303 British, how good is it?

carl gustav said:
The No. 5 L.E. "jungle carbine" flash hider is a joke. Ever seen the 2 foot flame out the end of the short barrel in less than sunny conditions? But the 303 Brit ISN"T. It'll do anything a 308 will do. Impacted critters won't live long enough to tell the dif. Still, the No. 5, what a great carry! The best bush deer rifle ever, AS IS! Way, way better than any 30/30 no matter how much game Win 94s and Marlin 336s have brought down.
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I'm kinda' fond of the Jungle Carbine myself;) and I mentioned it in another thread not too long ago that I have just picked up a pair of them:D. One has a metal tipped forend and the other is a rounded end. I've also picked up an original bayonet for one.

You're right about the effectiveness of the flash hider but as I recall, the Bren had one the same style or very similar. On a Cadet scheme with another corps we had four Brens available for the outing and I 'believe' in the standard mag loadings every 4th round was a tracer. We cheated a little, stripped and loaded a few mags for each with nothing but tracers. Later that evening on the firing line we cut loose with bursts from all four at the same time and at night it almost looked like you were sitting in a Spitfire:cool:.
 
Mike, Having hunted big game on three continents with the .303 British over the last forty years, it seemed a reasonable response to the original question asked. I have not hunted Kodiak bear or Grizzly with it, have you?
 
carl gustav said:
The No. 5 L.E. "jungle carbine" flash hider is a joke. Ever seen the 2 foot flame out the end of the short barrel in less than sunny conditions? But the 303 Brit ISN"T. It'll do anything a 308 will do. Impacted critters won't live long enough to tell the dif. Still, the No. 5, what a great carry! The best bush deer rifle ever, AS IS! Way, way better than any 30/30 no matter how much game Win 94s and Marlin 336s have brought down.
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The flash hider is only supposed to keep the shooter from losing his night vision. It was never meant to hide the flash entirely.
 
i ahve drilling sauer 16x16 rifle is 303, great combo, from fox to bear always ready,rifle is very acurrate and old brits do the jobe always great
 
One more thing about the 303Brit not being worthwhile to reload because you can only get 2 or 3 reloads out of it. I wonder how many guys who say this have head spaced their Lee Enfields. Just because your L-E #4 or #5 has a 0 or 1 on the bolt head doesn't mean it hasn't been used a lot and needs a 1 or 2 head now. Try it and you might get a shock when the bolt closes on a no go gauge. That may help explain why you're not getting more reloads. As other have noted only neck sizing the cases helps. But not as much as having the right size bolt head.
 
carl gustav said:
One more thing about the 303Brit not being worthwhile to reload because you can only get 2 or 3 reloads out of it. I wonder how many guys who say this have head spaced their Lee Enfields. Just because your L-E #4 or #5 has a 0 or 1 on the bolt head doesn't mean it hasn't been used a lot and needs a 1 or 2 head now. Try it and you might get a shock when the bolt closes on a no go gauge. That may help explain why you're not getting more reloads. As other have noted only neck sizing the cases helps. But not as much as having the right size bolt head.
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Also make sure both locking lugs are bearing evenly. If not, fix the problem! Uneven locking lugs are the major cause of the action flexing. If your fired brass looks crooked at the head, your bolt isn't locking evenly. DON'T interchange L-E bolts!!!
 
I always wondered why the all matching #4 I used to have left the tell tail ring around the base of the brass, while my totally miss matched pattern 14 never does this.
 
It is a fantastic calibre and pretty accurate!

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what did everyone come back from the war with and use? answer a 303 brit with the points filed off the tip of the bullets it did wonders the old folks said. deer mosse bear
 
I feel left out:(..... I have a collectible Winchester 1895 (1908 vintage) in 303 British with a 28" barrel.... but I don't feel all that bad as I also have a sporterized/customized Parker Hale SMLE III in 303 British and although I have a wide collection of very fine hunting rifles, I'm still hanging on to it but don't hunt with it.

My first CF rifle in 1952 was a sporterized 303 Lee Enfield rifle (definitely paid less than $10 for it):D.

Duke1
 
carl gustav said:
The No. 5 L.E. "jungle carbine" flash hider is a joke. Ever seen the 2 foot flame out the end of the short barrel in less than sunny conditions? But the 303 Brit ISN"T. It'll do anything a 308 will do. Impacted critters won't live long enough to tell the dif. Still, the No. 5, what a great carry! The best bush deer rifle ever, AS IS! Way, way better than any 30/30 no matter how much game Win 94s and Marlin 336s have brought down.
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A relative of mine took his annual moose with a No5 for decades. If he needed anything else he would have bought it.
 
This is my favorite B.C. deer rifle. I also bring it as my back-up moose gun. Numbers don't match, but it shoots REALLY well. It's a joy to carry in the bush. It has a "no drill" scope mount and an old Bushnell Scopechief fixed 4x...just perfect really.

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