[brinky]

Looking for a light plinking load for my 30-06'. I was hoping to find a load for a 110-115 gr cast bullet that I could use for small game or running a trap line. Also heard of using a .310" round ball @ 1100 or so works well for the task. Anyone try this before? Read about it in Richard Lee's load manual but no specifics.

 

[unclenick]

You'll need a chronograph to check the ball loads. For the others, I use 8 grains of Unique for firelapping and don't like to let the case be any less full than for reasons of avoiding any potential detonation. Rocky likes 10 grains, IIRC, but I think the 110 grain semi-jacketed plinker bullets from Hornady and Speer may be what he has in mind there? In any event, these are all catsneez loads by comparison to the standard '06 rounds. They are surprisingly accurate.

 

[Rocky Raab]

Use either the cast bullet your describe or the 100-gr half-jacket Plinker made by Speer and Hornady. The charge is 12.0 of Unique.

I have used the buckshot in a 308, but it is a very short-range deal. You can use 3.5 to 5.0 Bullseye for that.

Or with any regular bullet the "Ed Harris" load of 13.0 RedDot works very well indeed. Any cast or jacketed bullet of normal weight will do nicely.

 

[scruffy]

A friend and I tried round balls and found them to be terrible in a conventional rifle (not black powder).

We thought it was because of the depth of the rifling being shallower in rifles designed for harder bullets. we had a hard time keeping them inside a eight in circle at 50 yards.

Scruf

 

[ribbonstone]

Had a pounds of Red Dot left over from shotgun loading, so used it in my lite plinking 30-06 loads...worked well as Red Dot is "fluffy" (larger volume for the weight). IS a very fast powder, but would use as little as 5gr. and as much as 12gr. and good results.

Never did get ball to shoot real well, but .311 or .312" ball did decently well at very short range with as little as 2gr. of red Dot. I'd cast them. Trick seems to be to NOT SIZE the fired case at all, just deprime and prime, leaving the case neck it's fired/expanded size. Charge with powder (2gr.). Press the ball down FLUSH with the case mouth. Smear lube over the ball (which being flush with the case mouth, has room around the sides of the ball for lube).

 

[MikeG]

My firelapping loads for that case have been 4 grains of Bullseye, with a cast bullet of course. Never did fire them for groups but that might be a starting place if you have any.

Good luck.

 

[Chief RID]

I shot at a squirrel at 35 yds last weekend with the catsneeze round and missed. I thought I had it working too. I guess it is back to the drawing board or rather the range, after season. Oh shucks!

 

[brinky]

My dad does all the shotgun re-loading I'll check and see if he has any red dot. I know for sure he has blue dot as he loads pistol rounds with it. Will blue dot work with about the same charge around 10-12 grains?

 

[MikeG]

Blue Dot is much slower than Red Dot.