New shooter-old 06 Advice

HARPERC

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I'm combining a couple of items into a bit of an experiment, got a 10y/o friend interested in shooting sports. Got him lined out with his bow over the w/e. Cabelas, Diamond, Razors Edge. Very impressed with the bow but especially in the young man at the counter who set everything up, and got the boy on track. Next is the rifle portion where your thoughts are needed. On top of the instruction I've decided a bit of experimenting is in order. There have been quite a few 30-06 threads lately and I haven't updated my experience with the 30-06 in awhile. I finally found some Lapua brass as that seems to be regarded highly. Probably R-22, Question one is what would be an acceptable criteria to this group to determine max pressure. Number of times cases are useable (5?). Case head expansion , how much? Looking at a muzzle break of the newer ones which to choose. Especially one more usable in prone. Rifle is a pre 64 fetherweight.
 
First off, Good For You, getting him into shooting sports.
I I got my first bow, & first BB gun at a young age, & I also got my first hunting rifle of my own, a 30-06 shortly there after. Somewhere around the same age as your lil buddy. I never had issues with recoil, but I think where your headed with the brake is an excellent idea. Especially for shooting prone!

Id look at Jim See's Muscle brakes, namely the mini, the 3 port, or his new one inbetween those two. The case volume doesn't dictate any bigger of a brake, & the mini will handle the WSM family, so the -06 is a shoe in. Plus it doesn't add too much muzzle weight.
I here great things about Kirbys Pain Killer brakes too.
May I also suggest a limbsaver recoil pad in conjunction with whatever brake you choose as well.
My Winchester didn't have a brake or a recoil pad, just a hard piece of rubber. I shot mine just fine, but id have shot it better, I belive, with at least one or the other of these.
Then again, my cousins old Savage -06 kicked harder than any rifle I've ever shot in my life. That includes a 460 Wby mag, 340wby & 338mags 300 Wby, & win mags, & a pile of others. That thing was just plain viscous! I still cringe just thinking about that boat anchor!

As far as # of loads per case, well, you can load quite a few on an 06' with a reasonable performance/pressure compromise.
A way to check when to pitch them is to take a pic, or small piece of wire bent at 90* & scratch the inside of the case just above the Webb, feeling for a small crack, Before its evident on the outside of the case. You may feel a bump, or a catch in the brass case wall. That would indicate to throw it away.

Good luck, & tell that buddy of yours were proud of himgun)
 
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Thanks winmag, Kind of what I'm looking for regarding the "max load", is something I can keep notes, and report back something acceptable to the group. There has been a bunch of 06 threads, or comments that come back to the "standard" which has a fair amount of variation high to low. I can get to what works in my rifle, but kind of taking up the challenge of doing it in a manner that provides results that would be more generally acceptable.
 
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