.303 Brit Reloading

[Wally]

Alright. I'm finally ready to start reloading for my enfield. My trigger finger is terribly itchy and I'm short on $$. Before I get going I'm hoping to get a few Q's answered.

1. for the overall length, is there a way I can measure a specific OAL length that will work best in my rifle or should I just use measurements designed for .303 brit?

2. Does it really matter what primers I use or will any .303 primers work?

3. I'm planning to build up my loads from 10% below recomended but is there a good system for figuring out which loads are the most accurate for my rifle?

I Have 150grn and 174grn Horady .312" bullits and I'm thinking about these two loadings I got from www.303british.com. Are these ok?

For the 174grn
Powder -- Wt Gr -- Case -- Primer
Re 15 -- 39.5 -- R-P -- CCIBR-2

For the 150grn
Powder -- Wt Gr -- Case -- Primer
Re 15 -- 42.5 -- R-P -- CCI200

What is an R-P Case? I just have an assortment of Factory and Surplus Brass.

I have a Lee Box Loader but I'm thinkin' a powder scale might be a good idea. any thoughts or recomendations?

I'll post anything else if I think of it.

Thanks,
Wally

 

[Big JD-From the hills]

R-p is a reminton case. Just use regualr large rifle primers. I have used h335 for a quick(with a powder meter) and accurate load behind the hornady 150's. A powder scale is always a good idea. Your going to have to play around with seating depth.

 

[David K]

.... Max. loads seldom yield most accurate results; .303 British, because of the case/seating design are prone to case separation, so, if you're shooting just one rifle, try to avoid "full length re-sizing" if possible. Be aware that it's easy to get the odd Berdan primered case mixed in with the more modern cases.... broken primer de-capping pins result and it's always when most in-convenient ! .... LOA is subject to a little bit of "playing around" dependent on the individual rifle. The usual care must be taken regarding cracked cases etc. ( Primer pockets need to be cleaned to allow proper primer seating ) .... if you can closely approximate the Military load, it generally works pretty well, as a starting point anyway ! .... Good luck ! .... David K. .....

 

[josquin]

Welcome to your new addiction.

OAL will be limited by what will feed through the magazine. I'd start by just using the acccepted OAL specs. You might be able to seat out a little further if the mag allows it; this may or may not improve accuracy. If you try and seat out to max. allowed by the mag, be sure you aren't actually touching the rifling (unlikely). Paint the bullet with a black marker, insert cartridge in the chamber, then remove and check if the ink has been scratched. (A decent digital caliper is invaluable here.)

"303 primers"?? No such thing. Large Rifle primers are what you want.

Yes, start about 10% below max. and work up. Once you've done that, you may find that some tinkering by 1/2 grain either way (not above max, though) may improve groups slightly. Stick with one brand of case and primer while you do this so you're only changing one factor at a time.

Anything on Steve Redgwell's site is worthwhile. He knows his stuff.

R-P = Remington-Peters (usually just called Remington.)

The Lee Powder scale is inexpensive but works just fine. It's pretty well impossible to experiment with loads (safely!!) without a scale.

If you have fired brass, you may need to full-length size it first if it doesn't chamber easily. This is true for cartridges in general but esp. with military rifles as the chambers tend to be generous and ammo fired in one rifle may not easily fit in another. Factory-new stuff should be OK. Note Steve's comments on IVI (military) brass if you have any of that. Apparently it has thicker walls - and therefore slightly smaller capacity - than Winchester or Remington - so max. loads may be a tighter fit (even compressed) than with consumer cases.

Once you've fired the brass in your rifle, neck-size it only afterwards as per the article on Steve's website. You'll get more reloads that way. Lee makes a neck-sizing die for the.303 British. Opinions vary as to the best lube for sizing but I really like Redding Imperial Sizing Wax. It's non-greasy and non sticky. I used to use the Lee stuff and it certainly works but it's messier than Imperial. (Imperial also make a neck-sizing lube which is basically graphite. It works well but is messy. The wax can be used for both FL and neck sizing, though.)

