loading 30/06 spg

[buzzard]

I am in the process of finding the best load for and 03 A3 and rem.700 sps now that I have found a favorable power load I would some suggestions on how to go about finding the best throat depth

 

[41mag]

I know this will sound a bit crazy, but I will throw it out anyway. I realize you have decided on a powder, but you might give this one a whirl someday and see if it works for you. However it might not be the bullets or weights your looking for.

First off, the best load I have ever put together for both of the rifle you mentioned was the same exact load. It used the following,

58.5 grs of IMR-4350
Nosler 150gr SB, or BT
Win cases
WIN-WLR primers
OAL of loaded rounds 3.250"
Cases trimmed to 2.484

( This load might be max in some rifles. Please work up to is slow. )

This load has shot sub MOA, in going on ten different 06's. Don't ask me why but it has just worked.

As for your original question, You can use the seating depth you used to work up your load and then work closer to the lands in three shot groups or back away from your seating depth the same way. Use .005" increments or .010" increments till you see a size change in your groups. It might be that you will find a good to great seating depth both close as well as away from the lands. It just depends on how much room your after in reguards to loading in a magazine. That was the first consideration I had to go with on working up the above mentioned load. Between my dads 03 A3, and my friends Rem. 700 I wanted something that would work in both. After trying out several different loads, I accidentally hit this one while loading up some rounds for a nephew's Mossberge 1500. It shot so well in that one I had to try it in the others, and have never looked back. It drops deer and hogs like greased lightning out to ranges of 400yds.

Good luck in your endeavers, there are many combo's that work well with this caliber. Also you might do a search on ladder test as well. It might shed some light on your development.

 

[Bart B]

IMR4064 has been a long time favorite for folks getting best accuracy using 150 to 180 grain bullets in the '06. Heavier ones typically do best with IMR4350.

Any powder will produce super-small test groups once in a while when 5 or less shots per group are fired. Shoot at least 15 or 20 shots per test group. The smallest few-shot groups happen only a tiny percentage of the time and are virtually impossible to repeat.

For best accuracy, I's seat bullets to just barely touch the lands. This keeps them well centered in the bore prior to firing even with full-length sized cases. They may be a bit long to load from the magazine but accuracy is typically best this way. Seat bullets as long as possible for reliable magazine use; make sure they don't bind at the back and/or front of the magazine.

 

[sewwhat89]

+1 to what Mike said. Every 30-06 in my family shoots the same load very well in their 30-06s. Another really top performer in several rifles, but not mine /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif, is 60.8 gr WW760 with 165 gr NBTs. It gets 3001 and 3010 fps in a Rem M700 and Browning A-bolt respectively. My rifle is shooting 57 gr IMR 4350 with 165 gr Hornady IBs at a blistering 2678 fps out of my 18" '06. (There was a hint of sarcasm there!)

IMR 4350 just works in the '06 cases (all of them!)