30-06 165gr Hunting Loads

[MikeT49]

A bud is getting into reloading rifle cartridges. He has acquired a bolt action .243 and 30-06. He thinks that's all he will ever need , well OK, heh, heh, heh!! I was going to do a 30-06 and had stuff he could use. I have not loaded for a 30-06. What I had to give him was 165gr Nosler Partitions, 165gr Speer Hot Cor, !65gr Sierra Pro Hunters, brass, primers and dies. I have most of the suitable IMR and H powders to give him, don't have any VV. I did give him some IMR4350, 4064 and some Varget. However any powder will be considered. Looking for suggestions for a accurate hunting load with those 165gr bullets. He is tighter than Fort Knox so if the powder suggested will also work with the 243, all the better. He has no idea of the rabbit hole he is headed down. He called me yesterday and says "Holy shit!, just spent $500 on reloading stuff". I just kinda chuckled and said something like "sounds like you're off to a good start". "Oh no" he says, "I'm only gonna do 30-06 and 243.". This should be very entertaining.. So what you guys got for 165gr 30-06 hunting loads? Thanks, Mike

Edit; loads will be for medium size game up to and including elk. No more than 250 yards.

 

[COhunter]

Rem 700 30-06, these loads are for my gun and work well, and you know the old adage, work up in yours. Great old workhorse round with lots of history

Win Brass
CCI 200
165gr Speer GS
62gr 4831sc
3.165 OAL

Win Brass
CCI 200
165gr SGK
54gr RL-19
3.300 OAL

 

[3Sigma]

165gr Sierra Game King
Old Hornady Brass marked Frontier
Win LRP
56.5 I4350
3.3 OAL

Really, the IMR4350 is the ticket IMHO, anywhere from 52 to 57gr depending on the rifle.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

I saw all the powders you gave him on the shelf today at lgs, lower cost powder that is also easily available Hunter and Big Game. The Speer hot core has a wide seating depth range in my experience.

 

[Mark W]

IMR 4064 works really good for me with 165 grain bullets.

 

[MikeT49]

Brain fart, forgot I also have enough extra Reloder 15, 16, 17, 23 and 26.

 

[WyleWD]

4064 and/or H4350 should work very well in either or both of them. Varget might work too, but hunting it down is a PIA. JME. WD

 

[Gary in MD]

He can use either IMR or H4350 with the 243 or 30-06 and be done with his powder search. Help him find an accurate load and go hunting. I’ve used both in the 243 and ‘06 and best accuracy was near maximum loads in both cartridges. Any of those hunting bullets will do fine. No reason for him to over complicate things at this point.

 

[jr600yd]

165 SGK
61 grs R-23
Winchester Brass
Federal 210 Primer

like the others say, starl low and work up.

 

[David Milisock]

A bud is getting into reloading rifle cartridges. He has acquired a bolt action .243 and 30-06. He thinks that's all he will ever need , well OK, heh, heh, heh!! I was going to do a 30-06 and had stuff he could use. I have not loaded for a 30-06. What I had to give him was 165gr Nosler Partitions, 165gr Speer Hot Cor, !65gr Sierra Pro Hunters, brass, primers and dies. I have most of the suitable IMR and H powders to give him, don't have any VV. I did give him some IMR4350, 4064 and some Varget. However any powder will be considered. Looking for suggestions for a accurate hunting load with those 165gr bullets. He is tighter than Fort Knox so if the powder suggested will also work with the 243, all the better. He has no idea of the rabbit hole he is headed down. He called me yesterday and says "Holy shit!, just spent $500 on reloading stuff". I just kinda chuckled and said something like "sounds like you're off to a good start". "Oh no" he says, "I'm only gonna do 30-06 and 243.". This should be very entertaining.. So what you guys got for 165gr 30-06 hunting loads? Thanks, Mike

Edit; loads will be for medium size game up to and including elk. No more than 250 yards.

The 30/06 is not just some girl at a dance she's a versatile lady. What barrel length, what action?

Bolt actions (modern), shorter barrels ( 20" to 22") with the 165 grain 4895 as the fastest powder and Winchester 760 as the slowest, most any in between can be used 4350 is popular with those barrel lengths, consult a burn rate chart. About 45 grains to start of 4895 (max around 48 grains) and about 54 grains of 760 to start, (max 60.5 grains).

