Modifying Factory Loads: Reload Question

[captom]

Need some advice. It has been almost forty years since I've reloaded ('70's) and have since sold off much of my equipment. Anyway, since I've had shoulder surgery I need to reduce the recoil of my A3 30-06 Springfield. I'm thinking I could pull the bullet, weigh the factory charge, reduce it in, say, 5 gr increments. Re-pour the remainder back into the case and re-seat the bullet. I can check resulting MV with my chronograph and consider the reduction in felt recoil. My most extreme reduction would be 15 grains before testing at the range. My cartridges will be Remington 125 gr Core-Lokt. I know they make a Managed-Recoil version but I have 100 rds of the full load with MV= 3040 ft/sec. I know the former is designed to achieve MV= 2660, so I have something to aim for. I still have my bullet puller, electronic scale, etc. I will be borrowing the reloading press from a friend.

Could I get by with purchasing only a Seating die or would I need a Neck sizing die with expander ball since the brass would be unfired? Obviously I would remove the decap rod.

I have been out of reloading so long I'm afraid I may be missing something. But I think this would be a safe thing to do. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Captom

[knitepoet]

Since there's no way to know what non-cannister grade powder is in any factory load. I don't think reducing the factory charge is a "good" idea.
A lot of powders act "wonky" once you get outside their design parameters

I'd suggest getting some H4895 and using Hodgdon's "youth" data for 125gr 30-06.
http://www.hodgdon.com/PDF/H4895%20R...le%20Loads.pdf

There's the link, so you can verify this yourself, but they suggest 40.5gr of H4895 with 125gr bullet for just over 2600fps MV from a 24" bbl

edited to add: I don't do anything to the case when I pull the bullets from some of my Greek M2 (garand) ball and replace the FMJs with the same weight Rem Core-lokts for hunting ammo for my Garand. So I doubt you'll have to do anything to you cases either.

edited again to add this from the above link:

H4895 powder was chosen because it is the slowest burning propellant that ignites uniformly in reduced charges. For years
H4895 has been the top choice of cast bullet shooters. For this type of shooting, loads are reduced even more than the
hunting loads listed here. To create this type of target and plinking loads, we recommend our 60% rule with H4895: Refer
to our latest reloading manual or the Reloading Data Center found on this website; take the maximum H4895 charge listed
for any given cartridge and multiply it by 60%. The shooter can create a 1500 to 2100 f/s load, depending on the bullet
weight shown. This works ONLY where H4895 is listed. DO NOT use H4895 in a cartridge where it has not been shown.
Call Hodgdon Powder Company if additional information is needed. Loads may be adjusted up or down to achieve best
accuracy. However, DO NOT reduce by more than an additional 10%.

[Teach]

That would be a very difficult, and potentially hazardous process. Dropping 15 grains of an unknown-compound factory powder is a recipie for disaster. Getting below starting-load levels of powder will result in poor sealing of the case against the chamber, and possibly catastrophic "detonation" when the bullet lodges partway down the bore and then a pressure spike happens. I've been loading Hornady 130 grain spire points in .30-06 for over 25 years, and their manual lists a starting load of IMR 3031 at 41.1 grains with a MV of 2700. That's about 9 grains below their reccomended max load of 3031, which produces a MV of 3100 FPS. That's a proven load with plenty of factory research to back it up. Why risk a blown-up gun when there's a published load that will do what you want?
Jerry

[SirGeorgeKillian]

Not to mention, you seriously increase your chance of a squib. That could cause the most devastation if not caught and corrected.

[bisley]

I have been out of reloading so long I'm afraid I may be missing something. But I think this would be a safe thing to do. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Captom

I found myself in a similar situation, a few years ago, and just eased back in with some cheaper Lee equipment. With your previous experience and the help you can get here, you would probably be fine, if you took it slow and heeded the advice here. If someone gives you a bum steer, the other members will be all over it to keep you from messing up.

[tennmike]

If it were me, I'd go with the IMR data for Trail Boss powder. The load data is available for the 30-06 and appears to be a very mild loading.

http://www.imrpowder.com/PDF/Trail-Boss-data.pdf

[ilove22s]

i wouldnt play with fire. but its your gun and your life.

if youre shooting from a bench, have you tried putting a sandbag between you and your gun? when i was shooting my friends mauser 06, it was brusing my shoulder alot since i wasnt wearing the right clothes. i used a sand bag and i was able to shoot all day.

[sarg1c]

probably have to ful length resize because the case was crimped...

[snake284-1]

Need some advice. It has been almost forty years since I've reloaded ('70's) and have since sold off much of my equipment. Anyway, since I've had shoulder surgery I need to reduce the recoil of my A3 30-06 Springfield. I'm thinking I could pull the bullet, weigh the factory charge, reduce it in, say, 5 gr increments. Re-pour the remainder back into the case and re-seat the bullet. I can check resulting MV with my chronograph and consider the reduction in felt recoil. My most extreme reduction would be 15 grains before testing at the range. My cartridges will be Remington 125 gr Core-Lokt. I know they make a Managed-Recoil version but I have 100 rds of the full load with MV= 3040 ft/sec. I know the former is designed to achieve MV= 2660, so I have something to aim for. I still have my bullet puller, electronic scale, etc. I will be borrowing the reloading press from a friend.

Could I get by with purchasing only a Seating die or would I need a Neck sizing die with expander ball since the brass would be unfired? Obviously I would remove the decap rod.

I have been out of reloading so long I'm afraid I may be missing something. But I think this would be a safe thing to do. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Captom

Or you could simply go buy you some Remington Managed Recoil loads. That would be a good bit easier and might be a better all around load for what you need.

[captom]

Thanks guys for your constructive advice. Especially knitepoet and Teach. I'm glad I asked the question. I'll take your advice. captom

[knitepoet]

Glad I could help :-)

Having had shoulder surgery myself (right shoulder) 9 days ago, I may be using that same data with some 125gr Ballistic tips in my -06 for the rest of the season (Or might use one of my smaller rifles)

[Bigslug]

The safety issues have already been amply covered. A couple other things to ponder.

If you're shooting an unmodified or lightly sporterized '03. . . The early type "S" stock without the pistol grip has a lot of drop at the comb that places your shoulder well below the line of recoil. In short, this stock is designed to pound you. Reducing the load will only pound you less. For a guy who's had shoulder surgery, these rifles are historically cool, but ergonomically crap. The pistol-gripped "C" stock and in between "Scant C" stocks are better, but in any event, a steel buttplated .30-06 may not be your best line of approach. A slip on buttpad and/or strap-on shoulder pad would be wise investmets, regardless of what you do with the load.

Most of the modern stocks have geometry better suited to scopes, and therefore raise the comb to where the buttpad is more in line with the bore, equating to less trauma to the shoulder. The current Remington 700 synthetics do very well here, and also have nice, squishy pads.

Depending on the game you're playing, there's no shame in picking up a .243 either.

[rbsivley]

Thanks guys for your constructive advice. Especially knitepoet and Teach. I'm glad I asked the question. I'll take your advice. captom

That's what i like about this place. You'll get an answer to just about any question you ask.