110 grain 303 british loads

bgcameron

bgcameron

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I'm looking at trying some Berry's 110 grain CMJRN for 303 british. Has anyone tried these without having feed issues?

Any recommendations for powder? It would be nice if I could use Bullseye, because I use it for all my pistol rounds.
 
Bullseye is a poor powder choice in a full sized cartridge IMHO, and I've never seen it recommended. If you are looking for reduced velocity loads Unique, 2400, SR-4759 and 4227 would all prove to be better. For high velocity loads 3031, 4895, or 748 would do the trick.
 
Slug your barrel first. Lee-Enfield barrels can vary in diameter from .311" to .315" and still be considered ok. A .311" bullet won't shoot well out of a .313" plus barrel.
I'm not seeing any 110 grain load data anywhere, but it wouldn't be with Bullseye. There is some .311" 100 grain data on Steve's reloading pages. No cast bullet data though.
 
I use BE as one of my 303 reduced loads. I'm still in the experimentation stages so I don't have a good load to give you yet. That plus I am shooting the 312 spire points cast from Lee moulds.

I started out at 6.5 Grs BE, and have worked up to 7.5 with not-fantastic accuracy. As I haven't slugged my bore properly yet, this could very well be because my bore is just the wrong size for the cast boolit I'm using.

FWIW, I use 7 Gr of BE in my Marlin 336 30-30 and it is very accurate at 50m using boolits dropped from the Lee Soupcan mould.

Just remember that BE is one of the fastest powders out there (is it the fastest?) and experiment with reduced loads carefully. However, I believe its due to its fast burning characteristics that allow it to be successfully used in larger-case calibres quite successfully, without any filler involved.
 
If you want a lighter bullet that is a good performer in the .303 try the 123-125gr SP for the 7.62x39. I run them about 2600 or so and the shoot great in my rifles.

I'd advise staying away from Bullseye in any bottlenecked CF unless you are both an experienced as well as diligent & careful handloader...
 
I am looking at the 110 grain bullets simply for the price. No need for great accuracy, just plinking at gongs and letting friends shoot. I am confident that I don't need to slug the bore on this rifle. It is an incredibly accurate 1950 Long Branch.

Would 4895 be a good choice for a light bullet? I could use that in some of my rifle loads too..
 
Of course you can use Bullseye in the 303 Brit and any other rifle cartridge. It's a great powder for reduced loads, but I doubt it'll give you the most accurate load and it certainly won't provide anywhere near top velocities. In the 303 Brit, with the 110gr bullet, you could work from just enough to have the bullet consistently exit the barrel, and safely go as high as 15.0 grs. The danger in greatly reduced loads with Bullseye is that the bullet will be loaded to too low a pressure and will not exit the barrel, and then the shooter will carelessly send another bullet down the barrel.

Yes, Bullseye can be double-charged (possibly even triple) as can a few dozen other pistol powders, and that could easily result in dangerous pressure levels. If you are careless, not too bright, or otherwise prone to mistakes, then not only should you not use Bullseye, but you should not reload, and you should probably sell your guns, and stay inside, just to be extra safe.

There are those who say, "only use Trail Boss, it's idiot-proof". It's a good powder for reduced loads, but I prefer to not be an idiot and have more choices.
 
303 loads

i tried them, didnt shoot very well, my rifle was a bsa p14 sporter with a brand new barrel on it, i used 3 diff powders 4-5" groups were best at 100 yrds
i switched to the 123 gr bullet for the sks, from hornady, like difference of night and day, vg results using IMR 4895, 2.5" group at 150 yrds with 4 shots
velocity was around 2785 fps, average with 5 shots through crony
but slugging your barrel is a must due to a wide variation with quality of workmanship in wartime production rifles, i have one lee enfield which the barrel slugs at a true 311, have another that slugged 313, both ex shooters, but of course the correct bullets make a big difference,i also find the lee performs best with bullets of 150 grns or heavier, ive not tried this load in my lee enfields, just my p14 for coyote loads
 
I have had good results with IMR SR-4759. My plinker load uses .32 cal. 100gr XTP bullets,18 grs of SR-4759, C.O.L.= 2.564", 1471 fps. This load is surprisingly accurate in my P-14 and has zero recoil.
 
- And if someone had a Long Branch with a barrel that slugged-out at .319, what bullet options ( all weights) should be considered? 1943 DI Mk. VII Ball groups four to eight inches at 100 yards.
 
TCBF said:
- And if someone had a Long Branch with a barrel that slugged-out at .319, what bullet options ( all weights) should be considered? 1943 DI Mk. VII Ball groups four to eight inches at 100 yards.
Click to expand...

You could size down a cast 8mm bullet (0.323") to 0.320", or use one for the 32 Special, which are typically 0.321". You'd need a push-through type sizer to do that, and I would suggest a custom from Lee. Your challenge will be that now that the bullet fits the bore, will the over-size bullet fit the neck of the chamber (i.e. will it be pinched when chambered). You could be lucky, since Lee Enfield chambers tend to be large, but if not, you'd then have to ream the neck of the brass.
 
Bullseye - 10.0-15.0 grs
Red Dot - 10.0-15.0 grs
700X - 10.0-15.0 grs
Unique - 10.0-15.0 grs
2400 - 20.0-23.0 grs
H4227 - 20.0-25.0 grs

The top end is a max load (or close to it) for a jacketed bullet in a Lee Enfield, and will be at or above 2000 fps- I'd stay within 2-3 grs of the bottom of the range.
 
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