Needing some help here on my 30-06 Berger choice.

TDog78

Active Member
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Sep 10, 2016
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Hello all, second post here. Here is the long and the short of it. I acquired a 30-06 about 5 years ago from my wife's uncle since he had to disperse all his guns due to his crazy a## wife:roll eyes:. I am finally getting my chance next year to go to a good area for elk here in CO that I have been saving for 9 years for. I had all my big game guns stolen not long before I bought the 06 and I am ready to do some loading for it in order to practice a ton (right out my back door) and get ready well in advance. I will also be working on my 7mm weatherby but will post about my one question with it as well in another post.
I have been reading, printing, highlighting and calling a ton on my two builds so here is where I am at and ready to order some components to get working on some loads.

Remington 700
22 inch 1-10 barrel
Solid bottom (non drop door) magazine well
I am looking for a 600 yard load gun combo and have decided after exhaustive reading to go with the Berger VLD or Classic hunter....In my reading I AM slightly concerned with the possibility of early bullet blow up from a closer up less then desirable shot say into shoulder area, off angle etc but that concern is primarily with the smaller for caliber rounds. I have a lot more confidence from the many accounts I have read on from fellas who have shot more animals then I have ever seen that the problem is far less pronounced with heavy side of the caliber bullet choices.
I feel pretty confident that I can get the 185 Classic hunter hybrids to work ok as they seem to be able to sit off the lands and still be ok. What about the 190 and 210 grainers though. Won't I have a problem getting them close to the lands and still working in a factory Rem mag well. I have read time and time again that the standard hunting VLD likes to be right off the lands, HOWEVER two fellas over at berger have said they are finding they can like a jump as well and in a lot of cases are working just as well. I like tinkering around but don't want to spend needless money and time at the bench if it is just not a good mix. Thanks for any help
 
I would stick with the 185 Classic hunters or the 178 ELD-X bullets and some Reloader 17 or any of the 4350s. Should have no problem getting them to 2700 fps or more.
 
Hello all, second post here. Here is the long and the short of it. I acquired a 30-06 about 5 years ago from my wife's uncle since he had to disperse all his guns due to his crazy a## wife:roll eyes:. I am finally getting my chance next year to go to a good area for elk here in CO that I have been saving for 9 years for. I had all my big game guns stolen not long before I bought the 06 and I am ready to do some loading for it in order to practice a ton (right out my back door) and get ready well in advance. I will also be working on my 7mm weatherby but will post about my one question with it as well in another post.
I have been reading, printing, highlighting and calling a ton on my two builds so here is where I am at and ready to order some components to get working on some loads.

Remington 700
22 inch 1-10 barrel
Solid bottom (non drop door) magazine well
I am looking for a 600 yard load gun combo and have decided after exhaustive reading to go with the Berger VLD or Classic hunter....In my reading I AM slightly concerned with the possibility of early bullet blow up from a closer up less then desirable shot say into shoulder area, off angle etc but that concern is primarily with the smaller for caliber rounds. I have a lot more confidence from the many accounts I have read on from fellas who have shot more animals then I have ever seen that the problem is far less pronounced with heavy side of the caliber bullet choices.
I feel pretty confident that I can get the 185 Classic hunter hybrids to work ok as they seem to be able to sit off the lands and still be ok. What about the 190 and 210 grainers though. Won't I have a problem getting them close to the lands and still working in a factory Rem mag well. I have read time and time again that the standard hunting VLD likes to be right off the lands, HOWEVER two fellas over at berger have said they are finding they can like a jump as well and in a lot of cases are working just as well. I like tinkering around but don't want to spend needless money and time at the bench if it is just not a good mix. Thanks for any help
Tdog78,
The .30 cal CLASSIC HUNTER would be a good choice as gohring3006 stated. Most often all the load testing that is needed is to seat the bullet to magazine length and work your load up slowly checking for pressure signs and accuracy until your highest velocity accuracy node is found. You can find more information on these bullets here: New Berger Classic Hunter Bullets | Berger Bullets Blog
And our hunting targets that show suggested bullet placement for best results here: Vital Zone Hunting Targets | Berger Bullets
If you have any questions please contact us here or at [email protected]
Thanks for using our bullets!
 
168 classic hunters
Win brass
Cci 200
54.5 gr H4350
.003" off

185 HVLD
Win brass
Cci200
53.5 gr RE17
.040" off

185 HVLD
Win brass
Cci200
59.5 gr H4831sc (a little slow but accurate and temp predictable)
.040" off

210 HVLD
Rem brass
Cci200
51 gr RE17
.020" off

The RE17 lost less fps with the heavier 210 gr. The 185 gr with RE17 lost too much thats why I tried the H4831sc. Glad I did.

As always do your own work ups. What's safe in mine may not be in yours.
 
I can send my velocities if you want but i have found that chasing velocity is now a nice to have compared to accuracy.
Mine in a 22 inch barrel as well. Not the fastest but functional for moving through the woods.
 
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