Reloder 19

In the .Thursday shooting post below, an anonymous commenter tells us that RL19 is good for max loads in the .30-06.  Yes, friend, it is.

Back in 2010 I stumbled upon a load that I use in my Savage 111.  That load uses the Nosler Ballistic Tip bullet and RL19.  Alliant puts the max for 150 grain bullets at 62.0 grains, but I found that at at 61 grains of Reloder 19, I was pushing that bullet past 2900 fps with great accuracy.  Nowadays I use Hornady's SST bullets in that load and the performance on target and on game is just as noteworthy.  It's a great load.

Any time I can plunk three bullets into that magic inch at 100 yards with my indifferent benchrest technique I call it good.  That load has continued to satisfy since I found it in 2010 and has accounted for at least one whitetail deer.  This isn't a true max load according to Alliant, but I'm pushing a good 150 grain bullet to almost 3000 fps, the bolt unlocks cleanly, and the primers are still radiused.  For some reason, Alliant lists that max load at 2722 fps, but I find that over my chronograph, when fired through my Savage, that bullet is traveling 200 fps faster than the book numbers.

You're right, friend.  Reloder 19 is a great powder for the .30-06.  Of course, there are lots of great powders for this old cartridge, which at 107 years is still one of America's favorites.  It's one of my favorite cartridges and one I enjoy shooting.