.303 British reloading

[tokguy]

Because of the design of the web in the .303 cartridge case, consider yourself lucky if you get 4-5 reloads out of a .303 cartridge case. BEFORE you head out to the range with your reloads do yourself a favor and buy yourself a .303 broken case extractor. You will eventually need it and it can ruin the day if you don't have one when you need it.


Did someone already mention the 'O-ring' trick and I missed it? I've heard of folks claim to get up to 9 reloads on a quality shell.
Because it seems that would be a handy tidbit of info to use in conjunction with the mentioned handloader.

 

[H4831]

Because of the design of the web in the .303 cartridge case, consider yourself lucky if you get 4-5 reloads out of a .303 cartridge case. BEFORE you head out to the range with your reloads do yourself a favor and buy yourself a .303 broken case extractor. You will eventually need it and it can ruin the day if you don't have one when you need it.

This is the first time I have seen, "Broken case extractor," ever mentioned on CGN!
Yet, years ago all serious shooters had a broken case extractor. Competitive shooters had one in their gear at the firing line. Then if they had a case separation they could remove the broken piece and continue in the match, without losing out because of the time clock.
Well heeled hunters who went on month long safari's in the mountains, always had a broken shell extractor with them, in case they had a case separation, which would make the rifle unusable until it was removed.
I have thought a lot about why BSE is never mentioned on the CGN and I think it is because the average writer on CGN is of the opinion their rifle would "Blow up in their face,"
if they had a case separation while firing.
Otherwise, why do they make so much fuss about checking their fired cartridges for signs of weakening case walls, and discard all the cases, if they see sign of those ringed marks around the case, ahead of the web?
By the way I still have a broken case extractor for a 303 British. I could post a picture of it, for those who have never seen one, if they want to see it.
Bruce

 

[Northman999]

I keep a homemade broken shell extractor in my range bag. Lesson happened to be learned firing 303 British too. Third firing of that piece of brass BTW.

The "o-ring" thing is great advice, but it is a PITA.

I'm kind of torn between getting all set up with brass specifically labelled and loaded for each rifle using the "o-ring" method, or just accept that 303 brass has maybe half the case life of other brass, come up with one standard load for all my rifles, and carry on like that.

 

[yardie]

Bought a BCE even before I got my hands on my first LE.

 

[stevebc]

By the way I still have a broken case extractor for a 303 British. I could post a picture of it, for those who have never seen one, if they want to see it.
Bruce

Something tells me I've seen one before but pictures and instructions for use sound like a great idea to me!

 

[H4831]

Something tells me I've seen one before but pictures and instructions for use sound like a great idea to me!

Hi Steve,
It is a very simple, pretty well foolproof, little gadget.
Just put it in the chamber and full close the bolt on it.
What looks like threads near the front is sharp cut steel. It jams into the neck of the cartridge that is stuck in the chamber, with the steel knob on the front centering it in the barrel. The split on either side allows for slightly different sized necks.
Opening the bolt handle will cam the instrument, including the broken case which is now attached to it, loose and out.
All done quicker than I can describe it!
Bruce

 

[skneub]

Hi Steve,
It is a very simple, pretty well foolproof, little gadget.
Just put it in the chamber and full close the bolt on it.
What looks like threads near the front is sharp cut steel. It jams into the neck of the cartridge that is stuck in the chamber, with the steel knob on the front centering it in the barrel. The split on either side allows for slightly different sized necks.
Opening the bolt handle will cam the instrument, including the broken case which is now attached to it, loose and out.
All done quicker than I can describe it!
Bruce

That's just cool , never heard of one before this thread.
I did however have a .303 crack the web on a new piece of factory loaded brass....
Rang my bell good...And was the last shot it took by me.
Sold it for 50$ to the gun shop for parts

 

[bigedp51]

I keep a homemade broken shell extractor in my range bag. Lesson happened to be learned firing 303 British too. Third firing of that piece of brass BTW.

The "o-ring" thing is great advice, but it is a PITA.

I'm kind of torn between getting all set up with brass specifically labelled and loaded for each rifle using the "o-ring" method, or just accept that 303 brass has maybe half the case life of other brass, come up with one standard load for all my rifles, and carry on like that.

I read about the o-ring method and was very skeptical of the idea and didn't try it for over six years. The old standby methods of seating your bullets long and jamming the bullet into the rifling didn't work to hold the case against the bolt face because of Cordite throat erosion. The second method of creating a false shoulder was hard on the case necks and I ended up with split necks.

The o-ring methods very well and the only downside is you MUST grease your locking lugs to prevent wear on the lugs. It is also important to not use o-rings that are too large and have excessive bolt closing effort.

