Reduced load accuracy question..

[RaySendero]

1stmar wrote:
I have interest in reduced loads but I don't hunt. If you have a recipe I'm all ears. I probably will continue to use jacketed as I don't cast my own and I'm concerned about leading.

My wife's rifle is a M70 carbine with a 20" barrel. It weighs just over 9 lbs with scope. A full powered 30-06 w/ 180 bullet has recoil energy of 20, ft-lbs and recoil velocity of 13 FPS. She wanted a reduced load to shoot and hunt.

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I bought her a box of Remington Managed-Recoil ammo. Here's the specs and notes on that box:

30/06 Remington Managed-Recoil RL30062
125 Gr. Core-Lokt® PSP
2x Expansion with
85% Weight Retention
Half the Recoil (May not operate recoil or gas operated firearms)
Virtually same POI as full power loads out to 200yds

Rems website lists a MV of 2,660. I chronoed average of 2,568 FPS.
Recoil energy figures to be 9 ft-lbs and recoil velocity figures 7 FPS at the velocity I measured.
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I found a reduced reload recipe on Hodgton's website using H4895. Since H4895 is a good powder for many reloads in the 30-06 cartridge, I set out to reload her a reduced load. I used 1x fired Winchester cases(full length sized and trimmed), 150 grain Nosler partitions and CCI-200-LR primers.

I shot this ladder using 65, 70, 75, 80 and 85% of full powder load of H4895:

Chronoed at 10':

65% - the velocity averaged 1,976 FPS with 65 XS
70% - the velocity averaged 2,069 FPS with 48 XS
75% - the velocity averaged 2,200 FPS with 29 XS
80% - the velocity averaged 2,343 FPS with 24 XS
85% - the velocity averaged 2,462 FPS with 14 XS

The recoil energy for that 85% reload figures 10 ft-lbs and recoil velocity figures 8 FPS for her rifle. She liked the reduced recoil and I like the other numbers for that 85% load. XS was the smallest. Its a little faster than a 30-30 with a much better bullet than Remington puts in their M-R factory ammo. The RM-R factory load figures 1847 ft-lbs at the muzzle, 1098 at 200 yds and 621 at 400 yds. Respectively, my reload figures 2048, 1420 and 958 at those distances.


Here's a 100 yd sight-in target I shot with both loads:



My reload is on the left and the Rem Managed-Recoil ammo on right. Shot the right target first with the Rem M-Rs. Adjusted the scope down 1.5". Then shot that low group with the 150 NPT reloads. Adjusted the scope back up 1.5" and shot that other group in the center of the left target. Shows my reload to be the more precise groups and that the 2 loads will NOT shoot to the same POA.


She shoots'em just fine: