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My recent reading suggest the 30-06 cartridge is happiest with a barrel that
is 24 inches or longer. I'm starting to work up a load for a Model 700 ADL that
was produced with a 22" barrel. I'm concerned about complete powder burn,
velocity, and pressure. Should I use a slow powder with a hot primer or a fairly
fast powder with a standard primer?
It depends on hat weight bullet you plan on using. FRankly a 22" barel is just fine even with the slower powders suitable for the 30-06. I have several rifles in 30-06 and most have 22" barrels. One does have a 24" barrel but it's a custom designed for a special purpose. About the only way you might fight one with 26" barrel is with a Ruger #1B or 1917 Enfield. in a custom where the barrel hasn'r been shortened.
Assuming you plan on using a 180 gr, bullet, for example, suitable powders would be something like H414, W760 (same powder just different name or one of the 4350's. I theory, you gain or lose about 25 FPS for every inch in length depending on whether you're shortening the barrel or having a longer custom put on the gun.
I once did a chronograph test of a factory 180 gr. load advertised to do 2700 FPS. From a 22" barel, I got 2610 FPS, the 24" barrel 2650 FPS and in thee 26" barreled Ruger #1 2690 FPS. This was on a relatively hot day with the temperature in the low 90's. This was fresh factory ammo and it took that long barrel to come close to advertised speeds.
Most people, I think prefer to convenience of the shorter 22" barrel for a 30-06 and I believe with very few exceptions that's what you're going to find from most store bought rifles. Most people think IMR4350 is one of the best choices for the 06 and H414/W760 is also very good. My rifles don't seem to like the 4350's so I've been using W760. So far I've just been using standard Winchester primers and they do the job just fine.
My custom 30-06 has a 24" barrel with a non-standard 1 in 12" twist. It was made up to shoot mostly cast bullets but contrary to what the "Egg-Spurts" in the gun rags say, it will stabilize 220 gr. bullets just fine.
THe 30-06 is not loaded to it's full potential due to the fact there are some older weak guns chambered to the round. The low numbered 1903 Springfields and 1895 Winchesters immediately come to mind so ammo and load ata is kept to a safe level because of those guns. I do not recommend going past load manual levels until you gain a lot of experience reading pressure signs. Some laods for the 06 flat out scare me. A prime example is IMR4895 with a 150 gr. bullet. When I first started loading for the 06, I used IMR495 and the 150 gr. Sierra. After many years of losing mangled meat I went to the 180 gr. Sierra ad H4831 and was there for a long time. Finally, I bought a chronograph and decided to see what that 4895/150 gr. load did. I shot the load in the very same rifle that I originally worked the load up an it locked the bolt up solid. That load was TWO full grains below the maximum in three manuals. I broke the rest of that ammo down and weighed the charges and they were spot on the money.
It would have been a great help if you'd stated what weight bullet you planned using and for what purpose. Hunting? Targets? Just general all round use?
Paul B.
Beyond finding exactly what the rifle shoots best, don't give it a second thought. It's up to the rifle what it shoots best and how fast, your job is to experiment until it tells you. Short barrel, long barrel, they use all the same powders and it's always a roll of the dice which one will shoot most accurately (and what bullet) in any individual barrel. No dead deer I'm aware of has ever been any more dead if the bullet that killed it was going 2200, 2500, 2700, or 3000fps. Placement (accuracy) not velocity is the key to quick clean kills. Best accuracy for a powder/bullet combination often comes somewhere in the middle of the charge table, not at the top end. There are some exceptions to this, but it generally holds true. Velocity with the same components varies greatly from barrel to barrel, as does accuracy, which IMO renders the whole concept of "pet loads" a load of manure (if it were true we'd never be able to do better than factory ammo). What good is the fastest load you can squeeze out of a long barrel if it prints a shotgun pattern instead of a group @ 100yds? If my 24' barrel shoots its best groups around 26 or 2700fps, then that's what I go with, that's why they make adjustable sights. My rifles tend to prefer IMR 3031, 4064, 4895 and Sierra or my own cast bullets. That does not mean yours will, that's why there is a list of appropriate powders as long as your arm for the -06. Some rifles do better with slower powders, some with faster, and the barrel length is mostly irrelevant. Generally I think you're always better off with a standard primer unless loading density is very low (charge takes up less than 50% of available volume in the case) or you have a much larger capacity case than the -06.
How do you determine "complete powder burn"? In the extreme, if I am using an ultra slow powder like 860 (used for the 50BMG) in a meduim capacity cast for a cast bullet load, there will be a bunch of unburned grains left in the barrel. It has no effect on accuracy. A 30" barrel would probably still have have a few unburned grains. Or if I use a fast powder like Unique for the same bullet, a graph of the chamber pressure curve would likely show most of the charge burnt before the bullet is halfway down the bore. Either way, there are only two ways I can evaluate the load in the real world: chrono for velocity, and measure the size of the group. If I am punching paper I will choose the smaller group. If I am hunting, both loads will be eliminated by their low velocities. That example is a lot more extreme that working up a load for a jacketed bullet, but it clearly illustrates the point. In the real world with a rifle new-to-me, I like to choose three powders from the charge table, fast, medium, and slow, and several weights of bullet from those commonly used for it and see where they take me. I will almost always start with components I have on hand, even if it is just to eliminate them through testing in my search for "the load" for that individual rifle.
Nah don'tworryaboudit. IMR 4350. Kills like the hammer of Thor in 150, and 165.
Your only job is to put the little hole in the correct spot on the deer.