Quote Originally Posted by AZ110
I thought about a 3-9 but i figured a little extra might be nice for the long shots. I have a coues deer hunt in October that I want to use this gun for and 300 - 400+ yard shots are very common in the area I will be hunting. This will be my first deer hunt.
So now I just need to pick up the mount and hopefully be shooting by next weekend. I started reloading for .357 mag about 6 months ago and am pretty comfortable with the process so I am thinking about picking up the dies , powder , bullets and brass and giving 30-06 a shot. Any help on that would be great too.
Handloading for your 30-06 is simple and straight forward. It's an easy round to load. Considering the size of the deer your hunting and the long ranges possibly involved, I would opt for a 165 grain boattail bullet pushed by one of the medium slow or slow powders. RL-19, RL-17, IMR 4350, H4350 are some powders to look at. Check your load manual, and look for the highest velocity you can shoot the particular bullet and work your charges up a couple of grains at a time from the start load until you get the speed and accuracy you want. Load to the max length the mag box will allow to function reliably. Full length size all your brass to be sure it will feed properly.