I’ve been bitten by the lead-free bug for hunting rifles in the past couple years and have successfully worked up some good and accurate loads that have proven effective for me. This isn’t the thread to discuss the lead vs non-lead theories so I’d appreciate it if it stayed out of this thread.

To start, this particular combination started when I found the right deal on some factory seconds at a great price last year. Since assembling my .338-06 I have left the .30-06 home on many range trips and days afield. I decided to start back up with this, earlier this spring and gave these a try. I chose Varget as it’s a powder I buy in bulk for other cartridges I reload. I like it because it works similarly for me in the heat of summer as well as the cold temps in November while I’m hunting. The rifle I shoot in .30-06 is a plain-Jane Stevens 200 (Savage 110) topped with a basic Redfield Revolution 3-9x40. It’s a rather light rifle and as such I’ve never shot it all that well but can usually manage around an average of 1.5” with my previous loads. As long as I can do that, I’m happy but always trying for better.

With mono-metal bullets such as these E-Tips, speed will always increase performance as Nosler reccomends 1800fps or faster for reliable performance. I started my load tests with 0.5 grain steps from Hodgdon’s recommended starting load of 46.0gr all the way to 49.0gr where I switched to .2gr steps as Hodgdon lists 49.5 as max. Starting at book length of 3.300”

I did the tests in two range trips, essentially doing the lower half one day and the second half on the second trip. The lower half I was less interested in but didn’t stun me by any means. The second trip yielded better results. I can’t honestly say if the unimpressive groups are because the rifle doesn’t like this bullet that well or if it’s simply a case of me having a bad day with this rifle. I’m honest about my relationship with this rifle, in that I have shot plenty of sub-1” groups with this rifle but it hasn’t ever been the rule. It smacks me harder than I’d like and at this point it’s a mental thing for me.

This picture shows the results from the second range trip. It shows promise for the 48.5gr and the higher end 49.4gr group. This rifle has never been this picky, so I can’t believe there is that much discrepancy between charge weights. I just found another deal on some more of these bullets so I feel a bit better starting on my last box knowing I have 200 more on the way.

Thanks to JTD for suggesting I start this thread as I like the idea of cataloging my load tests in one place.


I’d be happy to hear thoughts and suggestions as I go along down this post.


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