Daughters elk loads

Arizona_coyote

New member
My daughter (15 years old) got drawn for a cow elk hunt and I wanted to work up a load for her using my pro hunter with a 30.06 barrel. I was hoping you guys could help. I want to work up the load to find the right load and bullet that she won't be afraid of the kick, but good enough to take down a elk. She shoots a 12 guage and handles the kick good. I was thinking loading up 110 gr. bullets for practice and work up to a higher grain elk hunting bullet. What is a good powder to use in 30.06? I appreciate any advice you can help me with.
~Scott~
 
I would definately get something that is at least 150 grains. 165 grain nosler partition would be better yet. I have had 150 grain nosler partition fail to penetrate on a cow elk shoulder shot at 20 yards. The 165 partition will do the trick and not kick too bad either. You could have her practice with the 110's and switch to the 165 without her knowing for the hunt and she'd probably not notice when shooting her elk. Good luck.
 
165 gr. Partition is what I use for elk in .308.
If you need to reduce the recoil for her, it would be better to reduce the velocity and keep the bullet weight, in my opinion. If you don't hand-load, that's going to be a problem.
A heavy rifle and a good recoil pad also helps a ton.
I killed at least 3 cow elk with head/neck shots with a 30-30 and none of them went more than 10 yards, you don't need a whole lot of velocity/energy if she can manage good accuracy as a substitute. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
The shotgun probably kicks harder than a 30-06. The problem with a rifle is you are typically shooting from a bench and your body has no give in this position.

A typical 30-06 factory load throws a 165 grain bullet at around 2800fps. Many starting loads from reloading manuals will be around 300fps slower than max. That should be enough to reduce the kick substantially.

From my old Nosler reloading manual for a 165 grain partition and a 24" barrel here are some loads. These are just for example double check any loads from a good reloading manual. Even the slowest load here is moving 400 - 500 fps faster than a 30-30 with 170 grain bullet and 20" barrel so still decent loads.

IMR 4320 46.0 grains is 2510 fps (Minimum Load)
RL 12 44.5 grains is 2510 fps
RL 12 42.5 grains is 2420 fps (Minimum Load)
IMR 4064 46.0 grains is 2570 fps (Minimum Load)
IMR 4895 44.0 grains is 2560 fps (Minimum Load)
 
Remington offers a Reduced Recoil load at 125g, not sure the velocity. It might be worth checking out. If you like it you could probably duplicate the load. Also this years Hodgdon Reloading Data Manual (magazine), has a nice article about reduced loads and data for them. The 30-06 was included. Mine is loaned out right now or I'd quote you the data to try. It's worth the $9 for the manual though. If you can't find it at a local shop you can order it:
http://www.hodgdon.com/store/product.php?productid=16145&cat=0&page=1&featured
Maybe somebody has it handy and can give you the info.

peace.
unloaded
 
The managed recoil loads from Remington reduce the kick in half. I think they are on the light side for Elk since the bullets are light and appear to be structured for deer.

A full 30-06 180 Grain bullet from an 8lb rifle kicks 20.3 ft-lbs.
A light load 165 Grain bullet at 2500fps and an 8lb rifle will kick around 14.0 lbs. So it would be a little over a 30% reduction in recoil energy. It would be nearly identical to a 300 Savage in kick.
 
Quote:
The shotgun probably kicks harder than a 30-06.



Actually this statement is correct even when comparing 180 grain 30-06 loads.

If she handles the 12 guage just fine any 30-06 load will be ok.
If you want to reduce the recoil go with a lighter bullet, like 150-168 grain. This will be comparable to a 308... the 150 slightly faster than the 308, the 168 slightly slower. It's not until the 180's and bigger that the '06 starts to shine due to the greater case capacity.

I wouldn't go smaller than 150 grain to reliably take down an elk. You risk a bullet splash on the shoulder with a 100-125 grain bullet as most are designed for varmints or smaller game.
 
I do appreciate everyones reply. This will give me a good starting point. Last night I purchased the Hornady 110gr V-Max. I'm thinking this will get her used to practicing good form and handeling the rifle. Then I will work on increasing the grain of bullet. I have a couple manuals. The Hornady manual and the Speer Manual. The way the shortage is on powder I guess i should be happy to get whatever But I will try my best to use the info you all gave me if I can find the powder. I will keep you all posted on how it goes. Thanks again.
~Scott~
 
just a couple recommendations...

Hodgdon has load data for H4895 that they call "youth loads". They have a 125 gr load listed for the '06. You can use that data with the 110 Vmax. That would be a great place to start for practice loads.

Here's a link:

http://www.hodgdon.com/PDF/Youth%20Loads.pdf

I agree with other posters who said practice with light loads and switch out to full power loads for hunting. She won't notice the difference.

bownut
 
What type of hunting will you be doing?? If you are shoting less than 200 yards then I would consider shooting cast bullets in that 30-06. You can go to a very heavy bullet at a low velocity which would be a deadly combination on elk. And would easily keep recoil in a manageable level.

I do not think you need to spend a ton of money on custom bullets for a cow elk. A 220 grain cast bullet in the boiler room at 1,800 to 2,000 or so fps will drop a cow elk easily.

Cast bullets do a great job on game. They are highly under rated. They are not as efficient as the jacketed bullets at high velocities or at long distances. However IMO at shorter distance and lower velocities they perform better than even the premiun bullets. Just my opinion. Tom.
 
I second the hodgdon Youth loads.

I think you may have the wrong approach in gradually working up. Find something she can shoot comfortably and stick with it.

Make very sure she has plenty of eye relief and has the stock firmly on her shoulder.

There are two courses of action I can recommend. One option, use a light bullet like a triple shock. If you load the 130 triple shock to about 2700 fps, you shouldn't need any more than that, so long as she places shots well. This will have the recoil energy of about 11 foot pounds, around half of a full power load. For 2900 fps, 13 foot lbs. Full power .30--06 is 19-20 ft lbs.

The second option is to have her practice with as heavy a load as she can handle without being afraid of. Then, take the gun away and site it in for stouter loads right before the hunt, but don't tell her. In the heat of the moment, she won't feel anything so long as she has learned to shoulder the gun correctly. This is where correct eye relief comes in too.

Make sure the scope has a rubber eyepiece. My scopes have bitten me many times.
 
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Using lighter bullets in the 30-06 for Elk I would recommend the Barnes triple shock (TSX). Here are a couple of sample loads using the 130g and the 150g TSX.

130g, 56.0g of IMR4350, muzz. velocity 2,900, 100 yd energy 1,980, 200 yd energy 1,600, recoil from 8 lb rifle 16.2.

150g, 53.0g of IMR4350, muzz. velocity 2,700, 100 yd energy 2,000, 200 yd energy 1,643, recoil from 8 lb rifle 16.9

Not much difference in the two sample loads for impact engery but the 130g load does show slightly less recoil.

Recoil engery was calculated using the Lyman formula. You can find it here: www.10xshooters.com/calculators/index.htm

Good Luck!! Hope she enjoys her hunt.
 
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