[MENTION=89931]RHunter[/MENTION], thanks for a great post! That information is worth remembering when I start reloading.
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Funny enough I was looking today at 30-06's. I was looking at the Rem 700 Long Range, which is a new gun. It's a long action, and ofered in the 06'. Would this be a decent entry level rifle to build on? Thanks for all of the insight guys! I have learned a TON reading this thread.
Another point is that one can identify excess charge weight by noting that beyond a certain point, more powder no longer results in the same incremental velocity increase.
When I say excess charge weight, I am not necessarily talking about more pressure. I am talking about efficiency; but pressure will pretty much always become an issue as well. It also may not, which is one reason why slow powders won't work optimally in short barrels
You can identify an excess charge in a shorter barrel with the bed sheet test. A bed sheet, spread out ahead of the muzzle, will catch unburned powder kernels.
Greg
Some of the loads posted here have me scratching my head...MontanaMarine is not included in that, I know he uses moly'd bullets...but some of the others using H4350.
55....2699
55.5....2743
56....2737
56.5....2795
57....2789
57.5.....2850
Any explanation...anybody?
You are scratching your head because you have a short pencil barrel on that rifle.
Shoot a rifle with a stainless steel match barrel with a heavier profile and add 4" to the length and you will be able to load 59 grains of H4350 behind that 168 and you will be driving tacks at 3050 fps.
I'm driving 208 Amax's at 2850 fps with VN160 with outstanding accuracy.
Think outside the factory rifle box.
Yeah, excess case capacity. Go back to the bottom of page 2 and read what I said.
You get numbers like that and your chrony is working, you have sloppy ammo.
Use those same charge weights but put a 190 SMK in the case. I shoot 190 VLD's out of a 28" barrel using 57 grains of H4350 in Lapua brass and I get 2950 FPS.
My favorite combo, A Lefty 30.06 !Was shooting this past Sunday afternoon from 1000 yards in a steady wind direction from 9 o/clock and wind was hitting 12 to 16 mph. Jeff was shooting his 6.5X47L using the 123 gr. Scenar using 37.5 Varget and was keeping them inside the Palma 10 ring using 13 MOA left windage. I was shooting my '06 using the 185 Berger VLD Target bullet shooting 54.0 grs. H4350 and was doing the same on the POI however the .30 caliber bullet only needed 8 MOA windage.
The Ole Warhorse ain't quite dead yet!
Beanland06 by Sharps45 2 7/8, on Flickr
I'm scratching my head over 57 grains under a 190 grain bullet...barrel profile has nothing to do with it...
It was the brass taking the pressure I was wondering about...I got some pretty good ejector marks above 56 grains.
The reason I use the 168 Ballistic Tips...l used them in the 308, for years....again, for hunting....I have several thousand of them, acquired over the years (buying them when I find them on sale)....they are extremely accurate and very effective deer bullets....even more accurate than Bergers (175, 185) in my rifle....its one of those "if it ain't broke" things.
The next morning it placed highly in a 300yd 'tactical' paper target match. It really likes that ammo, and I am fumbling around trying to find an equivalent handload. This process is becoming complicated by an exceptional Winter, my Wife's hip replacement, plus various and sundry (pleasant) family matters including one Granddaughter's HS graduation, and another's entry into Kindergarten, and an upcoming vacation trip to Georgia. Dang!
Greg
The thing with the SAAMI spec... just because that 3.34 is the COAL of the spec does not mean your lands start just after that. The Ogive length is what is important and how far that is from the lands. I think you will find you have more room to play with.
That is a pretty piss poor excuse to trying something different. If its a deer rifle and you have several thousand 168's, how long do you plan to live? 3 deer a year times 30 years is 90... add a couple rounds to check the scope each year... Id say you need 500 rounds to last you 30 years.
Sounds like you have a target rifle that you occasionally use for deer and are stuck on 168....
You don't drive your truck in 2nd gear all the time do you? So why do that with your rifle?
Man the thngs we do for women, sounds like she is a good one though Tundra. That is a bad ass rifle, I am really really liking that manners T4A stock lately, thinking about getting rid of my Mcrees and switching over on my 308 or 260.
The 308 and 30-06 are so well designed they have been working since dirt was young, in all manner of weaponry, in every condition imaginable. Both have also spawned their own families of cartridges.
They only improve with advances in bullets and propellants.
You forgot some thing, they both work very well. The 30.06 from 1903 and 308 from the 50's. I know if it isn't new it cant work. So give us a break.30 caliber in shoulder fired weapon sucks. The only reason we ever used/still using it is the messed up military logistics. With that said, 308 is awful, but slightly less awful than the 30-06.
Few cartridges ever needed to exist since the invention of 7x57 .... but it was sooooooooo darn Imperial German that even Germans didn't want to use it LOL