303 headstamp without date

[gerard488]

Just wondering, is there any reason why one of those 303 brit bases does not have a year in the headstamp? Both look alike with round nose nickle silver coloured bullets. The 1915 is a pointed nose, still the same nickle silver colour.

 

[smellie]

If you look at the base codes, you will see that they are two different models of 303 ammo, termed by the military as Marks.

The pointy one is a Mark VII (also sometimes as 7), which is loaded with a 174-grain 3-part bullet with a muzzle velocity of 2440 ft/sec from a 25-inch barrel, about 2600 from the 30.5-inch barrel of a Ross.

The round-nosed ones are Mark VI ammunition, which has a 215-grain bullet running at 2060 ft/sec in the 25-inch tube.

The jackets are CUPRONICKEL, an alloy of 85% Copper, 15% Nickel, by weight. Cupronickel jackets were later replaced by Gilding-metal, Gilding-Metal Clad Steel or Cupronickel-clad steel.

Canada dated its ammunition by the month for about 3 years, then gave up on it. LATE Mark VI ammunition was dated by YEAR only, the latest I have been able to find being 1911. The Mark VII replaced Mark VI in production on its adoption in 1910. Canada continued making Mark VI ammunition alongside Mark VII for a short period, owing to the fact that every 303 rifle in the Canadian Army was sighted for the earlier round. New rifles, of course, were sighted for the new round, but it takes time to convert every rifle in the country.

I would suggest that your UNDATED Mark VI would be a very early-production Mark VI round, possibly about 1904.

EARLIER 303 ammunition was NOT dated. This includes the 2 different Black Powder 303 cartridges, the C (Cordite) Mark I, C Mark II, the ultra-rare C Mark III, C Mark IV and C Mark V. The Marks III, IV and V form the Dum-Dum series: expanding-point ammunition which was internationally banned by the Hague Convention of 1899 - 1900. The ultimate replacement for the early rounds was the Mark VII.... in part because that nice, accurate, flat-shooting pointed bullet also was unstable on impact, especially at close ranges and at low terminal velocities.

The FINAL 303 round to enter production was the Mark 8 (Mark VIII), which features a 174-grain REBATED BOAT-TAIL bullet. It was designed originally for HMG use although SOME Number 4 Rifles were approved for it. THIS is the round still in production for the Canadian Rangers.

Collecting 303 ammunition can be a lifetime hobby; there are more than 3,000 varieties known and catalogued In Major Peter Labbett and Freddy Mead's ".303 Inch", the best (and impossible to obtain) book ever done on the cartridge.

Hope this helps.

 

[green]

Secong ctg was made in Sept 1906, 9 06

 

[serbinator]

110 yr old ammo... cool!

 

[Ganderite]

If you look at the base codes, you will see that they are two different models of 303 ammo, termed by the military as Marks.

The pointy one is a Mark VII (also sometimes as 7), which is loaded with a 174-grain 3-part bullet with a muzzle velocity of 2440 ft/sec from a 25-inch barrel, about 2600 from the 30.5-inch barrel of a Ross.

The round-nosed ones are Mark VI ammunition, which has a 215-grain bullet running at 2060 ft/sec in the 25-inch tube.

The jackets are CUPRONICKEL, an alloy of 85% Copper, 15% Nickel, by weight. Cupronickel jackets were later replaced by Gilding-metal, Gilding-Metal Clad Steel or Cupronickel-clad steel.

Canada dated its ammunition by the month for about 3 years, then gave up on it. LATE Mark VI ammunition was dated by YEAR only, the latest I have been able to find being 1911. The Mark VII replaced Mark VI in production on its adoption in 1910. Canada continued making Mark VI ammunition alongside Mark VII for a short period, owing to the fact that every 303 rifle in the Canadian Army was sighted for the earlier round. New rifles, of course, were sighted for the new round, but it takes time to convert every rifle in the country.

I would suggest that your UNDATED Mark VI would be a very early-production Mark VI round, possibly about 1904.

EARLIER 303 ammunition was NOT dated. This includes the 2 different Black Powder 303 cartridges, the C (Cordite) Mark I, C Mark II, the ultra-rare C Mark III, C Mark IV and C Mark V. The Marks III, IV and V form the Dum-Dum series: expanding-point ammunition which was internationally banned by the Hague Convention of 1899 - 1900. The ultimate replacement for the early rounds was the Mark VII.... in part because that nice, accurate, flat-shooting pointed bullet also was unstable on impact, especially at close ranges and at low terminal velocities.

The FINAL 303 round to enter production was the Mark 8 (Mark VIII), which features a 174-grain REBATED BOAT-TAIL bullet. It was designed originally for HMG use although SOME Number 4 Rifles were approved for it. THIS is the round still in production for the Canadian Rangers.

Collecting 303 ammunition can be a lifetime hobby; there are more than 3,000 varieties known and catalogued In Major Peter Labbett and Freddy Mead's ".303 Inch", the best (and impossible to obtain) book ever done on the cartridge.

Hope this helps.

The modern ammo uses the boattail bullet by accident. When the military said "Use the most recent bullet", they were thinking of the 174 gr flat base. They guy that said it was unaware that the boattail was inappropriate.

however, the loading info is correct. it is the standard pressure/velocity load. The military gave IVI a concession, in that they allowed them to use commercial weight cases, not military. It was not intended to be used in full or semi auto guns, so the commercial cases was deemed adequate.