Reloading .303
- Thread starter Tinmasher
- Start date
Agree, not difficult, they may be referring to some brass being said to not be the best candidate like S&B, and that neck sizing may preserve brass life. I do neck size my S&B, not because I’ve found any issue but just in case.
More or less the same as any other round only typically Lee Enfields had rather large chambers which makes resizing the brass a bit harder on the press and brass life suffers. If you're reloading 303 for only one gun you can buy a neck sizer which will only size the neck and the brass will be easy to size and will last much longer.
Reloading the .303 is quite easy, no different than other caliber.
Base you first attempt to specs of original military ammo. Same bullet weight, same OAL.
Full length resize. Stay away from max load. No need in an old gun, even if those are strong action.
Use published data by manufacturer or a verifiable source. You will stay out of trouble that way.
When you know those work fine in your gun, go for a better bullet, and test with different powder charge, if you want to try to get a bit more accuracy.
Have fun !!
Note : Make sure the headspace of your project gun is set up right, specially if bolt is not matching.
Base you first attempt to specs of original military ammo. Same bullet weight, same OAL.
Full length resize. Stay away from max load. No need in an old gun, even if those are strong action.
Use published data by manufacturer or a verifiable source. You will stay out of trouble that way.
When you know those work fine in your gun, go for a better bullet, and test with different powder charge, if you want to try to get a bit more accuracy.
Have fun !!
Note : Make sure the headspace of your project gun is set up right, specially if bolt is not matching.
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There are some tricks to increase brass life. Bigedp51 has some excellent animations and descriptions. Ganderite has alot of knowledge and experience too, hopefully they'll see this and contribute.
https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/for...49-Minimum-effective-fireforming-load-for-303
https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/for...49-Minimum-effective-fireforming-load-for-303
Just a side note : I like to establish a baseline with factory ammo on all my gun.
The Remington .303 load with a 174 grains Spitzer bullet is as close Replica of the military round.
When you know the accuracy of your gun with factory ammo, you can compare to your reload.
One additional benefit, it give you fresh once fired brass that was fired in your gun chamber. This save a lot of aggravation along the line...
The Remington .303 load with a 174 grains Spitzer bullet is as close Replica of the military round.
When you know the accuracy of your gun with factory ammo, you can compare to your reload.
One additional benefit, it give you fresh once fired brass that was fired in your gun chamber. This save a lot of aggravation along the line...
Not difficult to load for at all.
If your "Enfield" is a "Lee Enfield" (like a #1 or a #4) the Start load in the book will save you some grief on the life of your brass.
The other trick is that when you full length size,, back the die out a few revs so that only about half of the neck gets sized. You will be able to see the sizing mark on the neck. By doing this the case shoulder does not get re-sized and the brass will last longer.
If your "Enfield" is a "Lee Enfield" (like a #1 or a #4) the Start load in the book will save you some grief on the life of your brass.
The other trick is that when you full length size,, back the die out a few revs so that only about half of the neck gets sized. You will be able to see the sizing mark on the neck. By doing this the case shoulder does not get re-sized and the brass will last longer.
I usually keep at last three rifle chambered in .303 in the house, and my main hunting rifle is in .303 Brit.
I have never had much issue at all hand loading for any of my Enfields.
Do as Ganderite says and you will fin that you have little trouble at all, even if your bore is a little big for the bullets.
Cat
I believe you mean 7.62x54r?
x39 uses 123gr bullet, little light for the 303. It may be alright depending on your rifling. Probably need extra powder in a 303 case.
Rather spend the extra 25c and get a new manufacture bullet and powder. Save the Russian surplus for the Russian guns.
In any case, be aware of both .311 and .312 bullets available. Your rifle may have a preference.
Because of the web design of the .303 cartridge case where the rim meets the body of the case, if you full length resize the cartridge case frequently you will eventually get case separation. When I reloaded .303, I found I was lucky to get 4-5 reloads out of a casing. The most important piece of kit you can buy for a .303 is a broken case extractor. If you shoot a lot of .303 your going to need it eventually and it is cheaper than a gunsmith. I found them available at Brownells in the US. They ship to Canada.
I do a lot of reloading for .303 British. I am lucky in that my two Long Branch rifles must have very similar chambers because I am able to fire a case in one rifle, necksize it and still chamber it in the other rifle. Often times if you have multiple Enfields you must keep the brass in separate lots for each rifle if you are going to necksize because the chambers are often different sizes. I just was out shooting one of them last weekend and the cartridges are getting a bit tough to chamber so this time around I will full length size, I have probably 5 or 6 shots through this batch of cases that have only been neck sized.
One fun thing is to use a 174g projectile and find a load that matches your sight whether it be a target or battle sight, that way when your target is at 300 yards you can set your sight to 300 and away you go.
One fun thing is to use a 174g projectile and find a load that matches your sight whether it be a target or battle sight, that way when your target is at 300 yards you can set your sight to 300 and away you go.
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