Origional load for 03 Springfield
What would be a good duplicate load for the 1930s vintage 03 Springfield rifle ie. what weight bullet and at what velocity? I would like to dupliate origional specs. as closly as possable. Thanks
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Cowboy, the 30-06 original load used a 150 grain bullet at about 2700fps. The factory loads these days are somewhat faster.
OleDuk0 -
Cowboy, the 30-06 original load used a 150 grain bullet at about 2700fps. The factory loads these days are somewhat faster.
OleDuk0 -
As I have written several times this month on the forum, the original load for the .30-06 Springfield Model 1903 was 48 grains of IMR-4895 behind a flat base 150 grain spitzer bullet all loaded to an overall length of 3.34 inches. 0 -
By the 1930's there were two, actually three, .30-06 cartridges in U.S. service. The first is the round which Scout explained to you and there were over 2 BILLION rounds of this ammuntion left over from WWI and not much to do with it! In 1925 a new .30-06 round was introduced which had a heavier 174.5 grain bullet and a velocity of around 2650 fps and offered a much greater range...as well as more felt recoil! This new cartridge took into account a number of new ballistic developements and advancements which the Ordnance Dept. had been studying since the end of the "Great War". The idea was to use up all of the old WWI ammo and then start over fresh with the new round which was to be known as the Cartridge, Ball, .30 Caliber M1.
When the 2 billion surplus WWI rounds of ammo was at last used up the new M1 round was now the standard .30 caliber service round for both rifles as well as machineguns. The problem was that no one really liked the punishment it dished out when fired in the 1903 service rifle as well as the newer M1 Garand so in late 1939 a new .30-06 loading was developed for rifles which used a 152 grain bullet moving at 2800 fps...pretty darn close to the original WWI loading. In 1940 this new round was adopted as Cartridge, Ball, Caliber .30 M2 and the older M1 cartridge was pretty much reserved for machinegun use, where the heavier recoil was not an issue and the extended range was considered a big plus. My advice is that, although any of these three rounds would be technically correct for a 1903 service rifle in use during the late 1930's, those old M1 loadings kick pretty darned hard when fired from a Springfield!
Mark T. Christian0 -
Nice, complete reply Mark, as always!!
Now if you want a serious '06 load use a good 165 grain or so bullet in front of a case slam full of 4350(can't remember the charge exactly but it's a published load) and gets down range real quick!!
Even works good in my old 760.
Oleduk
I should have cautioned; don't use this load in an M1. 4350 and that much of it might develop excessive pressure at the gas port and result in a bent op rod0 -
I know that some people have used IMR 4350 in Garands, but I do not use any powder slower than IMR 4064 in the Garand. My powder of choice for the Garand is good old IMR 4895. The problem is that 4350 pressure is still too high at the gas port of the Garand. Not only could you bend an expensive operating rod but the higher pressure accellerates the rear movement of the op rod. This is not good, leading to increased strain on the whole bolt grouping. AIM SMALL, HIT SMALL Pinhead 0
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