Shooting reduced recoil 30-06

fly2cast

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I thought I would give a report on my experience shooting a reduced recoil load for my 30-06. I am pretty new to reloading and so I'm learning a lot of new things about shooting.

I needed another gun for fall hunting because all of my kids now like deer hunting. I went with a 30-06 just in case one of the kids drew a moose tag. As luck would have it, one of them did. I wanted them to shoot the gun as much as possible so they get used to handling the gun but being it's a 30-06, the recoil is an issue when shooting a lot of rounds. I decided to start off reloading with Trail Boss powder, which is a very reduced recoil powder. I have to say, we had a lot of fun shooting this weekend.

I reloaded 40 rounds with 15 grains of Trail Boss and a 125 grain bullet. I don't know the velocity but I would guess it was around 1400-1600 fps. It was accurate enough at 50 yards. The great part is that it had about 1/4 the recoil of a .243 if I had to guess.

It was great practice for the kids. We walked around a pasture looking for gophers and blackbirds. The shooting was real world as they had to stalk the animals and then take a shot either standing, kneeling or sitting down. I can't think of a better way to get practice with a larger rifle than this. It's also fun because the gophers and blackbirds pretty much explode when hit with a 125 grain bullet. If you want to shoot the big guns for practice, give it a shot.
 


SupressYourself

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Sounds like fun.
The only thing I'll mention is that like creating sub-sonic rounds, you want to start high with your Powder Charge and work your way down.
Doing it in the other direction can result in a bullet stuck in the bore.
 

Retired Educator

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A lot of shooting is a great idea for kids (as well as adults). Another choice is a .22. If you have a scoped .22 kids get used to shooting with a scope as well as proper trigger pull and everything else that goes with being a good marksman. Proper technique or skills is the same with a plinker as it is with a high-power.

Good luck and have fun with the kids.
 

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