To my amazement all the 1x fired hornady cases were 2.486 to 2.489.

I didn't bother trimming.

IMR4451. From 50-56 grains using Nosler 165gr Partitions

Noslers are expensive.... WOW.

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They look good.  I do the same thing, 3 to 5 of each load to dial in what is good for the rifle.

I reload the 180gr Nosler spitzer.

Very accurate with IMR 4350 and as you said very expensive.

$42 for a box of 50 at LGS.

I save them for deer season and load Hornady & Sierra for target shooting.

Best shooting load my buddy ever found for his Winchester M70 was with IMR4350 and Sierra 180 grain flat based spitzers.

My rifle (Remington 03A4) really liked IMR4350 and Sierra 180 grain Match Kings.

I think 4350 and 180's were made for .30-06 bolt action rifles.

My daughter just took her first mule deer with the first 30-06 she loaded. I helped her load it, chrono it, test it and confirm drop out to 400 yds. She then practiced shooting with over 40 rounds. All that work to sneak up to a buck and shoot him in his bed at about 35yds.

She used a Speer 150 gr LNFB and 4064 for about 2800 fps. It was 1 moa @ 200 yds from the bench. Her scope reticle limited her to 300 yds due to the difficultly compensating for drop. She could put 2 out 3 rounds in the heart at 300 yds prone with an improvised rest.

Next year we will focus on a youth elk hunt. She will go through the loading process again with 4350 and 180 Nosler partitions. I have had good success with elk and partitions. While they are expensive, I don’t use a lot hunting so loaded hunting rounds last a long time.

Congrats on her deer. She will remember it when we are long gone and if she is lucky she will tell the stories when her own get their first.

I buy my Nosler bullets from here:

Shooters Pro Shop

They shoot fine. The 168gr custom competition are some of the cheapest and accurate bulk bullets I’ve shot out of my 30-06 and 3x 308 rifles.

So far my 30-06 tc compass is sub MOA at 200yd with using a “factory second” poly tipped 168gr bullet loaded to 3.220 over 55.8gr of 4451. I’m happy so far with this powder.

What are the characteristics of 4451 that caused you to select it over a more typical powder like 4895?  

What type of powder is it, extruded, ball...?

What are you using this load for hunting, targets,...?

Geebus!  How big are the deer in Wisconsin that you need 180gr Partitions?

That's my elk load.  

150gr soft points for deer.

$0.29 Hornady 165 SP,,  some IMR-4350, lit by a CCI-200,, thats what for supper

No VOO DOO in knocking over deer

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For me personally, availability was my first consideration. Some of the more traditional powders have been harder to source when I was making my powder buys where as 4451 has been plentiful. I have also read it is good for other cartridges I load for but have yet to test. Hopefully it will live up to hype and be my “do-all” powder for the cartridges I load with it.

4451 is an extruded powder, between 4064 and 8208 in length. It is supposed to be anti-copper fouling and temp insensitive. It does tend to bind in my powder meter so I just weigh each charge.

I bought what was available at LGS and they had IMR 4451.

It's short cut extruded with enduron technology... aka temp stability. If I'm not mistaken it's essentially IMR 4450, but with temp stability technology

Using it for my Browning A Bolt Medallion--- Hunting Round.

I hunt heavily wooded public land in Central Wisconsin.

Its best to "Anchor" them where they stand, or close to it.

If you put the bullet where it belongs you don't do much more damage than with a lighter bullet.

I don't load max loads either.  

Sounds good!