Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles 30-06 reduced recoil loads

I’ve been shooting Hornady Custom Lite 30-06 reduced recoil loads in my 20” barrel Merkel K3. But now I can’t find any to buy. Can anyone recommend a recipe to hand load something like them using a 125 grain bullet? I have plenty of once fired brass and it may be a good time to put in use. Thanks for any suggestions.

Mackey

Do you have or can you get some IMR4198?

Or Reloader 7?

Handloader issue 258 Feb-Mar 2009 has an article on reduced loads for the 30-06.

H4895 for reduced loads. Take the max load of H4895 for a 125 grain for 30/06 x 60% for your reduced load. 32.2 grains. Data on Hodgdon’s website.

Check out this thread: https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/3216390/1/good-30-06-loads

You might try Norma's 150-grain Whitetail load. It's pretty common these days. It does 2,570 in my Husqvarna 1640's 20" 1:12 barrel and recoil isn't bad.


Okie John

With Sierra (or Nosler) 125s, IMR 3031 at 50-52 gr. is one of those loads that just shoots well in all 06s I've ever had. At around 3000fps from a 24" barrel, it shot to the same POA as 150s with 52gr IMR 4064 at 100 yds. in a few of the rifles. Recoil is subjective, but I'd call it light.

A campfire friend turned me on to the 125BTip in the '06. At just under 3000fps, it's incredibly accurate, drops deer like a hammer, and (to me) very light recoil.

Check out This thread

I use 30gr of imr4198 under a 150gr fmj.

Post by me, last year # 17247882.


In any case based on a 308, ( 243, 260, 7/08, 338 Federal, 358)

or an 06 ( 270, 25/06, 280, 35 Whelen, 338/06 )

You can load 30 grains of 4198 ( either ) OR RL 7, with just about any bullet weight and load will be safe...

loads in all of these cartridges can be dropped down to 20 grains with NO issues, and I've ran them as low at 15 grains in 308 based cases.

Accuracy is better and more consistent than H 4895 reduced loads, and doesn't have the " Bark" that reduced H 4895 has.

22.250 can be loaded to 30 grains of 4198 ( both) with bullet weights to 55 grains...and still hold accuracy.

7 x 57 based cases and 6.5 x 55 can also use the 30 grain charges as max ( 6 mm REM, 257 Roberts 8 x 57. )

use NO FILLER.

These are easily 200 yd loads, and still quite lethal. The low recoil also helps quite a bit with bullet placement due to lack of recoil, than can intimidate younger shooters...

However as always, use your head and work up... (Minus 223 or a 6 x 45, 20 Practical, 17 Fireball, ) I use a lot of loads with 4198 in a lot of my hunting .. I don't own a 250 Savage so that is excluded in this statement.

these loads in these calibers will drop any deer that ever walked, and with good shot placement, I've had people tell me they have dropped elk. I have dropped on cow elk myself, with a 165 grain ballistic tip and 30 grains of 4198, which was taken at 175 yards. The elk weighed 650 pounds on the hoof.. It was 11 years old according to Fish and Game dept. It went 50 yds and expired...bullet was bulged on the hide on the off side, after destroying, both lungs and the top half of the liver..

Loaded up 30 gr of IMR 4198 for a gal last season, an Army Veteran who was getting beat up by her dad's inherited 06.
loaded up a 150 grain SP Hornady and she could shoot that just fine...with her scope taught her to range it out to 300 yds... She took a fine blacktail with it, at about 200 yds.

it works!

30grs of imr4198 and a 150 Hornady SP in my 30/06 for reduced loads.

I tamed a lightweight 6 3/4 pound Mauser .30-06 that is downright nasty with factory-level loads by loading it down with 41gr. H4895 + 165 Sierra BTHP. Now it's a sweetie to shoot.

My .30-06 light load uses Sierra Game King 165gr. bullet over a charge of IMR 4350, it is accurate and drops whitetails with authority.

Good info on this thread.

This

Yes, or many editions of the Speer manual list reduced loads for many cartridges using SR4756, IMR3031, or IMR4198.

Speer #10 gives 38 gr RE7 with the Speer 130 for 2508 FPS and 42 gr RE7 for 2760 FPS In the 30-06.

Back in the old days, when I was a lot tougher and took the 30-06 and 25-06 out to kill whistle pigs. I took 100 rnds of 165 spbt loaded over 60 gr H4831. 100 rnds of an equivalent high pressure load with 120s for the 25-06.

After burning all those up in a day, mostly from prone position, my shoulder was ready for a break. My answer was the 30-06 loaded with the Speer 110 gr Varminter over enough 3031 or 4198 to make 2400 fps. It was a great 200 yd load and absolutely devastating on anything hit with it.

A favorite trick with the 110, was to shoot just under a musk rat swimming across the reservoir just to see how much air the muskrat could catch. Deader than hell, without a mark on their body. And never a secondary splash from a ricochet.