Epic? 06 loads

L

lve2143

Very Active Member
Messages
2,869
I have an ancient 25-06 that has served
me well for many years.
It's seen it's day.
I'm going to rebarrel, and am considering going .30-06.

Never owned one.

I'll handload, so I'd like to hear some loads. I'll probably concentrate on 165 grain bullets; but I'm open to suggestions.
 
never had one, but a gunsmith friend of mine who I respect a lot says a 30-06 is one of the most overlooked cartridges today, he says with today's powder and bullet selections its awesome and would be his choice for a hunting cartridge.

he was talking last weekend about using 180gr bullets in a 30-06 with 59gr of powder and getting 2,950 fps, sorry I don't remember the powder though
 
Definitely best all around cartridge.
That Smith is very right about the performance with today's powders.
With a good 24" barrel it will certainly make some velocity.
It won't push heavy 200gr. bullets like the .300 win mag can, but it will be close with the 150-180s out to 400 yrds.
 
If going 30-06 I'd use the Serengeti reamer designed by German Salazar. Setup very well especially for 180gr bullets.
 
He did like the 30-06. I came close to buying his single shot m700, 30-06 when he was starting to spend less time shooting.
 
>If handloading I'd go 6.5-06 or
>6.5-280AI. Nothing wrong with a
>30-06 though.

I agree ^^^ but then I'm kind of partial to those.

Nothing wrong with the '06 but yet in 52+ years of big game hunting, I've never shot an animal with one.

Me, myself & I felt there were more appropriate chamberings for deer and others more appropriate for elk so I've skipped over the '06 for hunting, yet I've owned and shot several.

I'm sure some guys have used the '06 successfully. LOL LOL

Zeke

#livelikezac
 
Most people think the '06 is boring these days. If you really want to sex it up do what I did and go with a 30-06 ackley and 26" barrel. Your rifle will hold one more round in the magazine than a magnum does. You will duplicate most factory 300 win mag rounds and factory 300 wsm loads as well.

You reload so you won't be trimming brass much with an Ackley if at all. SAAMI max pressure specs for the 30-06 are 60,000 psi because of 100 year old rifles out there. If you look at more modern chamberings like the .270 winchester SAAMI specs are 65,000psi so you can reload to higher pressures than factory ammo which are loaded below max to begin with (you can reload standard 30-06 to perform much better than factory ammo also). Some folks will claim you don't gain much with the 30-06 Ackley, most of them have never owned one or are regurgitating decades old info when there weren't nearly the powder choices we have now.

I love my '06 Ackley and here are the reasons I have one.

It's sexy as hell
No brass trimming
Brass is prolific and cheap
You can still fire standard 30-06 ammo
holds more rounds than a magnum rifle
Increased performance
No one else in deer camp has one

I also have a .375 h&h Ackley and I love that too. My next one will be a 6.5-06 Ackley
 
>Most people think the '06 is
>boring these days. If you
>really want to sex it
>up do what I did
>and go with a 30-06
>ackley and 26" barrel. Your
>rifle will hold one more
>round in the magazine than
>a magnum does. You will
>duplicate most factory 300 win
>mag rounds and factory 300
>wsm loads as well.
>
>You reload so you won't be
>trimming brass much with an
>Ackley if at all. SAAMI
>max pressure specs for the
>30-06 are 60,000 psi because
>of 100 year old rifles
>out there. If you look
>at more modern chamberings like
>the .270 winchester SAAMI specs
>are 65,000psi so you can
>reload to higher pressures than
>factory ammo which are loaded
>below max to begin with
>(you can reload standard 30-06
>to perform much better than
>factory ammo also). Some folks
>will claim you don't gain
>much with the 30-06 Ackley,
>most of them have never
>owned one or are regurgitating
>decades old info when there
>weren't nearly the powder choices
>we have now.
>
>I love my '06 Ackley and
>here are the reasons I
>have one.
>
>It's sexy as hell
>No brass trimming
>Brass is prolific and cheap
>You can still fire standard 30-06
>ammo
>holds more rounds than a magnum
>rifle
>Increased performance
>No one else in deer camp
>has one
>




Amen to that!

