Grain Amount For A .30-06 Ammo

[Mark D]

Grain amount for a .30-06 ammo

I have a wonderful "custom alpine" .30-06 rifle that I use in the mountains. It is very light and a great rifle to hike with in the snow pack that we get in the Sierras.

My question is about the right amount of grain I should use with the rifle. I have been using a Winchester 30-06 round at 147 grain and it seems to work fine. A friend bought some ammo to replace rounds that we shot, these are a Federal Premium 30-06 at 180 grain round.

Are they safe?

Is there a limit to the grain amount that I should look to stay under? The barrel is stamped with “18 tons per sq in”.

Is there a table that would set the grain limit based on the barrel spec?

Thank you for the help

Great Site

[straightshooter1]

Most folks get nervous when people ask about loads for "custom" rifles that they can't actually inspect. They worry that it might be some 1893 Mauser converted to 30'06 or something similar.

Assuming your rifle is a modern 30'06 in reasonably good condition, the 180s are fine except they will have a lot of felt recoil in a light rifle i.e. 7 lbs or less.

In the 50s and 60s there was some interest in light loads for rifles like yours. Recoil was light and they shot really well out to a couple of hundred yards and beyond. Many loading manuals specified such loads.

Recently, there seems to be a renewed interest in similar loads. One powder company advises 60% of a normal load for certain calibers, with certain powders and certain bullets.

Another fellow is well known for his writings on "the Load" which is 13 grains of Red Dot in a 30 caliber or greater rifle. (I don't think 30-30s etc. should use that load as it is waaaaay over the top). For 30'06 I have used it with 125 grain bullets and up all the way to 220. Nice load, light recoil, pretty accurate.

A load I like in 30'06 with the same bullets is 16 grains of 2400. I believe that load, which is almost as well known as the 13 grains of Red Dot, is a bit more accurate.

21-24 grains of IMR or H4198 will keep the same bullets in an inch at 100 yards with almost no recoil, too.

I have used all these loads in my 30'06 and 308 rifles and they are all fine loads, very accurate, mild recoil and safe in any modern 30'06 chambered for that round.

I think the ton stamp is probably British, but I don't have any references here to check. Parker Hale made some 30'06 rifles in the 60s and later built on a 98 Mauser action which are fine to shoot with factory and reasonable hand loads.

Bob

[Mark D]

Thank you Bob, We will give it a try next week and see how we do with both grain loads.

Edited April 22, 2006 by Mark D