Anyone have any good 30-06 deer loads for the Encore ?

I have a 30-06 Encore with a 15" barrel. I load 50.0gn of IMR-4895 with a 130gn Soft Point Pistol bullet made by Hornady. I have taken 2 heavy Whitetail bucks with that load and put them right down. I have pictures posted on the bragging board forum. The 130gn SP Pistol bullet really performs great out of the 15 inch barrel.

Thanks for the information. Nice pics of your deer.

my favorite load is with a 150gr nosler ballistic tip, dont remember the powder charge would have to go out to the shop to get that info. will out shoot any rifle i own.

In my 15" 30-06 JDJ I load RE-15 with 165 gr. Nosler Accubonds at a chronographed 2630 fps and have killed four elk and five large bodied bucks with it. Sorry ... can't give the load as it is the JDJ version. With the SSK Arrestor brake it recoils straight back pretty sharply but is very manageable for an experienced handgun shooter, and feels a whole lot better than without the brake.

Gregg,

I am have reason to believe I can push a 150 grain at 2,700 fps with my 15 inch 30-06 Springfield version.

How does the JDJ version differ from the Springfield version?

That is a really fast load, 460. I have not tried to go hotter in my JDJ and maybe could.

The JDJ version is basically a blown out 30-06 case with less case taper and a shorter sharper neck similar to a 30-06 Ackley Improved. This of course gives greater powder capacity and theoretically the capability to achieve higher velocities.

49.5 grains of H4895 and a Nosler 150 BT are giving me an average of 2,581 fps and the best group in a 15 inch Encore barrel. I could go higher but accuracy suffers and brass starts to stick.

What kind of groups do you get with that combo? I've heard that rifle cartridges like a 308 Win would work better in a 15" barrel than the bigger 30-06.

I was strongly considering the 308, but I went with the 30-06 to get closer to 308 rifle knockdown power.

I am getting about 1 inch groups at 50 yards after the 1st run thru the powder scale. I still have play with overall length and need to address the head space issue.

I used to own a 308 Win bbl that I had SSK rechamber to a 30-06 JDJ. The barrel as a 308 would do right at 2475 fps with 165 Nosler BT's.

As a 30-06 JDJ, that same barrel would push the same bullet to right at 2715 fps.

If I owned a 30-06 Spr. version, I seriously consider using IMR 4064, Hodgdon Varget, H4350, RL22 and similar powders.

I had my best combination of velocity and accuracy with my 30-06 JDJ using IMR4064. I also had excellent results using H4350, H4831, RL22 and Varget. Most of my loads used the N165BT, with some 150's and a few 180's.

That barrel was equally accurate as a 308 or 30-06 JDJ. With the preferred loads, it would do 3/4" groups any day.

Regards,

Rog

Buttermilk,

Thanks for the input. I am sticking with H4895 for right now. I think I got my headspace issue addressed with my brass. I will know this weekend if I got a good working load with H4895 in my Encore.