Load data for 180gr sst/ 308 or 30-06

Obadiah

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Mar 17, 2012
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Anyone have any load recommendations?
I have the powders H4350, imr 4064, superformance, CFE223, Varget
I need load data for 180gr SST. In 30-06 or 308?
 
Back in the '50's when the .30-06 was "the" high power match rifle, folks loaded Sierra's 180-gr. spitzer boattail bullet over 48 to 49 grains of IMR4064 for best accuracy. That should be a good place to start for any 180 in an '06.

180's in a .308, 43 grains of IMR4064 was equally as good in competition. It still is.

While 4350 will give a bit more muzzle velocity at the same pressure, 4064 has proved more accurate with 180's.

Ball powders were never all that great for accuracy.
 
I use imr 4064 in my 308 and its very accurate. I would probably lean towards cfe 223 now though because it meters much better, more temp insensitive, produces better mv, and i hate cleaning rifles.
 
I agree with all the previous posts, but someone should have asked what rifle/twist rate, what game/target, distance planning to shoot, and what reloading manual are you looking at?

Rick
 
.308 with 1:9 twist
.30-06 with 1:10 twist
Used for targets.
I don't have the hornady manual for the load data. I came across a box of these and need a good target load for 500- 900 yards
 
Open Hogdon's website for reloading data. I should have all of the powders you mention and gives you a good idea of starting and max. loads. I think the accuracy will depend on each gun, but it's a good starting point. Hornady prints their reload manual once a year as a magazine, and it's great.

rick
 
Regarding twists for 180's in .30-06 and .308 barrels, in those cartridges heyday for competition, best accuracy came with 1:11 twists in 22 inch barrels or 1:12 in 24 and 26 inch ones. The US Army used extra hot loads with 180's in their 22 inch M14NM barrels with 1:12 twists.

If ones barrel has a faster twist, I'd use reduced loads so the bullets don't spin too fast upon exit. Too high of an rpm on bullets causes accuracy to get worse; bullets tend to jump off the muzzle axis due to centrifugal forces. All bullets are not perfectly balanced. Which is why benchresters use the slowest twist possible to stabilize bullets all the way to the target.
 
.308 with 1:9 twist
.30-06 with 1:10 twist
Used for targets.
I don't have the hornady manual for the load data. I came across a box of these and need a good target load for 500- 900 yards

I've tried both H-4350 and IMR-4064 in the 30-06 don't own a 308 but Hodgdon data should work for the 308. I read one of your earlier post about that bull you got with 30-06 made a good shot on him.

Nothing wrong with the Hornady manual but for the 30-06 but they tend to start at a lower velocity and amount of powder give you good example. for a start load using 180gr SST start load is 40.1g/IMR-4064 @ 2300fps and max is 49.2gr/IMR-4064 @ 2700fps and Hodgdon data for 180gr Sierra bullet start load 45.5gr/IMR-4064 @ 2550fps max 48.7gr @ 2700fps.

there is difference in test rifles

You use lot more bullet working up with Hornady data but they do list what rifle their using. Well good luck
 
Evening everyone,
Interesting Topic for the Forum.

I appreciated the comment by Bart B with regards too high RPM's influencing accuracy. I did a quick spreadsheet for twists, 9-10-11-12. Velocity range of 2300 to 2700 FPS. Interesting to me was that the difference in RPM's between a 9 twist and a 12 twist was approx. 46,000.
Trying to analize what I'am looking at, I reviewed Lyman's most accurate load for a 180 grain Ballistic tip bullet. It produces RPM data of 181,728 based on a 10 twist at 2524 FPS. My question is: When does RPM's and at what rate of spin come to influence a load.

Thanks for listening.
 
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