Longer barrels 23" out to 28", powders as slow as IMR 4350, Reloder 19, H4831 SC or Reloader 22 can be effective. I've had really good results with 26" barrels and H4831SC with charges from 56.5 grains to 61 grains max. I've achieved great accuracy and velocities exceeding the old 300 Winchester magnum factory loads.

 

[MikeT49]

He can use either IMR or H4350 with the 243 or 30-06 and be done with his powder search. Help him find an accurate load and go hunting. I’ve used both in the 243 and ‘06 and best accuracy was near maximum loads in both cartridges. Any of those hunting bullets will do fine. No reason for him to over complicate things at this point.

This was one question he asked. Why not one powder for both? He is a penny pincher. If he could figure out how to reuse toilet paper, he would. Still has the quarters his mom gave him to put in the offering plate at church every week. He has not shot anything much bigger than a 30-30. I suspect he is not going to like the 30-06 recoil. Yes, he could use one of the range's loaner lead sleds if necessary, but kinda heavy to carry later while hunting. The quicker he can hit on a hunting accurate 30-06 load (say 1MOA) would probably be good.
When he first got his 243, I did up a load for his gun with 70 SBKs using Varget. It's very accurate. That's why I gave him the Varget. He still needs to do 243 heavy bullets. I've done a lot of 243 reloading, sorta got that covered. I did research the 30-06, hence the IMR 4064 and 4350 I gave him. I'm somewhat ignorant of the 30-06. This is why I have asked you guys, the "Pros from Dover".
Both guns are 22" sporter bolt actions. I would still like your 165 gr pet hunting loads. I do know how to work up .
My cheap ass buddy would love it if he could use one powder for 30-06 165gr and 243 85gr to 100gr. For the 243 I have enough 85 NPs, 85 SGKs, 87 Bergers, 90 TGKs, 95 NPs, or 100 NPs to provide his needs.
Thanks for all the responses, my bud told me to tell you guys thanks.
Bottom line, two questions: Best 165 gr 30-06 hunting load with the bullets he has? and one powder for both 30-06 and 243 heavies?

 

[3Sigma]

Imr 4350 or H4350 and move on

 

[areaone]

57 gr. IMR 4350, cci200, 165 gr whatever shoots. 30 06. Done deal.

 

[gutpile271]

46.5 imr 4895,cci 200,165 sierra game king. Mild recoil and good accuracy.

 

[std7mag]

The 4350s should work well with the 06' & 165gr bullets.

And they are a good place to start with the 243 Win using heavier bullets.

But from my experience, heavies in 243 like slower powders.

Also make him aware the 4350s are not the same.

 

[DGP4]

With 165 grain SGKs, my lengthy testing resulted in the best 3 powders in order of performance as W760, H4350 and RL19. This out of a Remington 721. I have not tried RL15, but a friend of mine swears by it in his 30.06 loads.

 

[Gary in MD]

In my Cooper 30-06
58 grains of H4350 & a 165 clocks in at 2870 fps and is accurate.
61 grains of H4350 and a 150 grain ballistic tip is accurate and gets about 3030 fps.
Suggest starting a little lower.
He will have to try a few loads in his rifle to see what shoots good.
StaBall6.5 is working well in my Sako 30-06
Good luck

 

[K22]

I would say your friend is off on the right foot, you can't go wrong with a 243 and the Great 30 06.

The Great 06 tolerates a bunch of powders quite well but for that bullet weight, I had great results with IMR 4350. This powder also works very well with the 243, especially with bullet weights over 80 grains.

My best friend took a 5x4 Elk this fall with an old beat-up level action 308 using 165 grain Accubond bullets. One shot kill at about 175 yards on a spot and stalk hunt.

Being frugal is a virtue but may be at cross purposes in the shooting sports.

 

[Capt. Oblivious]

If I could only use one powder for the 2 of them it would be VV N160

 

[msalm]

When I first started reloading at 16 or 17, I had to learn by reading all the manuals, gun rags at the time, etc…. Anyway IMR 4350 was supposed to be THE ticket…put a lot of time getting that powder to shoot okay, but my rifle really started shooting well when I tried the IMR 4064. No chrony back then, but I do remember the sub 3/4 MOA groups my Win 70 started shooting with 4064 and 165gr Sierra SBT’s