Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 220 Grain .30-06 Loads

I'm going to try out my .30-06s with 220 grain bullets and I would like some advice about what loads have worked well for others. I'm hoping that Phil Shoemaker will offer his two cents worth on this topic. If people don't want to share exact data I'd still be appreciative of hearing about what bullet and powder you used and how it turned out for accuracy and velocity.

I load 58&1/2 gr of H4831 for my Pre-64 Win FWT using Sierra 220 gr RN. Chronied at 2500fps. Work up to it and I take no responsibility for the information. It works in my rifle without excessive pressure signs

Fraser, The only ones i have loaded were for 2 friends, one for a CA hog hunt the other for a WA disabled cow elk hunt, one shot each for success, same year same load batch. The load was Nosler's book max load of RL-22 and the 220 partition semi spitzer, book says 2,602 w/24" bbl. Both guys said the loads kicked too hard for them though, to bad!-Muddy

They do have a little bit more recoil for sure. However if an old fart of 70 who doesn't weigh 150 pounds can still shoot them, others should be able to. I try to shoot only three a year. Two to check the scope and one to kill and elk. So far that has worked for quite a few years.
I don't think at 2500 fps you need partition. If you want a partition, step down to 180 gr and save your shoulder. It will work just as well. I like the 220 because I hunt close in and at 25-50 yards it really smacks those elk, but holds together too. At least the few I have recovered. Most are pass thrus on double lungers.

BTW, for load I listed above,you might have to use a drop tube.

56 grains of RL-22 with the 220-grain Partition. That's one grain below maximum per Nosler's manual and has been accurate in every .30/06 in which I've tried it.

I always thought that if I were to hunt for grizzly and moose with a .30/06, that's the load that I would use.

I'm assuming your rifle is like 98% and has a 1-10" twist. I've had 2 Husqvarna rifles in 30/06 that had 1-12" twists and they weren't fond of the 220gr Partition.

Hard to beat the 200gr Partition in the 06 for a heavy

^64,000 posts, crazy man!

Last fall I worked a load with some 220's that I got in a lot. Recoil to me wasn't bad at all. No problems in the accuracy department.

52gr IMR-4350 with Hornady 220gr RN from my 1-10" Remington 700.

I have loaded more 250s that 220s and I used H4831 for that. Suspect it would be a good powder for the 220s as well. I also think the 200 grain partitions are about as good as it gets for big stuff in a 30-06.

Bullet Load Powder O. A. L. Velocity Energy Comments

220gn Sierra RN
56gn Win 760 2560
57gn Win 760 2605 1.2 MOA
57gn H 4350 2524 .556"
59gn H 4350 2603 Warm
51gn IMR 4350 2393
52gn IMR 4350 2403
52gn Rel 19 2170 .7" Mild

Yah, the rifles that I've run that 220-grain Partition load through are M-70 Winchesters, both pre- and post-64. I think they were all 1-10" twists.

I agree that for a heavy, or for an all-around bullet in the '06, it's tough to beat the 200-grain Partition. It would shoot a little flatter.

Not to hijack the thread, but I'm mostly a deer hunter now and have been running a lot of 165s in my various .30 caliber rifles.

200gn Nosler Partition
57gn H 414 2733 3318 1" Good Load
58gn H 414 2762 Warm 1.5"
58gn H 4350 2556 Mild
59gn H 4350 2651 2"
55gn Rel 17
61gn H 4831 2496 Mild - Compressed Load
62.5gn H 4831 2559 2909 Mild - Powder too slow

220 Hornady RN over somewhere between 51 and 54 grains of IMR4350. Jack O'Connor recommended 51 grains as an accuracy load, I think back in the 50's.

I remembered his comments a few years ago and tried it. Darned if he wasn't right! I went up to 54 grains and while not quite as accurate as the 51 gr. load it was still good enough for hunting purposes.

Jim

Thanks for the tip. Any idea of what kind of velocity it produced? Powder might be hard to get but I actually have IMR4350 on hand.

Sorry I've never chronographed these loads. Reference to loading manuals suggests in the range of 2450 to 2550 fps.

Jim

Looking at some old reloading notes, the load of 56 grains of RL-22 with Nosler's 220-grain Partition in a Winchester case and goosed along with a F-215 primer produced 2,496 fps.

