Opinions on using surplus .303

[kawicrash]

Hi, this probably could have gone in the ammo forum, but I figured it would get more exposure here, and it is technically military surplus.
Anyway, I have a couple hundred of these .303 rounds I bought long ago that I just came across again. Got them at S.I.R. distributed through Century Arms.
My question/concern is do you think they would be corrosive? They are Berdan primed and cordite, believe it or not. I thought cordite was long done by 1950?? I know cordite is hotter and more erosive than nitrocellulose, but a couple hundred wouldn't worry me too much, but if they are probably corrosive I might even just pull the bullets and reload them. Opinions?
Thanks, and Merry Christmas

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[green]

Cordite and corrosive. Clean bore with hot water, dry and then clean as with non corrosive. Cordite is only slightly more erosive and a few hundred will not cause noticeable wear.

 

[cantom]

As Peter Laidler said, treat it all as corrosive.

Aside from that, I'd listen to Green's advice.

 

[Robbs]

I have shot lots of this old SIR 303 ammo. I clean my enfields right after shooting. I have never poured hot water down the barrel to clean. I just use bore solvent and oil and never had a problem with rust or corrosion. My enfield barrels are still nice and shiny.

 

[emtjakster]

Shoot, Windex the pooh out of the barrel, drive home, clean
Never had any problems

 

[maple_leaf_eh]

RG stands for Radway Green, one of the principle UK ammunition plants. 50 means made in 1950. IMHO, nothing wrong at all with this ammo except it is old.

Surplus .303 is getting less and less common because guys are shooting it. So, take your favourite No.1, 4 or 5, or Pattern 1914 and head for the range!

 

[twincamharley]

I have a few thousand rnds of surplus and take some out from time to time and shoot it

 

[Butcherbill]

I would have no issue shooting it, cleaning a bolt action after shooting corrosive is not even an afterthought it's so easy.

 

[Suther]

Shoot, Windex the pooh out of the barrel, drive home, clean
Never had any problems

Windex does nothing. Save the money and fill the bottle with water next time.


OP, my only concern would be the risk of degraded powder causing a kaboom. There is a story about cordite 303 ammo degrading and causing multiple rifles to be blown up.

"The following day we began at 5am. At 187 rounds the rifle repeated the Lost Prairie experience and we then did something incredibly stupid. We opened 8 random rounds to examine the powder (cordite actually)...... Something that should have been done right out of the gate, but in retrospect, if we'd done that first we may not have even continued the process that led to the second blown bolt. This vintage ammunition was found to have an unusual amount of deteriorated dust in each case. Certainly due to storage conditions or something as yet undertermined, we surmised the the coagulent had failed and we had experienced a "detonation" rather than a controlled burn in both rifles. The varying amount of deterioration in each cartridge was nothing more than a roll of the dice, luck of the draw, whatever you want to call it. I'll not discuss this further. The incident is something that weighs heavily upon me and this is the only missive I'll compose on the matter."

Whole story here: https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/for...rue-story-of-the-possible-dangers-of-old-ammo

 

[bearhunter]

That stuff looks good. One thing I will caution you about when shooting this or any other surplus ammo is to deal with misfires or hangfires with extreme caution.

Every single one of your rounds may be just as good as the day it was made but you don't have any idea how that stuff was stored or if the primers or propellant have broken down or are starting to break down.

I picked up a couple of crates of RG50 about 20 years ago that was beautiful and pristine in hermitically sealed containers. It wasn't on chargers like your ammo is but in 48 round boxes. Not a bit of corrosion, all bright and shiny, Boxes perfect etc. At least 5 rounds in every box ignited as hangfires with the odd misfire. This can be an extremely dangerous condition when proper procedures are not followed to deal with this situation. Not only that, if you're on a busy range and have a continuing issue, you won't be popular with the other shooters.

When and if you get a hangfire/misfire wait for at least 20 seconds before ejecting the round. Pain in the butt but safe.

I watched a fellow that was having difficulty with a batch of surplus ammo being shot in a K98 Mauser. He would pull the trigger and if it didn't go bang, immediately eject the offending cartridge while looking at the breech while he was doing it. He was darn lucky his new shooting glasses were of good quality. The last misfire he ejected from the chamber went bang just as it cleared the breech completely. Bits of brass went into his chest and face. One went up his nostril and lodged about 4 cm back and had to be surgically removed. His glasses were cracked as well as speckled with bits of brass and black carbon which were melted into the safety glass. Luckily there were just the two of us on the range that day. The knuckle on his right hand had a tear and a huge bruise which made movement extremely painful.

Needless to say, he was always afraid to repeat the experience and never shot surplus ammo again to my knowledge.

This didn't need to happen. It doesn't need to happen to you.

I must admit, the vast majority of the surplus ammo we have been getting for the past decade is great stuff, even if it has corrosive priming. However, there is always the odd exception.