Downloading .30 caliber bolt actions.

[His lordship.]

When I was a poor college student I handloaded for 7.7 Jap.  My intention was to get an accurate and very low recoiling rifle due to financial limitations keeping me from a larger collection of guns.  But the accuracy went down as the powder charge diminished, I went with a smaller grain bullet too, also I did not know about the dangers of reduced loads to the point of possible bursting guns at that time.  When I used military surplus ammo with their large grain weighted bullets the accuracy was very good.  It has been explained to me since that these military guns used a rifling twist favorable to heavier bullets.

I have a 30-06 that I have tried lead cast 199 grain bullets in using Reloader 7 powder.  Reduced recoil, but severe rainbow trajectory at 100 yards, and mediocre groups, a waste of my time.  I also have a Mauser 98 in 8 mm that really kicks with all military loads used, I have to use a slip on butt pad or I will get bruised up on my shoulder.

Would I be better off going with lighter cast bullets, even though they are really hard to find.  Or just how small a jacketed bullet and powder load combination can I use for the above cartridges before the accuracy goes down the tube?  For example...could I use a 110 gr or 130 gr bullet and still get decent accuracy out of my CZ 550 30-06 sporting rifle?

I do have several small bores that don't kick hard, like the .223 and .17 magnum rimfire, etc.  But I would like to use my Mauser 98 more without having a recoil flinch develop, and my CZ 550 too.  

Thanks

[jhalcott]

chris,what are the uses fur the loads? Deer hunting may require a hotter load than you want.State regs. and all.Plinking needs to get the slug down range while target shooting demands more of both you and the loads.get your self a Lyman's Reloading Handbook.There are many loads for a lot of guns there.
 The Arisaka 7.7 can be loaded with 130 grain bullets and 3031 powder.Cast bullets from 151 to 210 grains using IMR4227 powder can also work. Jacketed and cast loads can be found in a lot of manuals.
  Just remember this about the 7.7Jap. Bores ran any where from .310 to .317, so slug your bore before loading cast in it.  jh :wink:

[Jack Crevalle]

The Speer manual has reduced loads for just about every rifle cartridge they give data for.

[Dand]

Follow the advice of the 2 previous posters  then spend time on this forum and the cast bullet forum and you'll pick up a ton of hints and tricks to get good accuracy from cast bullets or lighter weight jacketed bullets.  For the 8mm and especially the 30-06 I expect you could do well with lighter jacketed bullets.  

There are 150 and 170 gr factory cast .308 bullets readily available.  I believe the 173 gr bullets are popular for their accuracy - but you have to find the right load.  You may need to scrub your barrel real well to remove jacket fouling to get cast bullets to shoot well.  Try different powders and see what works best.  Good luck.  Ken Water's Pet loads (Wolfe Publishing) usually listed a few cast bullet loads for most cartridges he worked with - I know he had some for the 30-06, likely for the 8mm too if he did that load - can't remember now.

good luck

[Mikey]

Chris D:  get yourself a couple of loading manuals, especially those like the Lyman that list accuracy loads for the different types/weights of bullets you might be using.  They should have all the information you need for your '06 as well as your 8mm.  HTH.  Mikey.

[GypsmJim]

I had the same issue.  I loaded lead bullets in an old Springfield 03A3 and had good results.  Based on that I bought molds and started casting 8 mm and 762x54 bullets.  But those wouldn't give accuarcy in anything I owned.

Based on a recommendation from someone on one of the forums, I switched powders to Accurate XMP5744.  WOW, what a difference.

Less recoil, but much improved accuracy.  They have a toll free customer service line and even provided me with starting load data for free.