303 surplus ammo pull down results

[rm1911]

Have some old 303 Brit ammo that I decided I'd pull down and reload with trail boss. Pull the bullet and no powder comes out. Oh yeah, forgot what those Brits used to use

Head stamp
Top U 60
Bottom MK 7


And the powder


Cordite. Pretty cool. I figure they'd be safe to shoot just didn't feel like it.

They are berdan primed so brass does me no good. Oh well.

We're Brits still loading cordite as late as '60? I don't think they were using enfields. Guess something I can look up

(Hopefully a nice distraction from all the news lately)

[Stainned]

I have a bunch of that stuff. I just yanked the bullets because far too many would hangfire.

[milw50717]

I have a bunch of that stuff. I just yanked the bullets because far too many would hangfire.

Hangfires forced me into reloading for the 303. Reloading also makes it possible to lower the kick and make shooting the Enfield for any length of time much more enjoyable.

[Enfield47]

I love the smell of cordite, nothing else like it. If you put some in pan and light it with a long fireplace match, you get a nice flash and whoosh. Be sure you're outdoors if you do it. Just something to do if you're bored one day.

[Unretarded]

Sure those are not italian rounds.......... .................................................. .................................................. ........................... ................. ......................... ................ ........................................... .................................................. .................... .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. ..........cause they loaded them spaghetti pasta.


Now thats some stick powder.......I will quit complaining about the imr 4064 not metering well after seeing that......

[NoHeavyHitter]

Mil-surp .303 has been gone for a couple decades or more - but I stumbled onto some Brit-made ammo from 44 & 45 _10 or 12 years ago) that had to have been in particularly good storage. When I chronographed that stuff, it produced single digit SD's for several 10-round strings.

Suffice to say, I went back and purchased their entire stock (which was less than only ~1200 rounds). I used that ammo to build a modern load using Hornady's 174gr FMJ over a charge of IMR-3031 that matched the velocity of that surplus ammo.

While I achieved outstanding results with a low SD, I never was quite able to duplicate those single-digit SD's the surplus yielded.

[jtake]

Last year Cheaper than Dirt had surplus 303 "B" grade stuff in 420, 480 and other packages. Was a mixture of Greek HXP from the late 60s, early 70s, to various other headstamps, mostly Radway Green, DAC, and many others from the early 1940s to the late 1960s.

Disregarding the vendor, prices were great at $96.17 + S/H for 480 rounds. Many received just HXP, which is non-corrosive and great cases for reloading.

[Stainned]

Hangfires forced me into reloading for the 303. Reloading also makes it possible to lower the kick and make shooting the Enfield for any length of time much more enjoyable.

Got all the stuff I need for it now.

[Zorba]

The word I heard about surplus .303 ammo hangfires is to be sure your FP is in spec and you installed a new spring sometime in the last couple of decades. Makes some sense, apparently some of the primers used are harder than what is usual today.

[Two Shots]

The only hangfires I get is from P.O.F, reloading is the way to go if you can find some brass at a good price.