30-06 Load for Youth Hunter?

I'm getting back into reloading after many years absent, looking for a nice load for a young whitetail hunter using a Ruger 30-06. Have been kicking around either Hornadys 130gr SP or 150gr SP bullet. Looking for recommendations on brand, powder number, and proper load to limit the kick without jeopardizing performance. Hunt in the mountains of PA.

A great load is a 150 grain bullet with a muzzle velocity of 2500 to 2600 fps...this mimics the .300 Savage which is about the best deer medicine ever invented . 46 grains of H4895 will do nicely.

How do you start with this one? I have reloded several 30.06 with the 165gr Sierra BT. However each different firearm has its favorite powder. You can't go wrong with IMR4350 or RE19 in this case. If your using mil-spec cases cut back 3% on powder charge. These cases have a thicker case wall and this will increase pressure.

Hodgdon's website has youth loads using H4895 IIRC.

Like IMR 4198 myself , found the loads in the Speer manual, and Shooting Times had an article on this last month.

How about a 150 grain bullet intended for the 30/30 (an especially inexpensive option if you buy Winchester or Remington bullets in bulk) loaded at 2300-2500 fps? I tried a similar trick a couple years back loading for a 308 using 300 Savage/307 Winchester data. Good hunting!

I've downloaded the '06 with detrimental results on accuracy. Simply go with the lowest velocity load in the loading manual. Use a better bullet. Hornadys have a nasty tendency to fragment. I'd go with a Nosler Partition. RL-19 is a great powder for the '06. I like WLR primers.

Use the lighter bullet for lower recoil in any case. 130gr bullet will kill deer just fine. Use minimum load or slightly below minimum for less recoil. I have had good luck with IMR 4350. 50gr of IMR 4350 (possibly below minimum) + 130gr SP Hornady would still be ballistically superior to a 30-30.

My $0.02, YMMV.

Tom G

Talk about YMMV with bullets. Maybe it's just with the .308 bullets. But, I've never been ale to get what I consider acceptable accuracy with Nosler Partitions. That's with .224, .264, and .284 bullets in several weights. Conversly, I do get sub-MOA accuracy with all three caliber Hornadys. The only fragment of one I have found was a tiny piece of .224 53 gr, HP jacket, under the skin, beside a hole, on the far side of the neck of a 150+- lb 5x5 buck.

Bill Van Houten (USA Ret)

Thermopylae had it's messenger of defeat, COME AND GET THEM ! The Alamo had none.

As another suggestion, have him use an extra pad on the gun when sighting in to reduce recoil and avoid developing a flinch. It's real easy for a small person, or even an adult to develop a flinch with any load, as you undoubtedly know.

The past couple of years I've been using a short segment of tubular foam pipe insulation (the dark gray/black foam stuff you use to insulate water pipes - inner diameter around 1 inch, foam thickness about a half inch comes in something like 4 foot lengths?). It's very cheap. Just cut a 8 inch length off (trim to fit). This stuff is split length wise so you can easily open it up and fit the segment over the butt end of the rifle, over the existing recoil pad, and it fits in place with simple friction. It is firm enough to make a good shooting pad. It greatly reduces recoil to almost unnoticeable with a 30-06 shooting 180s, standard load. I think I picked this particular trick on this board or some other, but have been very happy with it and want to spread the word.

You could easily semi-permanently fix this pad onto the butt with, what else, duct tape (actually, you could probably make it look decent with removable glue like rubber cement if you wanted). I haven't done this, but just put it on when I shoot at the range.

Another benefit for me is that I often do the majority of my sight in and practice shooting when the weather's warm, therefore not wearing heavy coat. This pad approximates the thickness of my heavy hunting coat and therefore gives me the approximately same hold and feel on the gun for practice. I think this would be worth while for a young shooter just getting used to a high power rifle.

H4895 @ 44.0
165gr Sierra BT
WLR Primer
WW Brass

30-06 Load this is a 2600 FPS load very accurate, this is what I load for my boys.