303British Blanks and Reenacting

[Alex_Zues]

I asked this question in the reloading forums, but I know folks who frequent here are also bound to know.

Because I'm a super cool person, I'm a military reenactor. I just got a reloading press and realized that I might be able to make blank 303 rounds. I just don't quite know what crimping is done to the top of the brass. Can anyone explain to me how it's done/ what tools are needed?

 

[smellie]

MOST .303 blanks were old-stock ammo or whatever they had lying around, overuns and such. There WERE actual Blanks made, but they were pretty much in the minority.

The military used a rosette crimp on their blanks. You don't want to use it because it wrecks your brass completely. Proper powder was chopped Cordite, chopped up to about the speed of Bullseye or something similar. I have got a fair bit of noise out of 8 grains or so of Bullseye but, even then, the military ones are louder. Load with the powder charge next to the primer, of course, then a cotton ball or smiliar to keep it there, top it off with thin card wad and crimp it by running the thing into a .308 sizing die with the decapping rod removed. NOT factory, of course, but it works.

Hope this helps.
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[Cdn303]

Smellie, this is the third time that I've copied one of your posts for printing and adding to my 'Good to know" binder. Oh to know all the stuff that you have forgotten, let alone the stuff that you still remeber.

 

[Alex_Zues]

MOST .303 blanks were old-stock ammo or whatever they had lying around, overuns and such. There WERE actual Blanks made, but they were pretty much in the minority.

The military used a rosette crimp on their blanks. You don't want to use it because it wrecks your brass completely. Proper powder was chopped Cordite, chopped up to about the speed of Bullseye or something similar. I have got a fair bit of noise out of 8 grains or so of Bullseye but, even then, the military ones are louder. Load with the powder charge next to the primer, of course, then a cotton ball or smiliar to keep it there, top it off with thin card wad and crimp it by running the thing into a .308 sizing die with the decapping rod removed. NOT factory, of course, but it works.

Hope this helps.
.

So what you're saying in a nutshell is Bullseye powder, cotton to keep it in there, thin wad, and a modified 308 die? If it works, I'm happy to try it. Thanks for the wisdom

 

[bruce m]

Dies

Try here first for dies.
No relation.
Custom blank is avaialble in the US or make your own

http://www.ch4d.com/catalog/?p=19

 

[Timberlord]

 

[Mk VII]

You do not want anything that will come out of the end and hit someone, and that includes lumps of cotton or anything else. Neither cotton wool or wad is necessary or desirable. Do a proper star crimp, and sacrifice the brass. A little household emulsion paint will seal the crimp if needed. Do NOT use candle wax, which can and does emerge in a solid lump, and I have seen two serious injuries caused by this.

 

[smellie]

"No solid projectile" is always a good idea.

If you use about half of a cotton-ball (which is actually Rayon in this country: pure carbon fibre) it will emerge in the middle of a cloud of flame and, upon hitting the oxygen of the air, burn pretty quickly. I haven't had problems with this.... yet.

A good point: when using even Blank rounds, you NEVER aim directly at something you don't want to put a large, leaking hole into. Even in stage and film productions, the firearm should be aimed NEAR the "target" but not AT.

As to wax, I fully agree!!!!! I sometimes use my .303s in the house, rounds loaded only with a Primer and the neck of the casing pushed down into a block of wax. You get a wax "bullet" which comes out at quite a velocity. It will actually penetrate a fairly heavy cardboard box. For a backstop, I use a liquor box stuffed solid with old newspapers and, even then, sometimes the penetration of these things can be noteworthy. I haven't chrono'd any yet, so I suppose I had better get a new 9V battery for the Chrony and try it out while our world is still frozen into a sad little lump.

In connection with the above, the US Army, back in the 1880s, used to do this with their Springfield trap-doors, both for shooting regular targets at 5 to 10 yards, or for "candle practice": you put up a lighted candle and shoot the flame out. Hint: aim for the wick, not the candle itself. Have a bucket of water handy, just in case you upset everything and have to douse the cat. Bast does NOT approve of flaming pussycats!

But make every effort to make your Blanks non-injurious. Experimentation helps.

Have fun!
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