While you're ordering a neck-size die and the wax, get a Lee Factory Crimp Die. Also a bullet puller- you'll need one sooner or later. Much less aggro than heaving away with a pair of pliers and no damage to the bullets.

Stuart

 

[Garand]

If you choose to full length re-size every time, you will only get about 5 reloads per cartridge case dependant on your load. Invest in a .303 broken case extractor from Brownells.

 

[Wally]

Thanks for the info guys. As stated, I have a Lee Box loader so Neck sizing is all I'll be doing. I've got 200 pieces of de-capped brass in the garage so I'm almost ready to go. It's once fired out of my rifle and I've heard you get better accuracy out of the enfields with once fired.

 

[sunray]

"...I can measure a specific OAL..." No. Chamber dimensions vary with the rifle.
"...just use measurements designed for .303 brit?..." Yes. Or use the max length given in your manual.
"...what primers I use..." Large rifle.
"...which loads are the most accurate for my rifle?..." Get a manual and follow it religiously. Then: Beginning with the starting load, load 5 rounds only. Go up by half a grain of powder, loading 5 of each keeping them separate until you get to the max load in your manual.
Then go shooting. Shoot at 100 yards, for group only, slowly and deliberately off a bench.
Change targets between strings of 5 and allow time for the barrel to cool.
When you find the best group, sight in 4" high at 100. That'll put you on target out to about 300 yards with no hold over.
"...powder scale might be a good idea..." Yep, those scoops can vary the charge plus/minus a full grain.
"...assortment of Factory and Surplus Brass..." Separate 'em and don't use them with the same loads. Milsurp brass is a bit thicker and requires the charge to be reduced by 10% due to the slightly reduced case capacity.

 

[ben hunchak]

To get your max. oal and a good guide to seating depth, seat a bullet well out in a dummy case(no powder or primer), the case will have to have quite a bit of neck tension but not enough so that bullet won't move under lots of pressure. Run dummy round into chamber and then remove, bullet should have seated to your chambers' max. length, go from there. You may have to play around a bit to get the right neck tension so that the bullet will move but not easily.

 

[smellie]

By starting off with a load that is about 10 percent down from a max load, you are coming pretty close to the area where you ought to find your best accuracy.

I have been loading the .303 for more years than I want to remember, and find that most of my rifles seems to like something pretty close to 2250 ft/sec with a 180-grain bullet. This is just about 10 percent below max. A bulkier powder will always help, but you can use a tuft of kapok or cottom wool or something to keep your powder charge in place.

Generally, I try to use a Sierra 180 and I seat it to the same length as a military 174-grain loaded cartridge. This allows the Sierra bullet, with its slightly different shape, to sort of "crowd" the leade just a little and seems to improve accuracy.

Powders in the 4895 area seem to work well in the .303. Standard primers; the .303 casing is not big enough to need a magnum primer, ever.

The .303 seems not to be taken very seriously by many people, but it can be every bit as accurate as the wonderful .30-06 and the super-peachy-keen .308, and the deer or the tin can at the muzzle end doesn't really care what it is being shot with. There are .303 rifles that will make one-ragged-hole groups at 100 yards and longer ranges, so it's no slouch. Anything under 2 inches at 100 yards is likely better than you can see clearly, so nothing wrong with it.

Have fun and good luck.

 

[gpracer]

Lots of good info here, any of the the IMR powders should give you excellent results. I usually stay away from the hotter loads as they are usually not as accurate and reduce case life. I only neck size all my brass, even the range collected stuff, The only time I full length size is when the brass will not chamber easily in my rifles. I usually try to use the Hornady bullets as they are .312 in diameter.

 

[Eagleye]

This does not apply to the SMLE and other Lee-Enfields, but I load for a Winchester P14 in 303, and it really likes that 180 Sierra bullet! I load a good charge of W760 behind it and it will always shoot under 1" at 100 with it. I will not list the load, since it would be too warm for the LE action. I also load Steve Redgwells 200 grain Mk 9 bullet with IMR 4350 and get excellent results. The case capacity of the 303 British is about identical to the 308 Winchester, but is loaded to lower pressure levels for obvious reasons. Regards, Eagleye.