The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - 30-06 vs 6.5x55 versatility

jeffe65 · September 21, 2012, 01:51 PM

"Er....pistol powder in a rifle sounds like a Bad Idea to me. They tend to burn much faster and have higher pressure spikes. That's a recipe for a kaboom unless you really know what you are doing. And I sure as hell wouldn't shoot ANY reload that was given to me by another person unless I trusted them a great deal."

One powder that has proven useful for this application is Blue Dot; I'll post what I have when I can find the notes I've saved. It's slower burning than most pistol powders, and the general rule of thumb as I recall is, never go below 50% case capacity when using it. I've used it to get .22 Hornet & .22 Mag velocities from my .223, using 35 & 45 grain bullets. You can get very mild shooting loads from a 30-06 and cast lead bullets (if you can find them), and it's not very expensive to load. It also makes for a well-behaved 45-70 for days that I don't want to be beaten to death using high(er)-velocity loads in a 6lb single-shot rifle. Unique works well for this also, but I don't know about using it in a 30-06.

September 21, 2012, 01:51 PM	#20
jeffe65 Junior Member Join Date: September 13, 2012 Posts: 3	"Er....pistol powder in a rifle sounds like a Bad Idea to me. They tend to burn much faster and have higher pressure spikes. That's a recipe for a kaboom unless you really know what you are doing. And I sure as hell wouldn't shoot ANY reload that was given to me by another person unless I trusted them a great deal." One powder that has proven useful for this application is Blue Dot; I'll post what I have when I can find the notes I've saved. It's slower burning than most pistol powders, and the general rule of thumb as I recall is, never go below 50% case capacity when using it. I've used it to get .22 Hornet & .22 Mag velocities from my .223, using 35 & 45 grain bullets. You can get very mild shooting loads from a 30-06 and cast lead bullets (if you can find them), and it's not very expensive to load. It also makes for a well-behaved 45-70 for days that I don't want to be beaten to death using high(er)-velocity loads in a 6lb single-shot rifle. Unique works well for this also, but I don't know about using it in a 30-06.