I'm in the process of reloading some 125 gr. Speer #2213 bullets to try out in my sporter #4 Lee Enfield. I have a question for some of my fellow gunnies who've tried these out. Did you find that they performed better at low, mid, or higher velocities? My normal routine with a new load is to try 5 rounds loaded at mid low to mid to mid high charges and see which groups best. Then I start tweaking them in terms in seating depths until I get the best groups I can. That then becomes an approved hunting load. My personal bench mark is at least 1-1/8" group at 100 yds. so that's what I strive for. Any input is appreciated.
125 gr. Speer .303 bullets reloading question
- Thread starter LawrenceN
- Start date
I don't want to rain on your parade, but why do you want to load 125 gr bullets in the cartridge? if you plan on loading 5 of each anyway please tell us how it worked out for you and which powder you used. I tried im my 303 and the results were all over the target, a complete waste of time for me, I sincerely hope your results are more pleasing.....FS
Always found light bullets shot terrible in 303 Brit. 1 1/8 group in a Lee Enfield #4 , not consistently. I believe it is a lesson in futility. But try it I've been proved wrong before. 150's and heavier work good for me.
I load 123-125gr 7.62x39 pills crimped hard in my P14, using an H335 equivalent powder with mag primers around 2750fps. They shoot quite well for me.
Any time you load light bullets in big cases you need to make sure you get good ignition/initial pressure...crimping, mag primers, and loading mid-charts seems to have solved this for me.
Any time you load light bullets in big cases you need to make sure you get good ignition/initial pressure...crimping, mag primers, and loading mid-charts seems to have solved this for me.
OK my friends, here's the background. I'm in the process of burning off oddball components that I have kicking around. I had 17 Speer bullets left in the box and I was wondering if I could find a decent load for something like coyotes. I have a proven 150 gr. deer load for the rifle but if I found a good grouping 125 gr. load I'd have bought some more of the same bullets. I already have a proven deer load for my SKS with the 123 gr. Hornady Interlocks so I wasn't interested in trying them out of that rifle. I loaded 5 rnds.each with IMR3031 at 41 and 42 gr. and 7 at 45 gr. of RL15 since my Lyman book showed those 2 powders as giving the best results. End result? Useless! It was giving me 3"-4" groups at 100yds. and I like to get at least a 2" group out of a hunting rifle, though my own personal happy space is (minimum)1-1/4". If anyone wants to duplicate my experimental loads with a different .303, feel free, but for me it was a waste of time. To all of you, thank you for your input.
I my be starting something here but it has been my experience that the British 303 is normally a 3 to 4 inch shooter at 100 yards. I have one sporterized by Parker Hale that will stay about 2 1/2 at 100. Some will do better than 3 inches but normally not.
HOOO BOY!!! You, my friend, will have really set the cat among the pigeons (as my English friends would say!). For your specific attention, I have pic of a load and a target to take a look at. Years back, I bought an inexpensive ($150.00) No.4 Lee Enfield sporter which says "Sussex" on the barrel. I believe it was sporterized by BSA way back when, but to the point, I fabricated a scope mount to accommodate my old eyes, a cheek piece, and commenced working up a good deer load. After a lot of lead and powder downrange, I found that 43 gr. of Varget pushing the 150 gr. Hornday Flat Base SP gave me my magic group for a deer load. My brother consistently shoots 1" - 1-1/4" groups at 100 yds. with FMJ handloaded rounds and considering it was a successful sniping round for 2 world wars, I'd have to suggest taking a hard look back at your experience with an eye to what rifle and ammo gave you that kind of poor performance. Please understand, this isn't a critique. I've been shooting .303 since I was 15 (52 yrs. ago) and back when I still had good eyesight I nailed my first deer with a No.4 at about 140 yds. with a one-shot kill. A decent Lee Enfield and good ammo should produce much better groups than you've experienced, depending on the shooter.