This is from a Pre-64 Model 70 with a 24" factory barrel.

Shot my first big game animal, a bear and a couple months later my first moose with the old 220 gr Silver Tips in a 30-06. Not surprisingly they worked but I did have one come apart on the moose, the second shot that hit the spine. The 220 gr Partition is an excellent bullet, I used them in my old 308 Norma Mag on a black bear and my friend used them in his 300 Win Mag on a couple grizzlies and a mountain goat.

My 700 takes 58 or 59 gr of RE22 and Nosler or Hornady 220s with with inch plus 200 yard groups. Same in an M-70 both 22" barrels.
2600 fps and surprisingly flat trajectories.

I found that 57-57.5 grs. of H4831SC works well in my custom mauser with either the Hornady or the Nosler Partition 220's.
The 200 gr. Nosler Partition clocked 2672 fps. with 59 grs. of the same powder. It shot just as flat as the factory 180 grs. loads but did kick noticably harder. 24 inch barrel and 1-1.2 MOA accuracy for all loads. E

A 30-06 with 220grs @ 2450fps is all a person needs for the largest brown bear in Alaska. IMHO opinion it it equal to the 338 with 250gr bullets, maybe because of the length of the 220 bullet, or people just seem to shoot the Ole 06 with out thinking of magnumitis and the kick that comes with it. For brown bear guiding I do like the big mags!

I can tell you from personal experience that a 220 Partition at 2500 out of an '06 does a very quick job on one-ton-plus Woods Bison.

Ted

200 gr.Nosler partitians are plenty,and expect dead critters

Several of my favorite big game cartridges and loads work in the 2400-2600 fps range. They are plenty flat enough for a 200 yard zero and work perfectly on big game out to 300+ yards. I don't really need or want more velocity than that. Standard-grade bullets (bullets I am willing to pay for) stay together, dig deep, and leave big holes in game. More ain't better, not for me anyway.

Big_Redhead,

The 175 gr in the 7X57 is another one that exhibits the same performance, and can be handled easily by anyone.

Ted

Back in my Core-Lokt days I was unhappy with the performance I got on a moose I killed with a .30-06 150 grain so I gave the 220's a try on another moose and was very happy with the results. I shoot Noslers now though.

I've been playing with 220 grain cast bullets in '06's for a long time. Performance equal to the old .30/40 Krag government load is a piece of cake, and the Krag had (has) a reputation for being good medicine for anything walking/crawling. Cost: a fraction of what y'all are paying for Noslers, Hornadys, and the like.

Agreed. The 7x57 with 175gr bullets is my #1 favorite deer load of all time (so far).

The 220 grain Round Noses are my favorite 06 bullet....

Load them using 4064, at a hair over 2400 fps...

I zero it 3.5 inches high at 100 yds, and it is an easy 250 yd load, which is where 99% of all game is taken within anyway...

a bullet that heavy, doesn't have to be going real fast to still do an awful lot of penetration...and a Round Nose, will do a lot of damage on its way thru...

and yeah, I also like the 175 grain RN out of my 7 x 57 and 7 Mag... and the 220s out of my 300 Win Mag, which I run hot at 2950 using H 1000...

Fraser;
Top of the morning to you sir, I trust this cool spring morning finds you well.

It seems that I might be the lone voice of dissension here in that I've had poor experiences - two in my case - with a single box of 220gr Hornady bullets.

To be fair this was about 10 years back or so, I'd have to check my hunting/reloading log, but for sure they weren't recent production.

I fired two of them into an Okanagan legal spike fork bull moose and had them come completely unglued. They were fired from a very mild load in a .308 Norma which could be achieved with a warm '06 load according to the manuals I've got.


Obviously the moose died as I have the bullet fragments to examine - so I am cognizant of the argument that any kill result meant the bullet did it's job.

I'll reject that argument to the degree that if I was having a serious social discussion with a non-ungulate in the shin tangle or Devil's Club, I do believe I might want the bullets in my rifle to penetrate a bit better than these did.

After the moose, I also shot a first rack whitetail with a front on shot and again the bullet fragmented into bits.

The tissue damage/wound channel on both animals was extensive I thought - much more than whitetail that I shot with 200gr. Partion bullets after this.

