Handloading 06' down...

[Hornseeker]

Anyone want to share some load data for an 06', designed to reduce recoil? I need to work up a load for my old 06' for a gal that is gonna be shooting it this year and she is "afraid" of the 06' because it kicks too much. This said, she hasn't shot one, only been told how bad they are! Hehehe... but I figure it wouldn't hurt to work up a light load...

She knows some big pro football player guy that cries about how bad an 06' kicks... so I'm having a hard time convincing her they really dont.

Thanks!

[h20hunter]

I don't but knowing a few recoil shy sissys myself my suggestion is this. Get a good recoil pad and TELL her the loads are reduced.

[lostbackpacker]

i'll let ya borrow my .338 sako.  let her shoot that, then an '06 will feel like nothing

[Curly]

http://www.hodgdon.com/PDF/H4895%20Reduced%20Rifle%20Loads.pdf

Hodgdon has loads listed with H4895 as shown at the above link.  But if you can't find H4895, just look at other loads for lighter bullets and relatively fast burning powder.  (Powder is hard to come by these days, so you might have to use whatever you can find).

I used H4895 and 130 gr bullets for my .300 Win Mag.  Recoiled way less than a .270 Win.

[BULLBLASTER]

I would look at light bullets (125-130 grain) and use a powder that has lower velocity and just load down toward the starting load in the book. Dont worry too much about super tight groups at first. Just get her used to shooting. The load can be adjusted later on for accuracy and consistency in groups.

[elkaholic123]

Just buy a box of the managed recoil thats all ready available and load up some 150gr,let her shoot several of the factory managed recoil,once she is comfortable drop in a handload without telling her,she might not know the difference. If she can't handle the light loads you might have to look for a .243 or 7mm-08 

[fly-by]

Hornady #3020  130gr will still open up at reduced load velocities. 

I load these for the kids in my Remington 600 .308 carbine which is unpleasant for them with full house loads.

[Easy-E]

I've got a good recipe in my load book at home. I'll see if I can remember to dig it up tonight.

Here is the process I used with my kids for the .30-'06:

Starting with

(x) grains of SR4759 (?) and 125 grain Speer Pro Hunter Spitzers, had them shoot 25 yards at an 8 1/2 x 11 printed picture of a deer.
Note that this reduced load required putting some tissue paper on top of the powder to keep it next to the primer as the powder to case volume was pretty low. Recoil was slightly more than a 22LR. These are also good loads to use to practice the finer shooting techniques: trigger squeeze, sight picture, breathing, etc. (takes away any excuse for flinching). These were also very accurate loads in the rifles I shot them in.

Then we went to starting loads of IMR4350 with 125 grain bullets, then 150 grain, then to my full loads. Full loads were 58.0 grains of IMR 4350 with 165 grain Speer boat tails. All of these IMR4350 rounds were fully capable for deer hunting.

Lighter bullets at lower speeds = lower recoil.

[Easy-E]

I can't find the actual recipe I used for the SR4759 but my old Speer loading manual has 150 grain bullets listed with

24.0 gr - 1957 fps
22.0 gr - 1786 fps
20.0 gr - 1620 fps.

So the max load of 24.0 grains of SR4759 would put you at the lower end of a 30-30 velocity.

150's at 1620 fps is a pretty tame load in an '06, almost half what they can be pushed to with a hot load. 

Hope this helps.

[bobcat]

Lots of good suggestions. I'll just add that a good bullet would be the 125 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip, if you can get them. I'll also agree with the "big pro football player guy" that the 30/06 does kick pretty good, especially if you're using 165 to 180 grain bullets.

[JLS]

You can load 30-06 rounds with 11 grains of Unique powder and a 100 grain plinker bullet.  It makes a great training round and is like shooting a 22 magnum.

The reduced loads with H4895 are excellent.  I loaded some with 37 grains of this under a 130 grain Barnes TSX.  Very nice shooting loads.  My grade school daughter shoots this load.

[Longshot_34]

How about a load using trail boss?

[Easy-E]

You can load 30-06 rounds with 11 grains of Unique powder and a 100 grain plinker bullet.  It makes a great training round and is like shooting a 22 magnum.

The reduced loads with H4895 are excellent.  I loaded some with 37 grains of this under a 130 grain Barnes TSX.  Very nice shooting loads.  My grade school daughter shoots this load.

I'm curious if you're using some tissue wadding with those loads of unique? I've always been wary of having the powder lie in a trickle along the bottom of the cartridge case. Maybe the Unique burns fast enough that it doesn't matter if the primer flashes over the top of the powder?

I'm not calling you out, just curious how you load them as I might look into the plinker load a little more.

Cheers!

[JLS]

You can load 30-06 rounds with 11 grains of Unique powder and a 100 grain plinker bullet.  It makes a great training round and is like shooting a 22 magnum.

The reduced loads with H4895 are excellent.  I loaded some with 37 grains of this under a 130 grain Barnes TSX.  Very nice shooting loads.  My grade school daughter shoots this load.

I'm curious if you're using some tissue wadding with those loads of unique? I've always been wary of having the powder lie in a trickle along the bottom of the cartridge case. Maybe the Unique burns fast enough that it doesn't matter if the primer flashes over the top of the powder?

I'm not calling you out, just curious how you load them as I might look into the plinker load a little more.

Cheers!

I was leery at first too.  I just load it straight.  I think you're right, it's so fast burning that it doesn't really matter.

I searched a lot of reloading forums,  Blue Dot is another alternative.  I've gone through a couple hundred of them with no issues at all, and they are surprisingly accurate.

[Hornseeker]

Thanks a lot all... When this sloppy mess starts to clear up here we will get out and shoot a bit.

The gun already has a nice thick pad on it... its not overly lightweight... and personally, I always thought it was a light kicker. I have shot hot 168's and 180s out of it for years... and never thought anything of the recoil. SOme people are more sensitive to it than others... some hold guns a little different. I have shot two guns that hurt me through the years... one was an old 12 gauge single shot that just PUNISHED no matter how you held her... ugg... the other is a savage 12 in 7mm... not sure why that gun kicked so hard... I've shot Model 70s, Rem 700's and a couple browning 7mm mags and never been beaten up like that savage did... ??

Anyhow... to me, my 06's just dont bother me... But I dont want her to even get any idea it will hurt!!

Thanks again!!!