Load work up...

[rynigner]

Here real soon I am about to start working up a load for my 30.06. This will be my first venture into reloading, and I am very much looking forward to it. I have read through a few manuals and have two at my immediate disposal at my bench. My question is this: When you guys are working up loads what pressure signs are you looking for when you have exceeded your guns particular max load?

Thanks,
RW

1st is heavier than normal bolt lift. From now on pay attention to how hard it is to open your bolt.
2nd, if I have heavy bolt lift, I examine the primer compared to one that I could easily open the bolt. Primer flatten is hard to read, and some times you cannot make a diagnosis of high pressure from it. Like federal 215 primers will always be flat for instance.
3rd, if you can open the bolt at all, and can't remove the brass, you are definately in the high pressure region. But you should see heavy bolt first.

Work up loads in 1gr increments. Be careful loading bullets with solid shanks like TBBC, barnes, and few others.Theybuild pressurequick. Safe bullets, you can always count on are like hornady SST's, Sierra gamekings, ballistic tips..

When I load solid shank bullets, when I get to near max, I might work up loads in 0.5gr increments depending on the gun.

Later after you been loading for a while, you can diagnose marginal high pressure based off your case failures. You should be able to get at least 5-8 loads from 06 brass. If you are getting cracked necks, or shiney ring near the rim in say 3 loads, you probably are marginally high pressure. But this depends on several things like brass used, powder used, and if your Full length sizing or neck sizing, etc.

[Momsworry]

Don't concern yourself with the getting as close as possible to the maximum load or achieving the maximum or near maximum velocity. In my case, my one 06 likes charges near the minimum and the other 06 likes them close to the center of the chargeranges. Go for the best accuracy that you can achieve and that will most likely be far off from the maximums.

[stubblejumper]

If you notice that your primers are going into the brass much easier after a few loadings,the chamber pressure is likely too high.This pressure sign often shows itself before other pressure signs become evident.

[Pawildman]

I guess I'm more of an accuracy/precision nut than a velocity guy. Momsworry has a good grasp on this concept. Speed is fine, but without accuracy it is nearly irrelevant. Speed combined with acceptable accuracy is what you should be looking for. I have several rifles that give the best accuracy with max loads, and I have guns that give it with mid-range or less loadings. The nice thing about reloading is you can change loading components (powder, bullets, primers, etc.) until you have reached that acceptable level of accuracy and speed you desire most of the time.
You have been given good advice on what to look for as far as exceeding max load for your particular gun by bc and stubblejumper. Be safe.

[mossy33oak]

Some general info that may help from my findings. First, staying with your standard IMR powders 4350 and 4831 is a good place to start (especially if you are in the 150-180 gr bullet range) second, most of the '06's ive loaded for always like middle to low in load range so pressure shouldnt be a problem. I did load a 130gr Hornady for a friend who wanted to see if he could reach 3400fps and did in a Mod 70 30-06 with little pressure signs, so I say mid range on your powder and you should be good to go.

[speyrjb]

Excellent advice given so far....

One other thing to think about is this. Powder charges build pressure, but having the bullet too close to the lans will build pressure even quicker, even on reduced powder charges. Every bullet will touch the lans at different seating depths so you really need to know what your maximum length is when you start loading any given bullet.

There may be easier ways to do this than the following, but this has worked for me for several years now....

I take a once fired case and I set my resizing die where it will resize about 1/8 of an inch on the neck of the case and still knock out the old primer. Then I seat a bullet in said case just deep enough where the bullet will stay in the case. Then chamber this into your rifle slowly. The bullet will contact the lans and the lans will push the bullet into the case. Next slowly eject this case but be careful not to allow the bullet to contact the action when you are pulling the bolt back by holding it down with your finger. Measure the OAL of the dummy cartridge with your calipers and this will give you your distance to the lans with that particular bullet.

Some people start 30 thousanths off of this measurement to avoid pressure problems. You can get closer to the lans but you really want to pay close attention to your fired cases the closer you get.

I have found that COAL plays ahuge role in accuracy.

What I do is find a powder charge that will shoot a uniform group (i.e. doesn't string the shots or fliers etc.) and then I play with the length until I find the sweet spot.

I hope this helps

[SST]

57 gr +/- of IMR4350 is the go-to load for the 30-06 with 165gr bullets. Just work up to that to make sure your rifle is safe with those pressures. It is very important to make sure that your die is set up to ensure minimal headspace. Excessive headspace can give misleading signals. If headspace is excessive, the case will slam back into the bolt face and flatten primers or even result in bolt face marks on the case head. While those are generally accepted as results of too much pressure, it can give that impression with safe pressures if the hedspace is excessive. Just some food for thought.