.303 savage wildcat?!

lledwod

lledwod

CGN Regular
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Location
Dawson City, Yukon
I was given this rifle by a friend, the deal was I can have it, but must never sell it. Well I can handle that! I was told it is a .303 savage, and that it was a good shooter. So some years go by and I finally get around to shooting it. Well it does shoot well. But the brass coming out of the chamber looks a little odd. Also the barrel looked a little odd, really looked a lot like an enfield barrel. Indeed the rifling is left hand twist and appears to be about .312 (roughly measured with a caliper). So I assume it is an enfield barrel. It shoots my .308 caliber handloads fine, I wonder if I should just neck size the fire formed brass and keep shooting it? I haven't much experience with this kind of thing. Any suggestions? Ever seen .303 savage brass like this? Its the bottom rifle in the photo. Thanks

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Well it definitely aint headspacing off the shoulder.

It looks like a .303 British chamber. Maybe those more knowledgeable than me can chime in, but I wouldn't shoot it. How much has the case head expanded?
 
Sure looks like a wildcat based on a .303 Savage. Not Ackley Improved, just lengthened body.
 
cam1936 said:
Well it definitely aint headspacing off the shoulder.

It looks like a .303 British chamber. Maybe those more knowledgeable than me can chime in, but I wouldn't shoot it. How much has the case head expanded?
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Both the .303 Brit and .303 savage are rimmed cartridges so head space off the rim anyways. This would be no different than shooting .375h&h in a .375 weatherby or .38spl in .357 mag as far as everything is concerned. Cartridges appear to be roughly the same length so bullet is starting in the same spot either way, I see no reason it couldn't be shot this way but for long term it would probably be beneficial to use the fire formed brass for a tighter chamber fit.
 
It looks like a 303 savage case with the shoulder moved forward, a sharper shoulder and some taper removed. The neck on a 303 starts at 48mm so I don’t think the fire formed brass is out of a 303 British chamber.
 
yes it is .303 savage brass from Trade-ex. No its not a British chamber. The brass looks good to me, no bulges that I can see but I did not measure it. The rifle is out at my cabin, where I spend most the winter, (with no internet :) ) So I can't measure it at the moment!
 
lledwod said:
yes it is .303 savage brass from Trade-ex. No its not a British chamber. The brass looks good to me, no bulges that I can see but I did not measure it. The rifle is out at my cabin, where I spend most the winter, (with no internet :) ) So I can't measure it at the moment!
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Hitzy said:
Wouldn't be reamed out to 307Win?
Or maybe it's a 308Win ?
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SuperCub said:
307 was my guess.
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It is .303 Savage brass. .307/.308 is larger in diameter.
 
Well, if lledwod says the barrel looks like it came off a 303 Br rifle, has a left hand twist and .312" grooves, that's what it is. He is no novice when it come to firearms.

My guess is the rifle has been rebarrelled using a 303 Br barrel. Re-cutting and threading the tenon to use just enough of the existing 303 Br chamber with factory 303 Savage ammo would produce a fired case that looks like that.

The good news is that he will be able to use standard 303 Br dies, shortened just enough to reach the shoulder of the fired brass, to reload.

Ted
 
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