Thanks for the comments. I don't shoot factory ammo in my old '06's. I reload fairly moderate loads for them in deference to their age.
My two favorite loads are:
46 grains of IMR 4895 with Sierra 168 gr HPBT's with velocities ranging from the mid 2500's in a 1903 Sporter up to mid 2600's in my M1917 Remington.
51 grains of H414 with Hornady 165 gr BTSP's with velocities running from the low 2600's in 24" Springfield barrels up to 2700 fps in the M1917.
Neither of these loads exhibit pressure signs in any of my '06's and are both very accurate. I have not had much luck with 150 grain bullets as far as accuracy goes, I am guessing it has something to do with the twist rate of the rifling.
On a related note, I have a copy of the Speer #14 Reloading Manual and the Hornady 7th edition, both of which I refer to when working up a load, among other sources. In 2013 I wanted to shoot up some 130 gr Hornady spitzers that I had left over in an '06.
I loaded 10 with 51 grains of IMR 4064 and 10 with 49 grains of IMR 3031 in some once fired LC brass and headed to the range. These were the recommended start charges in the Speer book.
After firing 5 of each in my M1917 Remington, I had 2 cases split open, with several others near failure. Velocity was +/- 3000 fps. It finally sunk in on the second case failure that something was wrong, it wasn't just the brass which I initially suspected.
Looking at the Hornady book after the fact, I found that the Speer start charges were very close to the Hornady maximum charges. Thank God I do not start with the max or something in the middle and work my way up! I have never found that big of a bust between the two sources before or since, including other '06 bullet weights, but the Speer book tends to put their start charge around the middle of the Hornady charge range with the maximum charge usually being quite similar. Anyhow that was when I began to make a habit of consulting multiple sources before starting any new project.
I do need to get around to having a competent gunsmith look at the Mannlicher '03. Not many of those around here, need to find one within reasonable travel distances.
