.308 in a .303 brit?

.308 Bullet or Cartridge or What?

Winnipeg Toymaker said:
What about the British forces that were on the front lines and took over the invading army trenches and run out of thier own ammo, the other army rifles and ammo was available. There are occasions where the two shall mix ....but main question was could the two calibers of ammo be used in an emergency in opposing calibers and which way?
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Toymaker -

What War?
What did "enemy" have?

More specifics please!

I know Canadians in Italy WWII, used 9mm captured German rounds in their S & W Lend Lease .38 S & W, by using wire cutters to damage the rimless 9mm so that it would not go down into the cylinders.
 
Not many times in history or places even now where a soldier armed with a .303 would also have .308/7.62 available to them. Excluding guerillas or other less than organized forces.

this is a previous quote and the basis of my query...I ,as many know, am not a "military" know all....I just asked if it is possible that if ammo of different military calibers were available to our forces carrying .303 and .308s and then the question was asked" can any of all the calibers from opposing arms be used in the .303 or .308 rifles available to our forces.
 
I remember getting a list of cartridges not to exchange from the FSESO. The short answer to this question is that no cartridge should be fired from a firearm not chambered for it, even if it will fit into the chamber. A cartridge which is not a proper fit to the chamber is, at least, likely to rupture when fired, producing a facefull of hot gasses and debris. Yes, there are a few cartridges of different names in different countries, (7.62 X 51 and .308 Win. would be an example) that are actually the same chambering, but if you aren't really sure, don't do it. Kind of like if you aren't really sure which wire to cut to disarm the bomb, don't do it. I always point out to my students, that military firearms are often not data stamped, and if you aren't sure what the correct cartridge for a firearm is, take it to a gunsmith or someone who is expert enough to tell your (not a friend of a 3'd cousin twice removed who lives in a dugout on a hilside and has a lot of junky old firearms).
 
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I doubt the bolt of a 308 would close on a 303B! Donno thou never tried it.
I guess a 308 would be good for ONE shot in a tight situation, then you'd have to get another gun till you figured out how to extract a rimless case out of the chamber of a gun built to extract rimmed cases!

Aw what the heck, I've fired a 20g shell out of a 12g gun, just have to hold the gun on end to keep the primer close to the firing pin :slap:
 
direction88 said:
I have read on here that you can safely fire .308 cartridges from a lee enfield .303 brit. I just want to know if this is factual?
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I wouldn't know, and wouldn't try it.

I have seen a .270 Win accidentally fired in a 7mm Rem Mag, and the resulting "L" split and powder burns on my friends face. Luckily, he didn't lose an eye.

The real question should be, why would you want to fire .308 Win out of a rifle chambered for .303 British?
 
bushwhacker said:
I always point out to my students, that military firearms are often not data stamped, and if you aren't sure what the correct cartridge for a firearm is, take it to a gunsmith or someone who is expert enough to tell you.
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See that's all I wanted him to say, but being a modern hunter with obviously no experience with milsurps, he was going to take the hard line on the textbook. I dropped it (and other minor disagreements about wilderness safety) as otherwise he's a really great guy, and the debate wasn't worth it. Hopefully he took something from our conversation for future classes.
 
MapleSugar said:
The real question should be, why would you want to fire .308 Win out of a rifle chambered for .303 British?
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Ok has this thead not ended! Has anyone ever tried to put an empty virgin brass case intpo a 303 British chamber?? Have you....

If you did you will know the answer right then and there. Go try it.

It will not fit, period.

You can buy lee enfields, No4 converted rifles DCRA or other brit variants or Indian 2A, or 2A1 rifle made to shoot 7.62x51mm (Don't even get into that argument). But you cannot put the 308 cartridge or 7.62x51mm cartridge into a .303 chamber.
 
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Winnipeg Toymaker said:
Not many times in history or places even now where a soldier armed with a .303 would also have .308/7.62 available to them. Excluding guerillas or other less than organized forces.

this is a previous quote and the basis of my query...I ,as many know, am not a "military" know all....I just asked if it is possible that if ammo of different military calibers were available to our forces carrying .303 and .308s and then the question was asked" can any of all the calibers from opposing arms be used in the .303 or .308 rifles available to our forces.
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No. Period.....

cd303british.jpg

cd308winchester.jpg




Here's a web site that will give you all the cartridge dimensions for most of the cartridges of the world, Metric or Imperial, American or European. You can measure and compare.

http://stevespages.com/page8d.htm

Pete
 
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Must be a troll, no serious gun owner would ask that question, for me, serious questions get serious answers, troll questions get troll answers, maybe Mack is back, reincarnated,hey hey, Mackies back in town!!
 
Serious gun owners do not know it all. And I am not one that thinks he does..just an interested lever gatherer , not at all a military weapon person. . Knowledge is gained by asking for and getting information no matter how "trollish" others think it may be. I knew by the book on reloading that the dimensions are totally different but thought that the 7.62 ammo was compatable with the .308. As stated before the thread that asked this question long ago has since been erased.

being named such...really does turn people off from even asking any questions at all.
 
direction88 said:
I have read on here that you can safely fire .308 cartridges from a lee enfield .303 brit. I just want to know if this is factual?
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Another Great Idea...
What a complet NONSENSE?????
Why would you do this to yourself and to your rifle?
Just try to fit a 308 Winchester cartridge in a 303 British chamber, and you will see it doesn't fit, unless you use a hammer to close the bolt.
The 308 is to fat...
If in doubt, activate your braincells and ask yourself the question: Why do/did they call the first one 308 Winchester and the second one 303 British?
Now if you are still not convinced, give it a try and post some pictures here.
Thanks
 
MapleSugar said:
I wouldn't know, and wouldn't try it.

I have seen a .270 Win accidentally fired in a 7mm Rem Mag, and the resulting "L" split and powder burns on my friends face. Luckily, he didn't lose an eye.

The real question should be, why would you want to fire .308 Win out of a rifle chambered for .303 British?
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had an old remington 742? the bbl marking was damaged thought it said .270 was a 280. still have the rifle, but haven't fixed the damage, yet
 
:agree: with Pblatz. This should have been the ONLY answering post to this question.
Finally, