.303 Britanica??? Anyone ever heard of that?

grant580

grant580

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Was in Canadian Tire the other day looking at the bullets and saw a box of high power rifle cartridges marked ".303 Britanica", not sure if this is just another way to say ".303 British or what, but I have never heard of this name before. .303 Britanica is not listed in my Hornady manuel, didn't goggle it yet, but will.

Of course I couldn't just grab the box and having a look at the other end of the box without having a staff member (who likely doesn' even have a PAL) come over, look at My PAL and open the case and stand there while I looked at the box. Anyone else ever see this?
 
Captain George Dibblee, DCM, ( A Coy, 5th B'n, Canadian Mtd Rifles) once told me that he didn't like fighting alongside the French-Canadian troops all that much.

I was silly enough to ask (having heard all the tales) if they wouldn't fight, or what, and he looked at me as if I had two heads.

"Hell, no, that wasn't the problem," he said, "They'd fight, allright! The trouble was that you couldn't STOP them. They'd attack hard, get Fritz on a roll and start pushing him back and they wouldn't stop. Then the rest of us took casualties trying to straighten the Line again. But they'd fight, allright, and fight WELL!"

That from a man who was there for more than 3 years.

I would call that 'authoritative'.

If they want French on their .303 ammo, I'd say they earned it.
 
smellie said:
Captain George Dibblee, DCM, ( A Coy, 5th B'n, Canadian Mtd Rifles) once told me that he didn't like fighting alongside the French-Canadian troops all that much.

I was silly enough to ask (having heard all the tales) if they wouldn't fight, or what, and he looked at me as if I had two heads.

"Hell, no, that wasn't the problem," he said, "They'd fight, allright! The trouble was that you couldn't STOP them. They'd attack hard, get Fritz on a roll and start pushing him back and they wouldn't stop. Then the rest of us took casualties trying to straighten the Line again. But they'd fight, allright, and fight WELL!"

That from a man who was there for more than 3 years.

I would call that 'authoritative'.

If they want French on their .303 ammo, I'd say they earned it.
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SMELLIE, I am very surprised that you are so off on the wrong track. No one ever critized the French Canadians for not fighting. Far from it. What is referred to is France having a bad habit of giving up in both world wars.
 
The French fought and died for their Country! Unfortunately, we have to endure stupid recycled WW2 Italian jokes by bad second rate comedians on US site, please spare us on this Canadian Forum.

- Three Millions French Soldiers dead and wounded in WW1

- And only the Russians lost more men then France in Combat in WW2.
 
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WW1? It was the Germans that surrendered in France in WW1.
I know it's an innocent little joke about France, but it perpetuates the myth. The French fought as hard as anyone until they were over-run, and by then everyone else around them had already surrendered or pulled out. The French army was decimated in WW1, and by WW2 there weren't a lot of soldiers available. Their army at the outbreak of WW2 was not exactly a powerful fighting force.
I'm not French, but it kind of pissed me off how the US media jumped on the French for refusing to go into Iraq with them, and immediately we had all these jokes about the French surrendering (remember the "Freedom Fries"?). When I was a kid it was the Italians that were the butt of the surrendering jokes. What happened?
How soon we forget that France under Napoleon kicked everyones butts and ruled continental Europe for a while-until he made the mistake of messing with Russia.
The French deserve as much respect as any other country.
 
Yup. Go to even the smallest hamlet in France and count the names on the memorial plaque in the town square to see how many guys "gave up" in the 1914 to 18 war.
 
I apologize for mentioning WW1.
I got my information from Canadian soldiers I knew who had returned from WW2.
 
I do wish folks had read my post BEFORE they jumped.

Re-read the last line, especially.

Sure, during the Second War, there was the "Zombie" problem but that is an INCREDIBLY complex issue involving a number of factors that most folk don't want to talk about, including: (1) doctrine of Ultramontanism, (2) Fascist subversion in Canada, (3) Communist subversion in Canada, (4) outright LIES on the part of the Government of Canada, (5) media-generated perception versus actual numbers. In truth, the overwhelming majority of Canadiens were more than willing to defend CANADA. The Federal Government broke its solemn promise to these Citizen-Soliders and started sending them overseas.

The volunteers, however, were utterly magnificent in BOTH Wars. I was told once that even the SS was scared spitless of the Chaudieres.

As to the Italians, I don't think anyone who knew how hard they really DID fight would ever accuse them of not fighting. Considering their sparse and obsolete equipment, they did very well indeed.

The REAL abomination is that it was necessary to fight at all.

Pax?

I do hope.
 
and here I thought a ".303 Brittanica" was going to be some great .303 Improved chambering I had never heard of...
 
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motrhead said:
and here I thought a ".303 Britanica" was going to be some great .303 Improved chambering I had never heard of...
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Didn't you know? .303 Britanica is an ultra elite special forces issue top secret round that can do everything but return to the casing to be used again! :cool:
 
JP said:
The French fought and died for their Country! Unfortunately, we have to endure stupid recycled WW2 Italian jokes by bad second rate comedians on US site, please spare us on this Canadian Forum.

- Three Millions French Soldiers died in WW1

- And only the Russians lost more men then France in Combat in WW2.
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1. A little bit of research showed that the French had ~1.4 million military deaths in WWI. Germany had ~2.1 million and Austria-Hungary ~1.1 milllion. Or are you including French colonies? Source?

2. Source for this? The sources I checked had France losing ~220 000 in WWII (military deaths). Poland, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Yugoslavia, UK, US, Japan, Germany all lost more men than France. You are right about Russia losing the most though.

Not to belittle the French contribution at all, but the statements just seemed right out of it.
 
Hawkshadow said:
Didn't you know? .303 Brittanica is an ultra elite special forces issue top secret round that can do everything but return to the casing to be used again! :cool:
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Well, now it may get to be a wildcat, if I get around to buying the reamer ;) I have too many .303s, so an improved-improved chambering would be perfect for a P-14. :) I was thinking about an Epps, but I have my own "better ideas", so I just drew up my own .303 Brittanica for fun. Of course there is no real gain over an Epps, but wildcats don't have to be rational. I think the reamers start at about $170US, but I'll have to look into it further...it's this or maybe a .312 Express.
 
The French had the misfortune to be situated right beside Germany. Both World Wars were pretty close to home.
After the dreadful losses in WWI, it is easy to understand an aversion to war.


bdtyre said:
1. A little bit of research showed that the French had ~1.4 million military deaths in WWI. Germany had ~2.1 million and Austria-Hungary ~1.1 milllion. Or are you including French colonies? Source?

2. Source for this? The sources I checked had France losing ~220 000 in WWII (military deaths). Poland, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Yugoslavia, UK, US, Japan, Germany all lost more men than France. You are right about Russia losing the most though.

Not to belittle the French contribution at all, but the statements just seemed right out of it.
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