303 corrosive or not?

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big bear

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I know this is an ammo question but more old guys seem to hang out here than in the ammo forum. Was going through my garage and found a few hundred rounds of 303 Brit. Bought from Caina Company in Ottawa. I am sure someone can tell me how long ago that was. It was at least 30 ( good grief!) years ago since I bought it before I moved to the island. Box is white, says Grade 1 Reloadable. Haven't shot any yet. If it's Boxer primer it is not corrosive, correct? Case head 1943 DI Z

Thanks!
 
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You sure that headstamp said 1973?

"DI" was Dominion Industries I believe (could be wrong on the "Industries" part), Canadian made and very good ammo from what I hear. Boxxer primed, the "Z" was to distinguish nitrocellulose powder as Cordite propellant was pretty much standard when nitrocellulose was introduced.

In short it sould be non-corrosive and reloadable with probably some of the best brass you can get. Going to be honest I have no direct experience with it (other then five rounds I have for a display) but everyone who knows anything about .303 says that DI was top notch.

did some googling, DI might have Been Defense Industries, a subsidiary of CIL.
 
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It should be non corrosive. If in doubt do the nail test. Pull the bullet and dump powder leaving the primer intact. Hammer a standard steel nail into a block of wood. Make sure to sand the surface to remove any coatings leaving bare metal. Place empty casing down over the nail and make sure it makes contact with the wood. This traps all the primer gases. Pop the primer with a punch or use the bolt. Wait a few days. If it is black or dark grey its non corrosive. If it has white residue and looks like rust is starting to form, it is corrosive. But why take a chance, I will take it off your hands. I will even pay the shipping. :d
 
DIZ ammo is good and the brass is excellent for reloading. I believe that DIZ ammo, unlike virtually all WW2 production ammo less M1Carbine, is non-corrosive primed. It's always better to assume that WW2 ammo is corrosive primed and clean accordingly.
 
big bear said:
Too good to shoot???
Click to expand...

I would not go that far, its still ammo and if you have a few hundred rounds all the more reason to shoot it. Sounds like it was re-packaged as well so little collector value.

That being said its still very nice ammo so I would not just blast it away or shoot it in any old enfield. If you don't already have one try and track down a nice Long branch No.4 or even a Canadian issue No.1 and save the ammo for a once in a while "treat", shooting Canadian ammo in a Canadian made or issue rifle. not a very common combination these days. Would be a perfect combo for a milsurp shoot for example or vintage service rifle match.
 
I still have a couple of boxes of the DIZ 1943 ball as well as some of the DA 1950 berdan corrosive primed ball. Before too long I'm going to have a "suddenly it's Normandy, then it's Korea" day at the range.
 
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