My lil brother used one for years and years. 2 or 3 of his wild sheep have been taken with the '06 Ackley. That damn thing shot like few others....until he finally burned it out (which happens to them all if you shoot enough). Now it sports a new barrel and it's a 280 AI sitting in my safe and it's killed my most recent ram about 3 years ago.

Zeke

#livelikezac
 
>Can't go wrong with a good
>30-06.
>Highly recommend 165gr pills. Especially with
>R-17 powder.

Since acquiring my first 06 in the late 70s, I have been primarily an advocate of the 180 grain bullet. Since fooling around with RL 17 and the 165 grain,I've had a change of heart. Don't know about epic,but it's a pretty damn good recipe.
 
2nd that. How many rounds do you think you'd get out of a 30-06 AI barrel assuming you treat it like a magnum and let it cool in between 3-5 shot groups and follow a good cleaning schedule?

Also......30-06 brass is readily available but dont you have to fire form the brass to the rifle? And part two of that question is isn't fire forming bad for the rifle?

Last part of the question.....30-06 vs 30-06 AI....any noticeable recoil difference other than that associated with more powder?
 
dammit deadi.....do you know how much you're going to cost a couple of us now???



497fc2397b939f19.jpg
 
Lol. The next rifle that gets sent to Hart is going to come back as either a 30-06 AI or a 8mm Remmy mag.

I'm thinkin the good ole 06 will be less on the wallet and shoulder.
 
>2nd that. How many rounds do
>you think you'd get out
>of a 30-06 AI barrel
>assuming you treat it like
>a magnum and let it
>cool in between 3-5 shot
>groups and follow a good
>cleaning schedule?
>
>Also......30-06 brass is readily available but
>dont you have to fire
>form the brass to the
>rifle? And part two of
>that question is isn't fire
>forming bad for the rifle?
>
>
>Last part of the question.....30-06 vs
>30-06 AI....any noticeable recoil difference
>other than that associated with
>more powder?

Fire forming brass is done with light powder charges and some form of plug in the brass instead of a bullet. Sometimes cotten, cream of wheat or gritts even is used by many.
So unless someone comes up with a whole new kind of stupid, it won't harm a rifle.
If you for standard 30-06 rounds in the AI chamber it will form them to be loaded as Ackley Improved rounds.
I haven't a clue on barrel life. But typically the AI Chambers actually lower pressures.
So unless hot rodded hard there wouldn't be much difference.
Recoil is very similar in all the Ackley cartridges I have shot. But I don't ever remember seeing a 30-06 AI before and have only heard and read of them. So I certainly haven't fired one myself.
Doubtful that recoil is increased that much.
 
everytime you fire your rifle you are fireforming a brass case.....you are just not moving as much brass or as far.....


You can shoot full bore 300 H&H in a 300 WBY all day long....you can shoot 257 roberts in a 257 AI all day long.....you can shoot properly shortened 50 bmg all day long in a 50 DTC....you can shoot factory 3006 in a 3006 AI all day long......it WILL NOT harm the rifle and is damn near as accurate......when you are done.....you will have wby brass, 257AI brass, 50DTC brass and 3006 AI brass.....etc, etc, etc.....


Don't over think fire forming.....


497fc2397b939f19.jpg
 
So literally....pop a factory or reloaded 30-06 round into a chamber reamed for 30-06 AI, fire the round and that's it? You got yourself an AI brass?
 
LAST EDITED ON Aug-31-19 AT 07:11PM (MST)[p]....the cream of wheat guys are just too cheap to waste bullets.....



497fc2397b939f19.jpg
 
>>2nd that. How many rounds do
>>you think you'd get out
>>of a 30-06 AI barrel
>>assuming you treat it like
>>a magnum and let it
>>cool in between 3-5 shot
>>groups and follow a good
>>cleaning schedule?
>>
>>Also......30-06 brass is readily available but
>>dont you have to fire
>>form the brass to the
>>rifle? And part two of
>>that question is isn't fire
>>forming bad for the rifle?
>>
>>
>>Last part of the question.....30-06 vs
>>30-06 AI....any noticeable recoil difference
>>other than that associated with
>>more powder?
>
>Fire forming brass is done with
>light powder charges and some
>form of plug in the
>brass instead of a bullet.
>Sometimes cotten, cream of wheat
>or gritts even is used
>by many.
>So unless someone comes up with
>a whole new kind of
>stupid, it won't harm a
>rifle.
>If you for standard 30-06 rounds
>in the AI chamber it
>will form them to be
>loaded as Ackley Improved rounds.
>
>I haven't a clue on barrel
>life. But typically the AI
>Chambers actually lower pressures.
>So unless hot rodded hard there
>wouldn't be much difference.
>Recoil is very similar in all
>the Ackley cartridges I have
>shot. But I don't ever
>remember seeing a 30-06 AI
>before and have only heard
>and read of them. So
>I certainly haven't fired one
>myself.
>Doubtful that recoil is increased that
>much.


