M1 NM 30-06 "Go To Load"

[Plain Old Dave]

All right, question:

Will my M72 zeroes work with 46.5 of IMR4895 , M72 brass, and pulled M118s or 175gr SMKs?

[Johnny in Texas]

In 1963 the NM load was 46.7 gr 4895 2640 FPS 173 gr bullet I have loaded 47.0 Gr 4895 for 168-175 bullets with exell. results. ******* I always load in LC match brass********
2640 FPS is optimum vel. for those bullets in an M1 or bolt gun.

I have seen loads with up to 50.0 gr 4895 with vel. around 2800

M118 Match load I use is 42.5 4895 in LC Match brass with 175.O SMK bullet, I have mixed this load with factory M118LR and shot for groups under 1 MOA out of a Rem. 700 w/26" barrel.

[gulliver62]

I like to use the Nosler 155g Custom Competition. Very accurate and some relief on the recoil.
Start at 47g of 4895 and work up to 48g to see what shoots best.

[Andy/CA]

46.5 H or IMR4895 or 47.0gr IMR4064 +/- .5gr for all.

Any good 168 or 175 match bullet.

Maury

Hey Maury,

Do you reduce the charge with LC or mil capacity brass, or have you found no difference? Thanks!

[Maury Krupp]

Do you reduce the charge with LC or mil capacity brass, or have you found no difference?

All my brass is USGI or HXP.

FWIW I compared a few random commercial cases (FA or Win) to USGI by weighing empty and full of water. Didn't really find any major differences.

Maury

[Andy/CA]

All my brass is USGI or HXP.

FWIW I compared a few random commercial cases (FA or Win) to USGI by weighing empty and full of water. Didn't really find any major differences.

Maury

Thank you sir!! I've previously settled on a mild target load of 45.0gr of 4895 with 168 Custom Comps and hxp brass... may try some further load dev.

[cache]

Any recommendations for a reduced recoil load for a 200 yd JCG match?

[Maury Krupp]

Any recommendations for a reduced recoil load for a 200 yd JCG match?

Try 46gr of H/IMR4895 or 47.0gr of IMR4064 +/- .5gr and the Speer 125TNT.

The 45gr mentioned above will probably work OK too. There's a pretty big "sweet spot" around there; especially when it's short range and a big target.

The thing about reduced loads is when compared to "normal" loads they can be pretty slow. For Standing their barrel time means your shot break and follow through need to be better than with a faster load. At greater distances they can get pretty wind sensitive too.

But for 200yd in Sitting and Prone on the SR target you don't need laser beams.

Maury

[PhillipM]

Try 46gr of H/IMR4895 or 47.0gr of IMR4064 +/- .5gr and the Speer 125TNT.

The 45gr mentioned above will probably work OK too. There's a pretty big "sweet spot" around there; especially when it's short range and a big target.

The thing about reduced loads is when compared to "normal" loads they can be pretty slow. For Standing their barrel time means your shot break and follow through need to be better than with a faster load. At greater distances they can get pretty wind sensitive too.

But for 200yd in Sitting and Prone on the SR target you don't need laser beams.

Maury

Here's a test I did with 125 TNT's in my M1. Tested were 48,50, and 52 grains of 4064 powder pushing a 125 grain speer tnt bullet. In an effort to remove variables I shot one 48, then a 50, 52, then back to 48 so barrel temps and fouling would be consistent across the three targets. From a clean cold barrel I shot off two rounds at the gong just to foul the barrel then shot the targets. Interestingly the first three shots were very low across all three powder charges. After that the 48 looked like patterning a shotgun, but the 50's and 52's started grouping well. The 8 ring shot at 12:30 on the middle target was called off. Later shots with the 50 and 52 grouped more to the left than the earlier shots, this is more clearly shown in the right target with the group of five first, then the group of four. The last few rounds gave me some difficulty from mirage off the barrel so that could have affected my aiming point. I loaded some 168's to use as a control group but didn't have the target space for a fourth target and ran out of light so I couldn't shoot them at the end. The day before I shot 47's that looked like the 48's and 46's that had a group two inches wide and 12" tall, the worst vertical stringing I've ever experienced.



8 shot clip of 52 grains taking more time and letting the barrel cool.



At 52 grains I didn't feel like the recoil was any less than a 168 so I quit fooling with light bullets for now.

[Maury Krupp]

Phil,

What you saw is what I normally see with reduced light bullet loads. They're easy to shoot but don't group tight enough for anything but the normal SR targets. Bump up the powder charge and they group tighter but you lose the advantage of reduced recoil.

That's why I only use them for Sitting or Games.

The 100yd Smallbore target you used has scoring rings around 2/3 the size of the SR-1. A group that barely holds the 9-ring on that target would be clean (or close to it) on the SR-1.

Some of the vertical stringing may be due to powder position. There's a lot of empty space in a .30-'06; even with 4064.

Maury