.303 savage

JJ-65 said:
30-30 ammo works fine in a 303 Savage rifle, much to the dismay of the spinners here that post on subjects they have no clue about.

I'am sure they will be along shortly to tell anyone that will listen that it can't be done.
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I read online, as a result of my curiosity with this round, that there would be headspace issues using 30-30 in a 303 savage rifle. I had to verify if that was true, and measured the only example of an empty 303sav I have, with a random 30-30win empty I have and found very little difference between the two. Yes, the rim thickness is a few thousandths difference, which might verify the position that headspace could be a problem, but with only those two test pieces, hardly conclusive. There was also a difference in body diameter. The concensus I read was that the 30-30 case might split above the rim, but since you claim to have been shooting them without failure, such talk could have been the expected caveat.

Not that I will ever have a 303sav, but I am curious of the case measurement comparisons of a 30-30 discharged in the 303 chamber?
 
There is a little swelling above the web on fired case, not much more than a 22 Savage Hi Power case fired in a salvage 99 TD with a average sloppy chamber of a rifle made a 100 years ago.

Headspace is not an issue.

Remember that these old cartridges operate at pressures that are just above that of a beer fart.
 
I can see why head space wouldn't be an issue, as the neck of the 30-30 is 1/16 th of an inch shorter than the 303 Savage. But don't you have a bit of a hard time closing the bolt?
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but did Hornady not add 303 Savage (150gr RNSP) to their ammo list last year?
Hornady does not show it yet on their website, but a lot of places advertising it for about $30 for a box of 20.
Cheers
Jaguar
 
In my experience you can generally shoot ammo that's as much as 0.015" undersized at the base, at pressures as high as 50K psi and not have splitting. If you size it back down after each firing, that's going to quickly result in brass fatigue though, as you can't anneal the base.
 
But don't you have a bit of a hard time closing the bolt?[/QUOTE]

Not much effort to close the bolt, and only a slight compression ring on the shoulder of the 30-30 case. Actually better than factory 303 Savage ammo that leaves the fired primer standing proud above the case head, there's not enough pressure to fireform the brass to the sloppy chamber.
 
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