The most important thing to remember is civilian American made SAAMI cartridge cases are not heavy duty military cases and are short lived if not fire formed properly. On top of this our .303 resizing dies are designed for smaller diameter and length non military chamber.

For me the Winchester case gave the shortest use and the Serbian Prvi Partizan cases gave the longest use. This is because the Prvi cases have thicker rims, the base diameter is larger and the cases were over .010 thicker in the base.

When reloading cases like Winchester you need to load lighter, meaning a 150 grain bullet and 37 to 38 grains of IMR-4895 to not over stress the weaker brass. By using the o-ring method and mid range loads I have gotten over 30 reloads from my cases.

This isn't written in stone and it depends on the type and quality of the brass and your Enfields chamber. BUT I do not blame the Enfield rifle for this, my 1943 Remington 03-A3 was almost as hard on 30-06 brass when loaded near the top because of the oversized military chamber.

Bottom line, you have a long fat chamber and skinny short reloading dies and you need to compensate for the difference.

New cases can be on the short side, below is a brand new unfired Remington .303 British case resting in a Wilson case gauge. The case rim is actually hitting the inside of the gauge and the shoulder is actually a 1/4 inch short of where it should be.

Below is South African surplus military ammunition, it is resting on its shoulder as it should be.

Below is a fired case resting in the gauge, the distance it is sticking above the gauge is how much further the shoulder location is in the military chamber. It is also why neck sizing prolongs case life in your Enfield rifles.

Now also remember this, when using the o-ring method the o-ring is compressed when the bolt is closed and centers the rear of the case in the chamber. This helps when fire forming cases with smaller base diameters and aids accuracy.

Once the case is fire formed the case no longer headspaces on the rim and the case then headspaces on the shoulder and the shoulder of the case holds the case against the bolt face and the case can not stretch.

I also want you all to know I'm an American and a smart Canadian came up with this idea using the o-ring method long ago. I just took the idea and ran with it testing it and then making illustrations showing how it was done.

All you need are some cheap .312 pistol bullets and some Trail Boss powder and a little extra time waiting for these really slow bullet to hit the target.

You do not need reduced loads to fire form your cases and you can use any bullet weight, just remember you don't need max loads to form the brass. And reduced loads are fun to shoot and cost less and you are turning your rifle into a long barreled magnum pistol.

 

[bigedp51]

That's just cool , never heard of one before this thread.
I did however have a .303 crack the web on a new piece of factory loaded brass....
Rang my bell good...And was the last shot it took by me.
Sold it for 50$ to the gun shop for parts

If you don't let the case stretch in the first place you will never need the stuck case remover, all you really need to remember is to bring clean underwear when you have a hang fire during a mad minute with surplus click bang Pakistani ammo.
As you can see the Pakistani ammo was loaded with anti-matter and the front part of the case was almost sucked into a black hole. (really sunray it was loaded with anti-matter)

 

[skneub]

If you don't let the case stretch in the first place you will never need the stuck case remover, all you really need to remember is to bring clean underwear when you have a hang fire during a mad minute with surplus click bang Pakistani ammo.
As you can see the Pakistani ammo was loaded with anti-matter and the front part of the case was almost sucked into a black hole.

nasty.....

 

[tokguy]

Bidedp51 thank you. That was the best explanation of the 'O' ring trick that I've seen yet.
Smellie had helped me get my Snider up and running and supplied a bunch of skinny hair ties that he has found to be really well suited for this method.
Knowing what size of 'O'ring is helpful too.

 

[TargetAcquired]

Here's a bit of an embarrassing admission - I have a broken case extractor, but I was not really all that sure on how exactly to use/calibrate it.

When I got into .303 reloading, I was told it would be a very well spent $10. I could only find one for $20, but I bought it anyway. It had never been used, and was grimey with grease. I didn't know if the grease was required for use, so all I did was put it into the oiler slot in the buttstock of my favourite #4.

Showing the rifle to a friend one day, he noticed something rattling in the buttstock, I took it out to show him and briefly described it's purpose. He asked how it worked, I chambered it and extracted it and explained in very laymans terms what a case head seperation is. Inspecting it closely, he says "special price - comes apart" (inside joke we have about shopping in markets in Cuba), as he unscrewed the extractor apart - something I didn't even know it did. I've had cases get little cracks or splits, but never seperate, so I'd never (thankfully) needed to use it, but playing around with it you can adjust the width by screwing it in a bit and spreading the collets.

So, I assume that if you attempt to extract a seperated case and the extractor doesn't work, you just open it up until it get a tighter fit, to grab the brass and pull it out.

Were these extractors standard soldier issue? Or something that came to be afterward, when the rifles became the bain of all Moose in Canada by private owners.

