303 milsurp amo

A

al100

Regular
Rating - 100%
5   0   0
Location
Saskatoon
I want to get some 303 surplus to shoot in my Longbranch. I am not sure who I would start with as I dont ever see any advertised. Up till now I have only been shooting winchester and federal from Canadian tire, but I think that the suplus would be more accurate to shoot at the club.
 
Not sure you'll find lots of surplus .303... a few threads lower down about that topic (or is it in the Ammo section?)

Anyways, I know that I am reloading (like many others), and also visiting gun shows to find some cheaper ammo than Canadian Tire's....

Lou
 
I agree with the other posters. I even have a little story to back it up.

The Irish army reserve swapped over from the bren mkIV to the fn-mag two years ago because they could not get .303 ammo anymore.

The brens were and still are in perfectly serviceable condition. It was actually funny on the range the last time they were fired all these new mags (still wrapped in grease proof paper)and cleaning kits showed up. They had been sitting in stores for years waiting for the balloon to go up.
 
The supplies of inexpensive milsurp ammo of any kind are long gone. No country's military has used .303 British since the mid 60's. Seems to me the CF had to have some specially made to issue to The Rangers.
Privi Partizan and a few other manufacturers are loading FMJ though.
Make sure your club doesn't have a 'no FMJ/milsurp' rule if you find a box or two at a gun show.
"...think that the suplus would be more accurate..." Possibly, but not likely.
 
Last edited:
sunray said:
No countries military has used .303 British since the mid 60's. Seems to me the CF had to have some specially made to issue to The Rangers.
Click to expand...

Well depends on what you mean by that. As a round in a general service weapon for full time forces that is probably true. However up until the early 90's the Irish Reserve service rifle was a lee enfield no.4 and as I said above up until two years ago their lmg was the bren mkIV in .303. However militias forces in Pakistan/india still use lee enfields as their service weapon.

The new stuff I ever came across and noticed the manufacture date in my time in was made in 83. However I have come across reference of producers in 88 on this site.

http://www.dave-cushman.net/shot/303headstamps.html
 
I have seen a bit of mk8 milsurp showing up at the local shows in the last year. My understanding though is that it is a higher powered round with a different projectile(meant for the MGs) than the mk7 which was for the rifles. Even the 7.7 mm stuff that was floating around also turned out to be mk8 ammo.

Last Mk7 ammo I bought, about 3 years back, was Greek in the stripper clips and bandoleers at $33 a bandoleer. I bought all I could afford, but am starting to wish I had used the line of credit to buy more. As it stands now, the 10 stripper clips recoup $20 of the purchase price, so it was actually $13 for 50 rounds, or 26 cents a round if my math is correct.
 
The mk8 was intended for the vickers mg. Its not recommended for use in the enfield. Its much harder on the barrel due to the type of propellant used.

In ww2 squadies were told not to use it unless they had no other choice.
 
Tribunius said:
The mk8 was intended for the vickers mg. Its not recommended for use in the enfield. Its much harder on the barrel due to the type of propellant used.

In ww2 squadies were told not to use it unless they had no other choice.
Click to expand...


Ahhh great :mad: What the hell am I going to do with 900 rds of this stuff? :confused:
 
cartridgecaliber303ballmw8.jpg

Shot at 2008-06-30

The Mk8 Cdn or Mk8Z Cdn .303 cartridge is provided for use by the Canadian Forces with the Rifle, No.4, .303-inch

The bullet weighs 175 grains;

The propellant used in the Mk8 cartridge is a double base commercial powder CF7500 (36.0 grains);

The propellent used in the Mk8Z is the single base C1 (CMR 100) propellant (38.5 grains)

The average velocity shall be 730m/s plus or minus 15m/s

World War 2 era ammunition (Text Book of Ammunition: SAA 1944)(Pages 11 & 13)

As demonstrated in the next diagram, the main difference between the Mk7 & the Mk8 during World War 2 is the projectile and the propellant used. As previously mentioned WW2 .303 Mk VIII ammunition is intended for use with machine guns, and, owing to the deleterious effects upon barrel wear produced by firing Mk. VIII bullets through barrels which have previously been used for .303-inch Ball Mk VII tracer or armour -piercing ammunition, the use of Mk. VIIIz ammunition in rifles and also except under special circumstances, in light automatic weapons is prohibited.


page11adn7.jpg

Shot at 2008-06-30
 
Last edited:
My mistake, My stuff is SA 7.7x56R (BALL R1M3Z) headstamp A80 7.7 R1M3Z

PMP? Pretoria West Metal Pressings Pty., Petoria
 
Actualy the CF still has .303 listed as issue ( I was ordering some ammo for ranges last week and it's still there) and IVI makes it for the Rangers both in soft point and FMJ.

Unfortunatley it is not available to civvie shooters.
 
Last edited:
Recce, I think if you look closely enough that the current issue .303 is manufactured by Winchester. IVI manufactured .303 is all '90's and early new millenium issue.
 
My mistake, no mfr data on the form I was using.

I went with IVI as it was what the Rangers were using when I last shot with them in 04 on ex in Raymore, ON. and assumed (yeah, I know) that it was still the case.
 
I reload all of My 303 British Rounds as about the only surplus stuff out there is from Pakistan and is Marked POF, It is not very reliable as I bought 100 rounds and about 75 actually fired, I now pull the Bullet for reloading instead of waisting My time with dud's and hang fires.
 
Hi guys,
I've been using pakistani surplus 303 with fair to good results.
$8.00 / 32rds.
Sportsmansguide.com
"POF" headstamped, made in the Pakistan Ordnance Factory in the late 1950s to early 1960s! .303 British caliber, still good to BLAM! Brass-cased, Berdan-primed, non-reloadable. 174-grain lead core FMJ rounds. Muzzle Velocity: 2,400 F.P.S. Muzzle Energy: 2,224 ft.-lbs.

They do ship to Canada, don't know about ammo, check it out
 
e3mrk,
I havn't had more than a few duds out of 100 rds fire thus far but you are
correct, reloads are the way to go. I think the POF stuff is slightly corrosive
as well.
 
juno63 said:
Hi guys,
I've been using pakistani surplus 303 with fair to good results.
$8.00 / 32rds.
Sportsmansguide.com
"POF" headstamped, made in the Pakistan Ordnance Factory [...]. Muzzle Velocity: 2,400 F.P.S. Muzzle Energy: 2,224 ft.-lbs.

They do ship to Canada, don't know about ammo, check it out
Click to expand...


From Sportsmanguide.com:

WARNING: Ammunition cannot be shipped to Marin[...] NY; Canada or Puerto Rico. Ammunition cannot be shipped Parcel Post. Please check your State, County

sorry
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom