Reloading The .30-06 Rifle

Left to right:--170 gr. FN -- 180 gr. RN -- 220 gr. RN -- 30-06 with 180 gr. RN
-- 30-06 Military FMJ -- 180 gr. SP -- 150 gr. SP

(FN=Flat Nose, SP= Spire Point,
HP= Hollow Point, RN= Round Nose)
JHP= Jacketed Hollow Point, FMJ=Full Metal Jacket)

Loads for .30-06 Rifle:

(Note: These are near maximum loads, you should use 10% less to start.)
(See note on Powders below or read all about various Powders.)
Bullet is .308" diameter. Due to different barrel lengths, type of bullet, seating depth, primer type and other factors, you may not get near the FPS charted. It is just a guide and the reason you should start under these charges and work up.

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100 grain Plinker (Cup Jacket with lead nose)
    IMR 4895     56.0 gr.   3,276 FPS
    IMR 3031     48.0 gr.   3,017
    Reloader 11  50.0 gr.   3,154
    2400         31.0 gr.   2,825
-----------------------------------------
110 grain JSP (Hornady Jacketed Spire Point)
    IMR 4895     54.5 gr.   3,265 FPS
    H4895        54.0 gr.   3,343
    IMR 3031     56.0 gr.   3,365
    Reloader 7   45.0 gr.   3,145
    Reloader 15  58.6 gr.   3,465
    2400         30.9 gr.   2,715
    H380         58.0 gr.   3,311
    A2230        57.0 gr.   3,385
    A2460        58.5 gr.   3,421
    748          52.7 gr.   3,230
    760          59.0 gr.   3,210
-----------------------------------------
125 grain JSP (Sierra Spitzer Point)
    IMR 4895     53.0 gr.   3,176 FPS
    H4895        53.0 gr.   3,176
    Reloader 7   42.0 gr.   2,915
    Reloader 15  56.8 gr.   3,275
    2400         30.0 gr.   2,575
    H380         56.0 gr.   3,151
    A2230        53.3 gr.   3,172
    A2460        53.5 gr.   3,125
    748          51.0 gr.   3,060
    760          57.8 gr.   3,125
-----------------------------------------
150 grain JSP (Spitzer or Spire Point)
    IMR 4895     49.5 gr.   2,845 FPS
    IMR 4895     48.5 gr.   2,731 (in bolt action rifle)
      (Hi=2791, Lo=2628, ES 162.9 fps)
    H4895        49.0 gr.   2,932
    IMR 3031     49.5 gr.   2,850
    2400         29.4 gr.   2,330
    Reloader 7   43.8 gr.   2,780
    Reloader 15  53.6 gr.   3,005
    H380         54.0 gr.   2,921
    A2230        49.4 gr.   2,865
    A2460        49.5 gr.   2,862
    748          48.0 gr.   2,810
    760          54.0 gr.   2,900
-----------------------------------------
165 grain JSP (Spitzer or Spire Point)
    IMR 4895     46.5 gr.   ----- FPS
    H4895        48.0 gr.   2,932
    IMR 3031     47.0 gr.   -----
    2400         29.2 gr.   2,295
    Reloader 7   40.5 gr.   2,610
    Reloader 15  50.5 gr.   2,835
    H380         52.0 gr.   2,792
    A2230        46.0 gr.   2,663
    A2460        46.7 gr.   2,659
-----------------------------------------
170 grain (use amounts for 165 gr. bullet)
-----------------------------------------
180 grain JSP (Spitzer or Spire Point) or JRN
    IMR 4895     43.5 gr.   2,520 FPS
    H4895        44.0 gr.   2,600
    IMR 3031     44.5 gr.   2,540
    2400         28.2 gr.   2,210
    Reloader 7   39.8 gr.   2,505
    Reloader 15  48.5 gr.   2,720
    H380         51.0 gr.   2,702
    A2230        44.0 gr.   2,568
    A2460        45.8 gr.   2,563
    748          45.0 gr.   2,540
    760          53.0 gr.   2,725
-----------------------------------------
200 grain JSP (Spitzer or Spire Point) or JRN
    IMR 4895     43.0 gr.   2,445 FPS
    H4895        43.0 gr.   -----
    IMR 3031     44.5 gr.   2,450
    Reloader 12  44.8 gr.   2,440
    Reloader 15  46.0 gr.   2,505
    A2230        43.5 gr.   2,386
    A2460        44.5 gr.   2,429
    WMR          55.7 gr.   2,435
    760          49.0 gr.   2,470
-----------------------------------------
220 grain JSP (Spitzer or Spire Point) or JRN
    IMR 4895     40.5 gr.   2,230 FPS
    H450*        57.0 gr.   2,423
    IMR 3031     42.5 gr.   2,300
    A2230        42.5 gr.   2,248
    A2460        43.0 gr.   2,268
    WMR          55.7 gr.   2,380
    760          49.0 gr.   2,370
* use magnum primers
-----------------------------------------

Discussion: IMR 3031 is a faster burning powder than IMR 4895, so you use less of it for similar volocities. I have listed powders of Hodgdon, Alliant and Accurate also. Use which ever you have handy. Slow burning powders generally work better in longer barrels and heavier bullets. 30-06 Cases will stretch, especially with hot loads, and you definitely need to check each in a case length guage and trim off excess brass. Of course, discard any cases that show a split anywhere on the case. For hunting at long distances with an unobstructed view, you should choose the spire point with a soft lead tip. For hunting at shorter ranges in brush, as is common in the woods of Alabama, you should choose a round nose bullet. They are less easily deflected and/or deformed by brush that you may be shooting through. The flat nose bullet is used especially in tubular fed magazines to prevent pressure on the primer in the cartridge above it.
There are a number of other high performance bullets on the market. The "boattail" is a very good long range target match bullet. It has very good wind performance. If you are shooting for precision, you should weight each powder charge and put exactly the same amount in each case. Each case should be exactly on specs and the bullet should not be crimped into the case. (These bullets don't normally have a crimp ring anyhow)

There is still much military ammo on the market, including the red tipped "Tracer" round. There is a blob of red phosphor on the back end of the bullet that burns. You can see the red dot heading for the target. A caution: clean the bore of the gun very good after firing tracer rounds in it.
Another military round is the armor piercing (black tipped) round. It has a hardened steel core inside the copper jacket, and it will penetrate an engine block or moderately heavy steel. If you can find an old junk car somewhere, it's interesting to see just what parts of the car it will penetrate, and how far it will go.

Actually ALL 30 cal. bullets are .308 in diameter.

*
#2400, Reloader 7, 11, 12, and 15 are products of Alliant (formerly Hercules) Powders.
H380, H450 and H4895 are products of Hodgdon Powders.
IMR 3031 and IMR 4895 are products of IMR (formerly DuPont) Powder Company.
No. 2, No. 5, #2230, and #2460 are products of Accurate Arms Company
WMR, WSF, WSL, 760, 748, 231 and 540 are products of Winchester, Components Div.

References: Accurate Arms Co. 1996 Reloading booklet - - Alliant Powder Co. Reloaders' Guide (1995) - - Hodgdon's Basic Reloaders Manual (1996) - - Speer Reloading Manual, #12 - - Winchester Reloading Components Manual, 14th edition - - Lyman Piston & Revolver Reloading Handbook, 2nd edition. - - VihtaVuori Oy Company, reloading booklet (1995) - - Numerous magazine articles on reloading special calibers and personal loads where noted.

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