Reduced loads for 30-06?

[Deleted member 20812]

I'm looking for anyone that has used reduced loads in a 30-06. My wife has a Tikka 06 that I want my daughter to use for hunting season this year. Right now I have some 150 grain Barnes TSX loads worked up. I was contemplating trying a 130 grain bullet. Has anyone used these at all?

 

[Carrion Carrier]

No, but I sure would like some for antelope hunting.

 

[Missoulaz28]

I load the Nosler Ballistic tip 125gr bullet super soft for my wife in her '06. they have worked great on the couple deer she has shot.

 

[jryoung]

I ran a 130gr TTSX in a 30-06 with good accuracy results throughout power increases. I stopped at 3,100fps, but I'd have no problem backing off to 27 or 2800...not sure how much of a reduction in recoil that will be though.

 

[Carrion Carrier]

...

 

[Redwood]

Assuming your trying to reduce recoil. I own a number of t3's, all of which have limb saver recoil pads screwed on. Substantial difference, even Beretta will tell you the stock pads leave a bit to be desired.

 

[Deleted member 20812]

Assuming your trying to reduce recoil. I own a number of t3's, all of which have limb saver recoil pads screwed on. Substantial difference, even Beretta will tell you the stock pads leave a bit to be desired.

Yes, I want to minimize recoil. I replaced the stock recoil pad years ago with a Decelerator pad.

I may just try some minimum loads from my manuals for the 130 grain bullet, looks like most will have a MV of around 2900 fps.

 

[Missoulaz28]

Hodgdon has a list of reduced loads designed for kids, that is where I found the load I use for my wife. Search for hodgdon youth loads on Google, it should come up.

 

[Biscuit Hunter]

Here's the link for Hodgdon's reduced loads:

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

 

[Missoulaz28]

Thanks for finding the link, I'm on my tablet and couldn't get it to work.

 

[T Bone]

When my kids first started out with 30-06's, they shoot hundreds of rounds of the Hornady 100 grain short jacket with 12 (yes, twelve) grains of Unique. I've never chrono'd it, but it's subsonic with very little recoil. Kids love it. They develop good form.

For hunting loads for deer, Sierra's 125 grainer works great. For elk, 150 grain partitions at 2800 fps are lethal.

 

[Deleted member 20812]

When my kids first started out with 30-06's, they shoot hundreds of rounds of the Hornady 100 grain short jacket with 12 (yes, twelve) grains of Unique. I've never chrono'd it, but it's subsonic with very little recoil. Kids love it. They develop good form.

For hunting loads for deer, Sierra's 125 grainer works great. For elk, 150 grain partitions at 2800 fps are lethal.

Really????

I have a ton of unique, that would kind of freak me out about getting a bullet stuck in the bore.

 

[Deleted member 20812]

Here's the link for Hodgdon's reduced loads:

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

Perfect! Thank you for the link. I tried searching for this, but was trying to find Barnes data.

 

[T Bone]

JLS,

Do some looking around for recipes for the 100 grains bullets and Unique. It's common. Can't hurt to check for squibs for the first few rounds.

 

[Biscuit Hunter]

JLS,

Are you set on using a Barnes bullet? I ask because of all of the things I have read on the internet about them not expanding well at low velocities. I don't mean to start anything by saying that, as I really have no dog in that fight, but if you don't already have them on hand you might at least consider using a conventional bullet that is designed to work at a lower velocity, as the Hodgdon link explains. Also, I'm not aware of what manuals you have on hand, but if you want more powder options than H4895, and a velocity lower than the 2,900 you mentioned being listed in your sources, my Speer #13 manual has start loads for 14 different powders that range from just above 2,500 to just below 2,800, when using their 130gr. bullets. If you let me know what other powders you might be interested in, I'll look them up, and if they're listed I'll PM you the data. I realize it can be dangerous to mix data between different bullet types, but it would at least give you something to compare to the data that you currently have.

 

[Deleted member 20812]

No, I'm not completely set on the Barnes. I will do some component shopping next week and then fire the press up with the Unique loads. I am in the process of chopping the stock off and refitting the recoil pad first.

Hopefully we'll be all ready to hit the range here in a couple of weeks! Let me see what I can round up for bullets, then go from there.

 

[Elkmagnet]

I have no experience with reduced recoil rounds. With that said I would try the ttsx in a few water jugs. I would stay away from the tsx at lower velocity.

 

[noharleyyet]

Do TSX Bullets always expand on game?
Because our TSX Bullets are solid copper and have a specially engineered nose cavity, it is nearly impossible for them not to expand. The cavity opens up as soon as hydraulic pressure is applied to the nose cavity. Once the bullet strikes flesh, it immediately opens, creating four razor-sharp petals that slice through tissue. Ballistic tests in gelatin show good bullet expansion within the first inch of penetration.

http://www.barnesbullets.com/information/bullet-talk/faq/#tsx_faq

...have had excellent results with tipped triples from 60 yards to 400 plus.