Based upon shooting subsequent whitetail with 200gr Partitions and 168gr TSX though, if I was venturing into the above mentioned shin tangle - say south of Revelstoke to bring home a grizzly rug, it wouldn't be 220gr Round Nose bullets in my rife.

As always other folks' mileage may vary and that's cool too. Good luck with your '06 loads whichever way you decide sir.

Dwayne

Good morning to you Dwayne.
I think your results with the 220 gr Hornady were more due to, as you said, a .308 Norma as a warm .06 load. A 2450-2500 fps velocity using Sierra 220 gr Rn, I have never seen that fragmentation in elk . Double lung shots are usually complete pass thru. I did shoot an elk years ago with a neck shot and it severed the vertebrae, but I never found the bullet.
I don't think it is a very tough bullet meant to be driven fast.

saddlesore;
Top of the morning to you as well sir.

You could well be correct in that even though it was a relatively mild load for the Norma - 67gr of RL 19 made for 2607fps so my notes indicate - it might have just been a case of "a wee bit too much" or something?

As I mentioned too, it could have been that box or batch of bullets as our family has taken multiple dozens of deer sized animals with Hornady bullets in various diameters and been very satisfied.

Like I say too saddlesore, the tissue damage was pretty extensive in diameter, but not length. Much different wound channel than say a Partition or a Mono-Copper sort of wound makes.

To be sure my post wasn't meant to be a diatribe against either Hornady or 220gr RN bullets and I apologize if it came off that way.

A friend of mine, upon hearing my report on the two animals chuckled and said to me, "Well ya know Dwayne, that's why we test bullets on grass eaters first and not stuff with teeth and claws!"

Thanks again for the reply saddlesore and all the best to you this weekend.

Dwayne

I have read, and also heard from one experienced user, that the Sierra is a tougher bullet than the Hornady in the 220 gr 30 cal.

This seems to be contrary to the usual performance of the two brands.

Ted

Ted;
Good day to you sir, I hope this finds you and yours well.

I've heard the exact thing and yes that's been my experience as well that it's contrary to the usual performance of the two brands.

Anyway, I just wanted to say hello to you sir and wish the best of our Lord's blessings to you and yours.

Dwayne

Wow, guys being nice to each other on here is freakin' me out!

It's a Canada thing.

Ted

Yep, Rob Ford is a prime example, just having fun and loving life.

He really is a fine example, eh?
Ted

Dwayne,

Granted the bullet on the right is a mess but the one on the left looks like it held together ok to me. Am I interpreting the picture correctly?

BTW, top of the morning you you on this cool autumn day!

- Bob

bobnob17;
Well then sir I stand corrected - and good morning now to you on this Australian autumn day.

The reason I'm suggesting the bullets didn't do a top notch job is that they both lost about 50% of their weight and didn't penetrate all that far after breaking only ribs on the bull moose.

Now to be sure moose ribs, even a young Okanagan bull are larger than deer ribs and I do get that fact.

That said, I'd come to expect Hornady Spires - both the flat base and BT by the way - to loose perhaps 30% of their initial weight and penetrate a bit better.

Again all animals are different and tissue damage results can vary considerably. When the second animal - a comparatively small first rack whitetail - made another bullet come apart in the same manner as the right bullet, I decided to quit using them in that rifle and at that speed.

Hopefully that makes better sense now sir or at very least somewhat so. All the best to you this weekend as well.

Dwayne

I've also had erratic results from Hornady round-noses, both the 160 6.5mm and 180 .30, as opposed to very reliable results from the Spire Points. Have seen the 160 6.5 at only 2200-2300 fps go through both shoulders of a deer and exit, and not reach the far ribs on a behind-the-shoulder shot on the same size of deer.

If somebody wants to use a 220 in a .30-06, obviously they want penetration. So why not use the 220 Nosler Partition? It expands easily even on light game (due to the softer front core), yet penetrates VERY deeply. In fact it's one of the deepest-penetrating .30 caliber bullets available.

I don't shoot 220's in the .30-06 much, but when I do have had excellent luck with 55 grains of H4831 (either "long" or short-cut) for about 2500 fps.

Why not go with a monometal in the 180gr weight range should one require deep penetration?

