherwise, I’d say 4895 and a 130ttsx

Good luck,
Ben