Hi Steve,
It is a very simple, pretty well foolproof, little gadget.
Just put it in the chamber and full close the bolt on it.
What looks like threads near the front is sharp cut steel. It jams into the neck of the cartridge that is stuck in the chamber, with the steel knob on the front centering it in the barrel. The split on either side allows for slightly different sized necks.
Opening the bolt handle will cam the instrument, including the broken case which is now attached to it, loose and out.
All done quicker than I can describe it!
Bruce

 

[stevebc]

Hi Steve,
It is a very simple, pretty well foolproof, little gadget.
Just put it in the chamber and full close the bolt on it.
What looks like threads near the front is sharp cut steel. It jams into the neck of the cartridge that is stuck in the chamber, with the steel knob on the front centering it in the barrel. The split on either side allows for slightly different sized necks.
Opening the bolt handle will cam the instrument, including the broken case which is now attached to it, loose and out.
All done quicker than I can describe it!
Bruce

Many thanks- not was I was expecting, but it looks quite useful. I still have a lot of "stretched" .303 brass, so I should buy one.

 

[bigedp51]

Bidedp51 thank you. That was the best explanation of the 'O' ring trick that I've seen yet.
Smellie had helped me get my Snider up and running and supplied a bunch of skinny hair ties that he has found to be really well suited for this method.
Knowing what size of 'O'ring is helpful too.

What really got me started using the o-ring method was we had someone in our Enfield forums telling everyone to lube their .303 British cases. This keeps the case from grabbing the chamber walls and prevents case stretching. This is very bad advice to use on any rifle because it doubles bolt thrust and increases wear on the rifle. This is especially true on older rifles like our surplus military rifles made from softer steels. It is a NATO standard that two proof cartridges be used when proofing new military rifles, one dry proof cartridge is used to proof the barrel and one oiled proof cartridge is used to proof the bolt and action. The oiled proof test cartridge is used to simulate the most adverse conditions found on the battle field and if the headspace increases over .002 to .003 the rifle fails proof testing.

Below is from the 1929 British Textbook of Small Arms.
NOTE: The British to this day in some older proof houses still use the older base crusher method of measuring chamber pressure and this is what is described above. This copper crusher was located at the base of the case and the firing pin passed through the copper crusher. With an oiled cartridge it would measure total chamber pressure and the actual force on the bolt. A dry cartridge delivers approximately half the bolt thrust and the dwell time the case is in contact with the bolt.

Bottom line oil or grease in the chamber is like being in the boxing ring and leaning forward and letting your opponent hit you as hard as he possibly can on the chin. So don't be dumb and let your rifle take it on the chin and get knocked out of the ring early in its life.

Below is what the U.S. Army is telling the troops today.

Now think about this and why the Enfield rifle had replaceable bolt heads........................now ask yourself what caused the headspace to increase.

 

[Ganderite]

What really got me started using the o-ring method was we had someone in our Enfield forums telling everyone to lube their .303 British cases. This keeps the case from grabbing the chamber walls and prevents case stretching. This is very bad advice to use on any rifle because it doubles bolt thrust and increases wear on the rifle. This is especially true on older rifles like our surplus military rifles made from softer steels. It is a NATO standard that two proof cartridges be used when proofing new military rifles, one dry proof cartridge is used to proof the barrel and one oiled proof cartridge is used to proof the bolt and action. The oiled proof test cartridge is used to simulate the most adverse conditions found on the battle field and if the headspace increases over .002 to .003 the rifle fails proof testing.

Below is from the 1929 British Textbook of Small Arms.
NOTE: The British to this day in some older proof houses still use the older base crusher method of measuring chamber pressure and this is what is described above. This copper crusher was located at the base of the case and the firing pin passed through the copper crusher. With an oiled cartridge it would measure total chamber pressure and the actual force on the bolt. A dry cartridge delivers approximately half the bolt thrust and the dwell time the case is in contact with the bolt.

Bottom line oil or grease in the chamber is like being in the boxing ring and leaning forward and letting your opponent hit you as hard as he possibly can on the chin. So don't be dumb and let your rifle take it on the chin and get knocked out of the ring early in its life.

Below is what the U.S. Army is telling the troops today.

Now think about this and why the Enfield rifle had replaceable bolt heads........................now ask yourself what caused the headspace to increase.

The O ring allows the case to blow out the shoulder so that if it is neck sized, it will tend to stretch much less. The other way to do it is to lube the case and fire form the case using a cast bullet.

I routinely shoot cast bullet for plinking, so I use this opportunity to fire form virgin or once fired cases.

Lubing full power ammo is not a good idea. Shooting wet ammo (rain) is also not a good idea for the same reason.