Planning on hunting spring brown bear here in southeast, and am looking for advice on working up a load for 3006. I have used 180gr grand slams on moose and black bear extremely effectively, and am fond of my reload in this capacity, but was toying with 200gr grand slams or 220 hornady rn. Open to load suggestions.I know some will say more gun, but I am not interested in changing caliber. I have however given thought to my 45-70,but prefer my bolt gun with a scope. Helpful thoughts?
Thanks in advance!

With heavy 30 cal bullets I have had great success with RE22 powder (three of my 30'06 rifles will do 2600 FPS with 220 Hornadys and 220 Nosler Semi Spitzers) My guns will take 2 grains over max loads. The groups run about 11/2 inch at 200 yards.These shoot much flatter than you would think.
Best Wishes.

My old 'stand-by' loads used H4831 or IMR 4831 with 180-190 grain bullets. They also work well with 200 and 220s. I have, lately, just loaded 180 Partitions with Hunter and called it good.



Slicing 300 yards of sub-zero air before burrowing through a moose heart just seems so.....right.

Cool pic, Mark.

58 gr of RL 22 under a 200 gr Swift A-Frame is good medicine for da bears in the good ol '06 , for some reason it also works very well for big moose !

59.0 grains of H-4831 and a 200 partition. lapua brass. .030 off the lands.

200 grain Partition is where I put my trust.

H-4831 is good. Might take a look at Rl-17

56 grains of RL-22 and the 220-grain Partition is what I'd use in an '06 for brown bear.

Or, a slightly higher charge of the same powder with the 200-grain Partition.

Anyone seen any of those 220gr Partitions? I haven't been able to find them in a long time.

My 30-06 pet load is 57 grains of Reloader 17 pushing a 180 grain Accubond. I have taken numerous animals with this load. Very accurate, taken sheep and goats out to 526 yards. My longest shoot of 526 yards on the goat was a backup shot on a goat shot by my partner.

Disclaimer.....this is a top of the scale load proven safe in both rifles I use it in. The load was worked up using the ladder method and I did not get pressure signs until I got to 58.5. Reloader 17 yield about 200 fps faster than standard powders.

http://www.6mmbr.com/reloder17.html



200 yard target.



This old grizz was hit behind the shoulder and the bullet went through and broke his away shoulder shattering the bone.





This is a black bear shot with a Accubond





A few I have recovered from various animals.




I have a safe full, having been through the fad calibers when I was younger, these days most hunts, I find myself reaching for a 30-06 more times than not. If I was headed to Kodiak or the pen I would take his big cousin my 375 H&H, but for all others my old boring 30-06 brings home the meat.

Steve

I have come around to the same way of thinking about the '06 and I was just starting to organize some ladder tests but with the 200-grain Accubond. Was going to start with Ramshot Hunter but have R17 on hand too.

George, please post your results. I'd be interested in seeing a ladder test for the 200-grain Accubond.

Mmmmm....This post was on my mind today at the range....nice job on those bruins by hunter,rifle and load. Impressed by that 180 AB.

And I'm a Partition guy...

Steve looks like RL17 is "gee-whiz" in the 30/06. That from a 24" Kimber Montana?

Nicely done!

Yes Sir that target is from a Kimber Mountain Ascent 30-06, that same load runs a touch slower in my Winchester Model 70

That must be a "faster" barrel or a little pushy pressure-wise as extrapolation, in my experience, would put the 200-grain AccB in the 2700s.

But, good hunting and good shooting.

Steve/ George: I have seen the 06 do some giddy stuff from 23-24" barrels and things like H-205(long dead,but sort of similar to R17),and MRP...without whimpering.At least there were outward signs of pressures.

Still, you have to admire a cartridge that gets 2800-2900 from a 180 gr bullet...it's a payload.

That Mountain Ascent seems a pretty neat rifle!

Bob, I have a Blaser R8 in the "old horse" with Blasers strange for us 23.6" barrels in the standard cartridges. I'm not quite sure to what end a 180 can't accomplish but I've a couple of boxes of 200-gr Partitions and Accubonds and three pounds of R17. It'll be fun to see what I can come up with.

George let us know...I have a couple pounds of RL17 here myself and have just not gotten around to it.

~54 grains of RL-17 gets me 2700 feet/sec with a 200gr Accubond, 22 3/8ths barrel.

Thanks for that neighbor!

Is blue tarp the new blue tape?

My 30-06 with a 24 inch bbl will do 2755fps with 55 grains of RL-17 and a 200 grain Nosler Partition, nice groups too.

Yep, that's about what I experienced with the same load in a Model 70 stainless with a 24" barrel.

What was interesting was that the 200-grain Accubonds gave about 50-75 fps more velocity than the Partitions with identical charge weights.

Hammer- and JS, I have both bullets on hand and was going to R17 (adverb - ) them both in parallel.

If I can get a day with above -25* and then below 40* with no way to get to my "range", I'll get started.

looking forward to this...and spring!

Wow! That's quick!

Yep. The .30/06 continues to demonstrate competence and surprise as new powders and loads are developed.

Very interesting and applicable thread.

My go to load in my 06 Ti has been the 168 tsx but I have been considering going to a heavier and differently constructed bullet like the partition or spire point. Funny thing is you guys are getting the same velocities that my gun likes with the 168s.

I've also thought about the Accubond.

I know it's mostly academic but what bullet do you guys prefer for moose? Just wondering if there is a bullet that would be better suited for lung shooting moose than my tsx.

Thanks,

Scott

The Partition and presumably the AB give up something when trying to hit the north end of a moose from the south end. However that is a good trick even for a monolithic bullet. But either of those Noslers will handle both ends of the spectrum extremely well overall, and either will create reliable havoc in the "simple" lung shot, be it long or short.

Would you even bother or just leave well enough alone?

Unlike some, I do not put the TSX at the top of my list when it comes to an all-around, soft or hard, fast or slow-type hunting bullet. That said, I would have few qualms about using it for moose if it was a comfortable "go-to" for me. (I happen to have a different "go-to" for my '06 which is probably neither better nor worse overall.) Chasing infinite betterments isn't always a better idea, though it can be fun if you enjoy that sort of thing and have enough time and resources to do it properly.