RE: My first reloads
While not cast in stone.....I have noted a few general things that normally work for me. First, the fuller the case is with powder...the better the overall accuracy of the load. Second, usually the powder that lists in the manuals as highest speed seems to shoot the best. Third, play with that seating depth. Fourth, crimping can have a positive affect on your accuracy.
Realising that Nosler Partition produces more pressure than a standard 165 grain bullet (if all else is equal...powder, primer, rifle), you should be able to get fairly close to 2850 - 2900 fps. I would be tempted to try H4350 and work up as close as I could to 58.9 grains of said powder. I probably wouldnt use a magnum primer, until all else fails. Once I got up to maximum loads, I would then mess around with seating depth. I would determine maximum overall length for my rifle. Then I start seating the bullet deeper and deeper until I got maximum accuracy for that case/bullet/powder/primer. If it wasnt good enough, I may try a different primer or powder. The bullet you have picked is an extremely good bullet and should give you very good accuracy. I dont think there is a better "all around" hunting bullet design than the Partition.
You have to understand that 30-06 loads listed in manuals are a bit light for modern rifles. This is due to two reasons...First, there are some very weak actioned 30-06s still alive that could not handle the pressure a modern rifle can. Second, we cant make the new Super Sizzler 7000 look as good if the ole '06 isnt toned down a tad. So, hile not advocating simply loading max listed loads, I would not be at all afraid to work my way up to listed maximum loads. Of course, this assumes I am using a modern 30-06 such as a Remington 700 or a Winchester Model 70.