Because the 220 Partition will out-penetrate just about any other .30 caliber bullet, believe it or not. Phil Shoemaker found that out a while ago. He'd been using the 200-grain Partition for years when he carried a .30-06 for backing up brown bear hunters, and when the 220 came out he did a bunch of penetration tests and the 220 Partition beat everything else. I did some more limited testing (including 180 monometals), which confirmed Phil's results.

Now, if I were going to shoot at longer ranges I'd use a spitzer of some sort, either a 180 monometal or a 200 Partition (have never been disappointed in results with it!). But when the deepest penetration is needed I'd go 220 Partition.

In fact many Partitions penetrate far deeper than most hunters will believe. Was doing some penetration tests with 9.3mm bullets several years ago, along with a friend. Before we started we made some informal bets about how they'd penetrate, and I bet him the 286 Partition would out-penetrate the 250 TSX. He lost. (The 286 TSX did out-penetrate the 286 Partition, though not by much.)

Using my old .30-06 and about a 2400 fps mv, I ran one of those 220 gr Nosler Partitions into the water jugs at 20 yards. Shed a fair bit of weight, but penetrated as deep as my .375 H&H.

Haven't tried one on game. Usually stuff I'm hunting dies just fine from a 165, but I do like those big 220's!

J.B. Thanks for your thoughts.

The 30-06 is a great round. When I'm hunting in the dark timber or anywhere else, I'm very comfortable armed with my 30-06.

I have great confidence in the 200 grain Partition. This bullet will reach the vitals form any angel (with in reason). That being said. I find myself trying and hunting with a 180 grain bullets anymore. I mostly use Nosler Partition or Accubond. My gun does shoot the 180 grain A/B better over the same weight Partition.
If I were to hunt really big bears with my 06, I would be happy with the 200 or 220 grain Partition.
Have a good day.

What bullet would it take in a 338/06 or the 35 Whelen to out penetrate the 220 Nosler from a 30/06?

I'll only add in regard to penetration that I've seen three Partitions in recent moose out-penetrate three A-Frames in those same moose; like weights of each used in each comparative test (kill). The new stuff is interesting - in my book- and good; what it isn't is better, just different.

I don't know that you could?

Will the 220s feed properly in a modern model 70 or 700? I am wondering about the overall length in the mag. It may not be an issue but am curious.

Yes.
Now for something interesting, try some 220gn Woodleigh Weldcores.

They feed just fine in my fairly new .30-06 700 CDL.

I loaded some 240gr Woodleigh's for a friend and witnessed him shoot a marginally hit brown bear(about 8 1/2') just ahead of the left hip and we recovered the bullet just under the hide in the right shoulder,, it was as pretty as an expanded bullet can get! This was with a 300 Win mag at about 75yds,it was almost pitch black and we didn't see the bear go down but he only went about 20'.

jim

When one of my twin 16yo sons drew a bear tag for Kodiak the first thing I did was grab some 220 partitions for their '06's and started loading trying to find a load that would work well in both rifles without issues and that shot well. I had a good stash of RL-22 at the time and ended up with a load that would consistently chamber with ease and shoot about 1" and sometimes smalller groups at 100 yards out of both their Ruger rifles. Not that this is a great feat but I didn't expect the 220's to shoot that well for some reason and was pleasantly surprised with the results. Even though we never shot a bear with the 220's I was confident they would have worked well.

The 220-grain Partition has been accurate out of every .30/06 in which I've tried it and ditto for the similar 160-grain .277" diameter semi-spitzer Partition out of every .270 in which I've tried it.

Interestingly, I used the same powder charge for both loads: 56-grains of RL-22.

Jocko you're onto something there.

The 270 Win with those 160g NPTs is a whole lotta gun.

I was given the job of culling some big feral horses last year and that's what I used. Their penetration and stopping power quite amazed me. 700kg stallions dropping like stones.

Bob When I was growing up we heard Australia was overrun with rabbits,, are they still a factor? It sounds like you have a pile of feral animals.

Hello Waterrat,

Not really. Myxo and the collisci virus have them under control to some extent.

There's still plenty though. I just bought 225 acres, and there's heaps of underground mutton to keep me going!

Not to get too far off subject, but do you have any experience with the 7mm 154 RN & Spire point?