I am thinking of getting into the reloading business. Mainly, to save money but also to work up a hotter-than-factory load for the nosler partition in .30-30 (170 gr) and nosler partition .30-06 in 180gr. What powder and how many grams would you use? I was thinking of using nosler brass.

It is virtually impossible to safely improve on factory ammo, velocity wise. In the .30-30 and .30-06 especially since there has been so many years to improve them. For the 30-06, Federal High Energy or Hornady Light Magnum is as hot as it gets. You can save some money and probably improve accuracy by hand loading. Nosler Brass is supposed to be very nice.
Andy

I would agree. From reading other posts as well, these two calibers have been around a long time for manufacturers to load them to the max. Just didn't know if the factory loads were mild. But from looking at other posts and balistic charts, these two loads you mentioned are as good as it gets. I'm I wrong anyone?:confused:

I am not trying to discourage you from handloading, it is a very rewarding hobby for me.
Andy

Not at all,
the money I save is well worth handloading. the cost per load is almost half (estimate) of buying it in the store.

The cost to reload is closer to 1/3 of buying it new. Many calibers are even more economical to reload for, like the various 338+ calibers, and the king is the .50 BMG which is up to 90% cheaper to reload for.

Pick up some reloading manuals and that can give you some great information. A lot of guys here like the Lee manual, I haven't ever seen one, but I like the Nosler and Speer manuals, you should have one for each bullet maker you intend to use.

The Lee starter kit is a great value for loading a few calibers and a few hundred rounds per year.

Advice from a reloader of 45 years. It's not less expensive to reload, you won't save a penny, but you will shoot a lot more for your ammo dollar. Second you can load hotter, but you'll find that it stresses the expensive equipment a bunch and usually hotter means less accurate. I've found that 10 percent under maximum loads usually gives much better accuracy with only a 2 percent drop in velocity. So far game animals just can't seem to tell the difference at any range I can hit them at.

The shooting more for the same dollar is really only one of the big draws to reloading. Being able to taylor your ammo to a specific rifle is a real plus. Lots of times groups going from two inch to 3/4 inchs is just a matter of a few grains of powder or a different bullet than factory loadings allow.

I use the Lee Anniversary kit and I'm loading thousands of rounds a year.

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q172/faucettb/Reloading/ReloadingbenchRemodel-40.jpg

I've loaded for both cartridges for over 40 years.

You are very unlikely to improve significantly on factory velocities with the .30-30, and unless you have one of the stronger single shot's, or a Remington 788, maybe a couple others, to do so is asking for a lot of trouble. The case is designed as it is, and the brass is alloyed to give it adequate modulous of expansion at .30-30 pressures. More than that and you're going to experience case head seperation with very few cycles.

The .30-06, on the other hand, can often be improved with respect to factory loads. Many factory loads wouldn't hit published speeds in a 30" barrel, much a standard 22" factory tube. I've chronographed many 150gr loads at 2700 +/-, and 180gr loads at 2550 are not uncommon, especially if the barrel has seen a lot of use. But it's easy to hit 2900fps with 150's using W760, IMR 4064, or H-414, and 2700fps+ with 180's using IMR 4064, or the 4350's.

You will not exceed the Hornady Light Mag stuff with any powders I'm aware of, safely, or probably even unsafely.

I remember when Federal first began selling their Premium 30-30 load, featuring the 170 grain Partition bullet. I tried many times to equal it, both in accuracy & velocity; & was unable to do so safely. Sometime later, I remember reading a Jamison article that pretty much substantiated my findings.

AS FAR AS THE 30-06 goes- It is my experience, backed by loading manual data, that accuracy is usually best achieved at 100fps or so under max.

Some cartridges can be hot-rodded rather easily with homegrown recipes. At my bench, these include the .264, 7mm rem., 6.5X55, & my beloved .358 win.

Some cartridges cannot. For me, these include: 30-30, 30-06, the .270 in most cases, & anything with the name Weatherby on it.

Reloading will make a given rifle a better shooter & increase it's usefulness. It will make you a better shot, & increase your enjoyment of the sport.

an option for the 30-30 is to ream it to an ackley improved chamber, very easy to do and quite effective. not really so simple with the '06, you've gotta figure that with it's popularity no stone has been left unturned so to speak.
i haven't worked with the 170's in the 30-30 imp. but i do know that you'll gain an honest 200 fps with 150's, and brass life is certainly better. my imp. is a marlin 336... it feeds and cycles just like it did before i reamed the chamber, shoots a bit flatter and hits a bit harder tho.
if you want more than 2700 or so out of the '06 with a 180gr bullet your best bet would be to trade it for a 300 win mag.
my thoughts are that you should buy a good chronograph for $100 or so and work up some loads, you may not get the velocity you want but when you go over the "balance point" and acurracy falls off you'll know what you're getting for velocity and if you fire some of the factory loads that you've been using you might be surprised at what you can gain without hotrodding it. i'm by no means frugal but brass is getting rather spendy these days and even if you can gain an optimist and unlikely 100fps it's just not worth the wasted case life and the strain on the rifle, not to mention the potential reconstructive surgery.
if you are intent on juicing up the '06 most manuals that list the '06 imp. show it as being very good with 180 gr bullets, basically matching factory 300 win velocities. with lighter bullets all it does is require a couple extra grains of powder to go the same speed, however it does appear to perform with the 180's (2900+).
i have a few ackley improved cartridges and do like them but one must bear in mind that you can only gain so much and in most cases we want more than we really need.

Cali what is the point of making hot of making hot loads anyway. I have found that 90% of the time hot loads are not as accurate as loads with less powder. My point is that it is not about speed its about accuracy which allows you to place a shot right where you want it for a nice clean kill. I would only worry about speed if I was making a very long shot. I think the average hunter could pull off a 200 to about 300 yard shot beyond that it takes lots of practice. I worked up loads in my 30 '06 until I found what I call the sweet spot. Thats where every shot is one inch or less. Interestingly these loads when chronoed are about 50 to 100 fps slower than factory ammo.

dead is dead
an 0-6 going factory with 180's is still better than you could do with a 308
and a 30-40 krag with 180,s is still better than you can do with a 30-30
but.... its your gun run it up just cause it's designed for 40,000 30-30
?????

if you cant get closer than 400 yds
then just buy the 338 lapua and be done with it