303 Ammo - Found more at the bottom of the box.What can you tell me about it?

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jparent

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Hey CGNer's. Friend gave me a bunch of 303 surplus and commercial ammo.

As the edited title says, found some interesting treasures at the bottom of the box (it was a big box)

I garnered some info about it, but would love more from the experienced on the forum.

Again, sorry for the possibly bad phone pics.

Thanks again in advance.

First batch: My understanding is the z in the headstamp means nitrocellulose therefore non-corrosive.










Second batch. This stuff is cool. May be corrosive. Apparently match ammo from DAC..?





 
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DI Defence Industries a crown corporation 1941-45.
DA Dominion Arsenals " " 1884-1968. This is late, 1956, production by this maker for .303"
Both are Canadian military.
 
Better than any other .303BR you'll find. Whenever I see those boxes at the gun shows, regardless of the price, I snap them up.
 
Yes it is shootable. It also may be loaded with cordite which I believe can be corrosive, if it is just clean yur weapon right after shooting no problemo.
 
As op pointed out it may be corrosive. The best current production is probably Privi Partizan it has thicker brass so is good for reloading. You may find it is worth keeping and selling to a collector of ammunition.
 
Cordite isn't corrosive; it just burns much hotter and erodes barrels. From my reading it's only exceptionally bad when combined with a boat tail bullet (Mk.8 ammo).
The primers may be corrosive but that doesn't have much do to with the propellant.

It's too bad most of the surplus .303B I've found has been berdan primed. It's really thick, strong brass and would be great for reloading.
 
Both rounds are Canadian military as stated and neither is Cordite loaded.

Both have "Z" in the headstamp which indicates they are loaded with nitrocellulose propellant, not cordite.

Regards
TonyE
 
I don't believe that Dominion in Canada ever used corrosive priming, but I may be in error.

One must always view older military ammo with caution, and clean up well after use.

Regards, Dave.
 
Eagleye said:
I don't believe that Dominion in Canada ever used corrosive priming, but I may be in error.

One must always view older military ammo with caution, and clean up well after use.

Regards, Dave.
Click to expand...

Dominion Cartridge used corrosive primers until about 1930.
Dominion Arsenal used corrosive primers to about 1950.
 
I have an unopened 48 rnd. box of the MK.VIIz ammo as well as some vintage British military ball. I'm in the process of firing off the old British ammo when I bring my Lee Enfield to the range. I still have some of the excellent FNB ammo as well, though now that I load my own I keep the good ball ammo for a rainy day. The British stuff has varied headstamps, and the brass is old and brittle so it neck splits when I fire it. It shoots just fine and since it's not reloadable, it's good sighting in and plinking ammo and the brass goes into my scrap bin for eventual cash redemption at the local scrap metal dealer. I have a fair whack of the Canadian brass, both DIZ and IVI and they're great for reloads being good quality brass. I can get the Hornady 174 gr. FMJ boat tail bullets locally and I've stocked up on a few boxes. I'm still in the process of load development and finding out which bullet/powder combination will give the best accuracy out of my Long Branch Lee Enfields. Given the scarcity of good .303 surplus ammo, and especially Canadian .303, I kind of think of it as vintage collectable ammo and just tend to hang on to it. Nice find!
 
There was a large run of match ammo made up for the DCRA and perhaps also the provincial rifle associations in 1950. The headstamp was 1945 and the primers were nickel plated. They are Berdan primed cases unfortunately, but it is superb ammo. The 48 round boxes were stamped "1950" just like the one in the photo.
 
The Mark 7 stuff is standard 174 gr. stuff with a boat tail made for the Lee Enfield
Mark 8 is a 175 gr. bullet, no boat tail and a hotter load designed for MG's.
 
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