308 and the lee enfield

Gnome75

Gnome75

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
95   0   0
Location
Wainwright
I am reloading 303 British and I am getting mixed answers on weather you cant put 308 projectiles in 303 brass and it actually work. I would think not because 308 is pretty far from .311-.312.

If this is gun dependent I have done that bore check where you put a bullet in muzzle to how far it goes down. A 308 does not go much farther than a 311.

Does any one have an expert opinion or actual experience attempting this?
 
OK, first things first. Lee Enfield rifles are like girl friends when it comes to shooting .308 diameter bullets WELL. Some will and some won't.

I had a Lithgow No1 MkIII* that shot .308 diameter bullets better than it shot .312 diameter bullets. The bore on this rifle was typical of Lithgows' and had a .315 diameter. Go figure.

At present I have a 1950 Longbranch that will shoot them OK and a POF No4 MkII with a .3095 bore that really likes .308 diameter bullets.

All 303 rifles will shoot the .308 diameter bullets without issues other than MAYBE poor accuracy issues. I have some WWII built and dated 1944 303 British ammo in 48 round boxes that was factory loaded with .308 diameter bullets. Most of the rifles I shot the bulk of that ammo through didn't shoot it well.

One other thing, since you are reloading this ammo I would suggest you change out the expander ball on your decapping/sizing die to .308 diameter. May not make a difference but it just might help to increase neck tension enough to make a difference.
 
bearhunter said:
OK, first things first. Lee Enfield rifles are like girl friends when it comes to shooting .308 diameter bullets WELL. Some will and some won't.

I had a Lithgow No1 MkIII* that shot .308 diameter bullets better than it shot .312 diameter bullets. The bore on this rifle was typical of Lithgows' and had a .315 diameter. Go figure.

At present I have a 1950 Longbranch that will shoot them OK and a POF No4 MkII with a .3095 bore that really likes .308 diameter bullets.

All 303 rifles will shoot the .308 diameter bullets without issues other than MAYBE poor accuracy issues. I have some WWII built and dated 1944 303 British ammo in 48 round boxes that was factory loaded with .308 diameter bullets. Most of the rifles I shot the bulk of that ammo through didn't shoot it well.

One other thing, since you are reloading this ammo I would suggest you change out the expander ball on your decapping/sizing die to .308 diameter. May not make a difference but it just might help to increase neck tension enough to make a difference.
Click to expand...

I am actually reloading with a lee loader classic. Probably should have said earlier. When you say poor accuracy how much are we talking about? If its like 1 MOA to 1.5MOA for example I don't care. I am a plinker

That is strange that they actually 308 in from the factory. Are they flat base or boat tail? Ganderite suggest flat bottom which makes sense to me but I do already have some boat tails I could use.
 
Flat base bullets will give more upset than boattails.
A minute to a minute and a half? With service ball, a Lee Enfield that shoots under two and a half minutes is a good one.
 
tiriaq said:
Flat base bullets will give more upset than boattails.
A minute to a minute and a half? With service ball, a Lee Enfield that shoots under two and a half minutes is a good one.
Click to expand...

What do you mean by upset?

I just used 1 and 1.5 as an example. I know enfields are closer to 3 MOA.

So let's say my enfield shoots at 3 MOA now, will using 308 make it shoot 3.5 MOA? 4MOA? 6MOA?
 
I load .308 bullets in my 7.62x39 Ruger No.1 and get 2 to 3" groups at 100 yards off the bench rest. My die set has 2 expander balls - one is .308 and the other is .311. I re-size the brass using the .308 expander ball when loading .308 bullets so that the case neck grips the bullet sufficiently.

The nominal bore diameter of this rifle is .300" and the nominal groove diameter is .311". I haven't tried .311 bullets yet but should get smaller groups with these.

For the .303 British, the nominal bore diameter is .303" and the nominal groove diameter is .312" so with .308" diameter bullets I would expect similar results if the bore and groove diameters are close to nominal.

Ruger%20No.1%207.62x39%20Leupold%202x7_zpsfje67jjo.jpg

Ruger No.1-A 7.62x39 with Leupold VX-2 Ultralight 2-7x28mm scope
 
I've shot 308 bullets in my No4Mk1 with good results. I fact I can't tell the difference in group size at 100y. I normally use 0.311 150gr Hornady Soft Points but when I couldn't get them for some time, I decided to try .308 150gr Hornady AMAX bullets which I had plenty off. In order to seat them properly, I removed the decapping stem after sizing and sized again without the decapper. That reduced the neck more than enough to seat the 308 bullet firmly without having to crimp. Worked for me, may or may not work in your Enfield though. Just load up a few and try them.
 
Thanks for sharing experiences. Its good to know that it has a chance of working and I always like hearing how and why things work
 
If you remove the expander rod and plug when FL sizing .303 brass the mouth will usually be small enough to grip a .308 bullet.........Harold
 
Perhaps I'm reviving a cold thread...but for some unknown reason I find myself short of the heavier grained bullets for Elk. I'm going to get some .308 bullets pressed off into 303 brass and see what they'll do.
General consensus is Flat base not Boat tail?
I'll be trying them through a Ross MK 3...and I just slugged it with a .310 cal ball. It seems to be .309 x .300.
Any opinions?
 
Last edited:
Read an article on a PH in Africa using a LE #4 and .308 Nosler Partitions getting 1.5" groups and a variety of plains game in the process..........Harold
 
You for sure want to use a flat bottom. These are boat tails and they had to be crimped. The two left one are crimped and there is still some vertical play in them. You can see how much there is. The one on the right is no crimp.

I did not get a chance to try them but they do feed into a lee enfield from the magazine.

20160910_212654_zpsrzvpxw2l.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom