100 gr 30-06 Load Data

[1972RedNeck]

Pickup up some 100 gr Lapua bullets for my 30-06. Want to load some fast varmint rounds. Have a bunch of IMR 4350 and a bit of IMR 4895. None of my reloading books or Hodgdon's website has anything for 100 grain bullets.

Any suggestions for some nice fast loads?

[rc]

I would go with the faster 4895. The other is really a power for heavy bullets.

[Jim Watson]

110 gr data would be close enough for most use.

[44 AMP]

i shot a lot of the 100gr plinkers (1/2 jacketed) bullets from Speer and Hornady back in the 70s-80s in .308Win and .30-06.

Powders slower than IMR 4895 didn't do well, faster powders (3031, 4064, 4320) did better. Some rifles shot them well enough, others, not so much.

None of them were tack drivers with those bullets.

The Lapua looks different, looks longer, has a nicely pointed nose, might do very well,

Starting load for the 100gr plinker in my old Speer number Nine book is 51gr IMR 4895 for just over 3,000fps from a 22" .30-06. 4350 isn't listed.

[BillM]

VihtaVuori has some 100 gr Lapua data here:
https://www.vihtavuori.com/reloading.../?cartridge=27

Some 30-06 varmint data here:
https://loaddata.com/Article/LoadDev...pringfield/692

[will99]

It is said that heavier bullets are more accurate due to more bearing surface and ability to buck the wind. I have found my .30-06 to be quite accurate with 110 gr loads with BL-C(2) powder and don't buy the heavier bullet theory anymore.

[Unclenick]

It's about range and wind and rpm. Light bullets do fine at ranges where wind isn't of great significance. 200 yards is reasonable 100-110 grain bullets in the 30s. But when you get to long range, you need a higher ballistic coefficient to prevent the wind blowing the bullet around so much. You also need it to minimize bullet drift from your group centers.

Because light bullets are going faster than heavy ones, for a given twist rate, they are spinning faster. This means the effects of any tiny bit of imbalance in the bullet mass are exaggerated. If a bullet from a 10 inch twist is going 3000 fps, a bullet with a 0.00025" off-axis center of gravity, it will drift laterally in away from the average trajectory at a speed of 2.83"/sec, opening groups at that rate. A heavier bullet going 2650 fps with that same amount of CG offset will drift a proportionally slower 2.50"/sec. At short range, this proportionality cancels out the difference because the faster bullet gets to the target sooner, causing the net group opening effect to be about the same for both. But as you shoot farther, assuming the bullets have the same ogive and tail profiles, the higher BC the heavier bullet's greater sectional density means it will lose speed more slowly. The lower BC light bullet will lose velocity faster, so the time of flight between each additional 100 yards grows faster for the light bullet, and with it, the amount of drift away from the mean point of impact.

[georgehwbush]

CAUTION: The following post (or a page linked to) includes or discusses loading data not covered by currently published sources of tested data for this cartridge (QuickLOAD or Gordon's Reloading Tool data is not professionally tested). USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Neither the writer, The Firing Line, nor the staff of TFL assumes any liability for any damage or injury resulting from the use of this information.


from the hodgdonreloading.com it should be safe to start at 57gr and max out at about 60.5gr for the IMR 4895

do take note that that is extrapolated from the standard powder charge increases as bullet weight decreases. that is not saying that you will get exactly that max and do by all means start low and work up slowly.

[Unclenick]

Georgehwbush,

Please read this sticky. I have put the required warning in for you this time.

This is a good example of the reason for the warning. The bullet used for the Hodgdon 110-grain load is a different design from the Lapua. Using GRT it shows the Lapua is long for its weight, and peak pressure matches at 59.9 grains. The extrapolation error would not cause damage, as it is well short of proof loads, but caution is still a good idea.

1972Redneck,

GRT shows the IMR4895 max load would throw about 7.5% of the powder out of the muzzle unburned. Starting loads will burn a lower percentage completely. A faster powder would be better.

[georgehwbush]

unclenick; thank you.