A good 30-06 Powder

[Cpanic222]

Hey I am new to reloading and was hoping that someone could recommend a good powder to do some hunting rounds with. I have heard that the IMR4350 is a good place to start. Any Opinions? Please.

[300winmag]

IMR4350 good powder, loads ranging from 130gr bullets to 220gr. bullets
300winmag

[runfiverun]

that and rl-19,4831,4895.
rl-19 is a pain to meter out and i weigh all loads from it, but it has been very accurate with 150 and 165 gr bullets.
it has done very well in 3 different 0-6's iv'e loaded for.

[versifier]

... and there's IMR 3031 & 4064, too.

But, the only opinion that really matters is your rifle's. I know the list of appropriate powders is rather lengthy and that can be intimidating when you're starting out. The reason the list is so long is that there are a lot of powders that work well in someone's -06. Your rifle will likely perform well with several of them. Remember also that if the first one you try doesn't give you hoped for results, it might be the bullet and not the powder, so be sure to try more than one brand of bullet as well as more than one weight before you write off the powder. I'd try 150 & 165gr bullets from several different companies, like for instance Sierra, Hornady, Speer, and/or Remington. FWIW, it is a rare rifle IME that won't shoot Sierra GK's or PH's well (not always THE most accurate, but 90+% of the time in the top two choices). YMMV. Like with women, some rifles can be very picky about what gets put into them, others will be much easier to live with and be happy with a wider range of choices.

Here are three things you can think about...

First, the bullet weight(s) you're going to use. With the two most common for the -06, 150 & 165gr, any of those suggested will be a good place to start. All of those powders are also fairly versatile and will work in most any medium capacity cartridge (.308 & -06 family), so if your -06 doesn't like the first one you try, odds are one of your other rifles will do just fine with it.

Second, finding your rifle's favorite powder for a given bullet will be a matter of trial and error and you really can't go by what works best in someone else's rifles (it might work out that way, but you can't predict it in advance).

Third, when there's a long list of possible powders and the cartridge is one I don't have a lot of experience with, I will choose three, one from the slow end of the list, one from the middle, and one from the fast end.

After you've been at it a few years, it won't be so big an issue as you will have a collection of different powders on hand from experimenting with different rifles and bullets. It's still a roll of the dice for each rifle and bullet, but the cash outlay is less and you'll have all of them already on your shelf to try first.

[Cpanic222]

Guys this is some awesome information. I have been looking for a little while on my own and this is the best resource so far. I am shooting a 30-06 A bolt with a BOSS. From the info I have collected I have heard the boss will work with a wide variety of loads. But everything I own is picky so there is just no telling. Thanks again for the info.

[versifier]

Pass the can opener please. I have a can of worms to open up.

While the BOSS may sometimes be a godsend for those who have no choice but shooting factory ammo, they can be extremely frustrating to deal with as a handloader. Varying the powder charge does the same thing: changes barrel harmonics, and using the BOSS is a much cruder method. It basically adds an uncontrollable variable every time you touch it, so be very patient with it. You will hear a lot on negative comments from handloaders, but occasionally you find someone on whom the loading gods have smiled and finds that his BOSS has tightened up his groups wonderfully. Rifles without the BOSS system can be tuned the same way by adjusting the pressure point in the barrel channel back and forth.

I have worked with three of them.

The most recent was on a 7mag and the owner had me remove it then shorten and recrown the barrel. After several hundred test loads. MOA without vs. 2-3MOA with.

The second was on a .270 that was extremely accurate once the BOSS was removed and is now used as a paperweight. .5MOA without vs. 3-5MOA with. He doesn't care about exposed threads or how the rifle looks - he has never needed a second shot on any game he has fired it at from woodchucks up to moose.

I can't remember what the first rifle was chambered for (.30cal is all I remember and it was when they first came out, back before god had to shave) and we were what I figured was about halfway through load development when the owner got sick of it and sold the rifle. He was an "instant gratification" kind of guy who never listens to anyone anyway, so I'll never know if it worked well on that rifle or not, but we had some promising loads that were "hunting accurate" (2-2.5"@100yds). He wanted his hunting rifle to be a match rifle and figured that if he had $1000+ in it, then it ought to shoot as well as he had dreamed. That was the best of the three with BOSS in place and I was sure I could get the groups down at least another inch, but was never given the chance. I was only keeping records back then of what I was loading for my own guns, and not always then - I started recording everything about twenty years back.

OTOH I know four hunters who use factory ammo exclusively and love their Wins and Brownings with BOSSes and wouldn't sell them for their weight in gold. They are all happy with 2-3" 100yd groups with BOSS adjusted which cut their unadjusted factory groups down from 6"+.

I think it has a lot to do with preconceived expectations. While some factory hunting rifles are tack drivers, most are not but still more than adequate for their designed purpose. I find it easier to adjust the harmonics by raising or lowering the optimal charge weight in .5gr increments, and would suggest that you try this: work up the load, then play with the BOSS (but make sure you mark your starting point). When you think you've gone as far as you can with it, then tweak the charge by .5gr in each direction and see if it makes a positive difference. Be patient. Let us know how you make out and don't be hesitant to experiment. You may very well hit upon a really good method that I have not thought of and that everyone can benefit from. Sometimes a fresh mind and a fresh approach to a problem can make all the difference.

[Cpanic222]

With factory ammo with the BOSS I shoot with-in a quarter size group at 100. It took work to get it there but it will do it. My thought process is that if I can get that out of it I want to be able to get a dime size group out of it. I'll keep y'all updated.

[runfiverun]

you aren't opening no worms here.

i always looked at the boss as a muzzle brake that put tension on the bbl much like a dan wesson.
I only take my wesson bbls off to clean them [which isn't often] or to change the length.
when i put them back on i tighten by hand till they touch the cylinder and rotate it [the cylinder] then back it off a half turn and put the shroud and nut on.
i tighten the bbl down to a witness mark i have on the muzzle.
i don't fiddle with it. i do load development.
if i had a boss i'd do the same thing tighten it by hand [snug] and leave it.
if i had a decent load that was round then i'd back it off a hair.
or go all the way out then tighten it a hair.

anyways, iv'e found when doind accuracy development that targeting a velocity works best for me.
the 0-6 is right about 2800 fps.
then trying a couple of brands of bullets.
then tweaking the winner up and down a bit load wise,then trying a bit different oal,and finally primers.

[XR680R]

The easiest power to get great results in most 10-1 twist rate rifles with 150 grain bullets would be IMR 4064 @ 51.4~52 grains and Reloader 19 @ up to 61 grains max. I use these powders on up to 168 grain bullets (46 grains IMR4064) and then I switch to AA3100 @ 55.6 grains or IMR-4350 @ 56 grains. These loads worked real well on two different Winchester M-70 riffles. We had better luck with H4831, for 150 grain (60 grains) and Reloader 22 (56 grains) on 180 grain bullets on the Ruger and Savage 116 rifles.

[Recluse]

Hey I am new to reloading and was hoping that someone could recommend a good powder to do some hunting rounds with. I have heard that the IMR4350 is a good place to start. Any Opinions? Please.

IMR4350 and IMR4985 are the only two powders I will use for 30-06 reloading anymore. With the 4350, I get sub-MOA with my Savage 110B.

.270 is very similar to 30-06, and with IMR4895, we get sub-MOA with the Rem 700.

They are two excellent, excellent powders that you give enough variance in charge (weight) to absolutely fine-tune your load specific to the bullet you're using for that particular gun.