Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Mule deer slow velocities from 30-06 & barnes xlc

I own a post 64 w70 in 30-06, I am relatively new to reloading, but managed to find a load tht my gun really likes .75 MOA out to 200 yards( cant see the target well enough beyond that point to say if 5 inch groups are me or the gun) I use 60.5 gr h4831sc and 165 gr speer hot cors remington brass and cci large rifle primers. I am a minor rifle loony who just can't convinve his wife what he needs next so I decided to try different loads. I bought 165 xlc and 165 partitions. I first tried the barnes .07 off the lands with 58.5 gr of h4831 rirst group about .75, the 59.5 and 60.5 groups were about 1.8 at the max. The Barnes book doesn't recommend h4831 for a 165 gr load but my old Lyman does so I tried it. when I asked a guy to shoot through his cronograph the starting load was only 2510 and the 60.5 gr load was only 2675 (2 shot averages with minor spreads. A friend who is an expert reloader told me to never Chrono my loads , I would only be dissappointed. I also had a few 165 g part loads over 57.7 gr of h4350 that will only group 1.75 that averaged 2775. It was -5( or about 20 degrees american and snowing). Would this have a huge impact. WHY ARE THE BARNES BULLETS SO SLOW?

Mule Deer,

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MtnHtr

H4831 is a little slow burning for 165s in a 30-06. I would recommend trying to work up an accurate load with one of the 4350s.

XLC's are slippery bullets...you probably can't fit enough h4831 in a 30-06 case to get pressures up (thus speed)...I'd also reccomend a 4350 for the 165 gr. in 30-06.

TB

FWIW, Quickload calculates only 49k lbs-psi for 60.5gr H4831sc under Barnes 165gr XLC.

MM

The other guys have pretty well covered it. The lower friction of the XLC coating keeps pressures (and hence velocities) down. You simply won't be able to get enough H4831sc into the case to get the velocities you want.

The cold wouldn't have any effect on either H4831 or H4350. They are both from Hodgdon's Extreme line, so are very cold-insensitive.

H4350 is always a good choice with 165's in the '06 if you're looking an ultimate combination of velocity and accuracy. It doesn't sound like your rifle is very fond of the 165 XLC's so far, though the accuracy is really plenty at any range out to 300+ yards. If you want smaller groups, I would try the 168 Triple Shock X-Bullet, again with H4350. While the XLC's shoot very well in many rifles, the Triple Shocks are more consistent across the board. Start with around 55 grains of H4350 and work up; you should be able to get around 2900 fps or so, probably with around 58 grains. This load will take any non-dangerous game in the world quite neatly.

JB

Everyone's advise worked great. I went to the range today. I started with 57.5 gr of H4350 working up to 59.6. At 59.6 gr I shot three 3 shot groups that averaged .55 inches. A couple of slightly heavy bolt lifts, so I will pull back just a bit. The Barnes manula says 60 gr max 3023 fps from a 24 inch barrel, so with my 22 inch and 59.6 I am probably 2900 anyway.
Thanks for the advise
Martin