Roll your own for 30-06

[Mossy]

My new Tika T3 lite stainless is all mounted up so my hunting buddy wants to know what I want loaded up. He recommends imr 4831 and a round nose bullet but he owns a 700 mountain rifle. I've always ran factory core lokts in my other rifles so I have no experience with custom loads.  Any suggestions on powder, primer, bullet and weight? 

[hunterrcc]

I have been shooting 150 grain hornady, sst I think they are called the red ballistic tip.  They shoot super tight groups and are a factor load.  They have devastating holes in both deer, elk and bear.  If you don't want to reload they are good shooting for the tika t3 stainless barrel that is the exact gun I have.  Good luck.

My new Tika T3 lite stainless is all mounted up so my hunting buddy wants to know what I want loaded up. He recommends imr 4831 and a round nose bullet but he owns a 700 mountain rifle. I've always ran factory core lokts in my other rifles so I have no experience with custom loads.  Any suggestions on powder, primer, bullet and weight?

[wheels]

165 interlocks hornady  54 grains of 4350 great multi use round

[Mossy]

165 interlocks hornady  54 grains of 4350 great multi use round
[/quote

I've been reading that 4350 is pretty popular for the 30-06. Can you explain what an interlock does?

[bobcat]

4831 will work in a 30/06 but a faster burning powder is better in my opinion. I use H4350, but IMR 4350 and H414 are a couple other powders I would consider using.

Bullets- lots of options but with the shortages right now you can't be too picky. But there's no sense in handicapping yourself with a round nose bullet. I'd recommend Nosler Accubonds if you can find them. The weight doesn't matter a whole lot. For deer 150's are good and for elk 180's. 165 grain is a good compromise and will work well for anything.

Primers, I like Winchester WLR primers but again, you pretty much have to use what's available. CCI or Federal are good too.

One last thought that just occurred to me- your rifle is a Tikka so it's light. You might want to start with 150 grain bullets to keep the recoil to a minimum. Those heavy 180 grain bullets will thump you pretty hard in that lightweight rifle.

[Mossy]

4831 will work in a 30/06 but a faster burning powder is better in my opinion. I use H4350, but IMR 4350 and H414 are a couple other powders I would consider using.

Bullets- lots of options but with the shortages right now you can't be too picky. But there's no sense in handicapping yourself with a round nose bullet. I'd recommend Nosler Accubonds if you can find them. The weight doesn't matter a whole lot. For deer 150's are good and for elk 180's. 165 grain is a good compromise and will work well for anything.

Primers, I like Winchester WLR primers but again, you pretty much have to use what's available. CCI or Federal are good too.

One last thought that just occurred to me- your rifle is a Tikka so it's light. You might want to start with 150 grain bullets to keep the recoil to a minimum. Those heavy 180 grain bullets will thump you pretty hard in that lightweight rifle.

Thanks for the info. I understand that recoil with be pretty well felt even though I plan on installing a limbsaver. I'm not sure what the difference will be between that setup and my usual 7mm rifle model 70. I think there's a local store that carries(d) those accubonds a few months back so I'll check them out.

[grundy53]

4831 will work in a 30/06 but a faster burning powder is better in my opinion. I use H4350, but IMR 4350 and H414 are a couple other powders I would consider using.

Bullets- lots of options but with the shortages right now you can't be too picky. But there's no sense in handicapping yourself with a round nose bullet. I'd recommend Nosler Accubonds if you can find them. The weight doesn't matter a whole lot. For deer 150's are good and for elk 180's. 165 grain is a good compromise and will work well for anything.

Primers, I like Winchester WLR primers but again, you pretty much have to use what's available. CCI or Federal are good too.

One last thought that just occurred to me- your rifle is a Tikka so it's light. You might want to start with 150 grain bullets to keep the recoil to a minimum. Those heavy 180 grain bullets will thump you pretty hard in that lightweight rifle.

  imr4350 and accubonds for me.

sent from my typewriter

[C-Money]

IMR 4350 is about as good of a 30-06 powder as you can get. I use 59gr IMR 4350, with a 150gr Interlock bullet, CCI 200 large rifle primer. Many deer and one spike bull have fallen to this load. Very deadly. Be sure to work your way up to the 59gr mark, as some rifles are different. 59gr is a max load in my reloading manual.

[lokidog]

Another vote for IMR4350, I've fired the same load out of at least three different guns and got great performance with each: 56.5 gr with pretty much any 165 gr bullet, but I haven't shot the longer all Cu ones.  This, I think would be a very compressed load if I recall correctly.  It has been a few years since I have done any reloading though.

[JLS]

Bobcat is right, no reason to use a round nose bullet in that gun.

I use H414 with good results, and have also used IMR 4350 with good results.  I prefer a 150 grain Barnes TSX bullet for the '06.  It will kill anything you'll shoot at in Washington, or the Lower 48 for that matter.

[tonymiller7]

IMR 4350 and Acuubonds anywhere from 150-180.

[wadu1]

IMR 4350 is my fall back powder, I use "Vihtavuori N133" and Barns EXP 150 or 180 in both the 30-06 and .308. I can also use the same powder for my .223 and 45-70. 

[Hornseeker]

For 20 years I've used IMR and H 4831... and am now pretty much using H4831SC... 59.5 grains pushing a 168 grain Barnes TTSX... have loved that load for a long time now.

Not sure what his theory is on the round nose bullet... 

[Mossy]

For 20 years I've used IMR and H 4831... and am now pretty much using H4831SC... 59.5 grains pushing a 168 grain Barnes TTSX... have loved that load for a long time now.

Not sure what his theory is on the round nose bullet... 

He has apparently hit a few limbs in his lifetime so he figures a round nose won't deflect as much.

[woodswalker]

I have used IMR or Hogdons 4350 and a 165 grain bullet for my 30-06 loads for only 35 years or so....seems to work well.

Other things i have tried with varying success are H414 and 4831 (IMR or H) with a 180 grain.  With the 180 grain and 4831 i dont think you can FIT enough powder into it to do any serious damage to the rifle.

Find the powder/bullet that works well for you and buy enough components to load it for a decade....buy it up and stack them deep.