Thanks Millworks. Though an Elk or deer wouldn't know the differance between a 165 grain Partition fired from a 06 vs. 06 AI, I like the idea if having the only one at camp. Probably similar to the Weatherbys, w/ a 26" barrel you might get 150-200 fps over the standard 06.
 
LAST EDITED ON Aug-31-19 AT 07:23PM (MST)[p]>So literally....pop a factory or reloaded
>30-06 round into a chamber
>reamed for 30-06 AI, fire
>the round and that's it?
>You got yourself an AI
>brass?

yep....go buy 4 boxes of the cheapest ammo you can find that has decent brass and go have fun....


....except.....if you are shooting 3006 reloads that have several firings on them....they might seperate at the base if they have already been thinned in that area ....



497fc2397b939f19.jpg
 
Just fire full house '06 loads or factory '06 loads to fireform. They will shoot just as accurately. Treat them as you would any other round so it's not like you are just wasting ammo while fireforming. You will lose a slight amount of velocity fireforming brass vs. shooting that same round from a standard '06 because of the energy used to expand the brass into the chamber, but it isn't much.

Recoil on an Ackley is slightly more but not enough to worry about.
 
>So literally....pop a factory or reloaded
>30-06 round into a chamber
>reamed for 30-06 AI, fire
>the round and that's it?
>You got yourself an AI
>brass?


Yep, that's all there is to it.
 
>I thought the cream of wheat
>thing was joke?????


Nope, guys use cream of wheat to form cases or to fill a case when it just has a small charge of powder in it.
 
LAST EDITED ON Sep-07-19 AT 08:36PM (MST)[p]I wish I could help Larry....but the only 3006 I reload for is a pistol.....55 grn Varget under a 110 grn ttsx.....under 1" at 100 yards...


any heavier bullets kick painfully....

41994828a2f6b93f94b8a9d4b911d3caa6aae.jpeg


497fc2397b939f19.jpg
 
>I'll ask one last time.
>What's a good load with 165
>grain bullets ??
>
>Jef, good to hear from you
>.


57gr. Reloader 17 with a standard large rifle Winchester primer and any jacketed 165 bullet seated 10 thousands less than maximum magazine length in your rifle.
Start 4-5 grains below and work up in .5 increments. Watching for pressure sighns.
Then gradually seat the bullet deeper by 3-4 thousands towards factory coal and watch for the groups to tighten up or get bigger. Adjusting as needed till it's dialed in.
This load has worked very well in many 30-06 I have loaded for.
I'm gonna bet the AI 06 would like just 4 more grains or so.
 
There is probably more load data available for the 30-06 than any other cartridge. Do you have any reloading manuals? Which 165 grain bullet are you using? Not all bullets are the same.
 

Similar threads

W
Wyoming elk 62
Replies
11
Views
1k
Traveler
T
Sparks Shooter
If you had a Silver State Deer Tag
Replies
30
Views
2k
yotebuster17
yotebuster17

Click-a-Pic ... Details & Bigger Photos

Member Gallery Photos and Videos!

IMG_7487.JPG
IMG_0021.jpeg
2020 solo bc buck.png
IMG_0019.jpeg
IMG_3371.jpeg
Screenshot_20221106_084419.jpg
HUNT0568.JPG
Screenshot_20230117_155522_Gallery.jpg
20231122_181800.jpg
IMG_3576 copy.jpg
ED19C2CB-95C9-4AAD-913A-8AEBE516E354.jpeg
A3603705-D9A4-45AE-A10C-5FC6BE94ADFB.jpeg
Back
Top Bottom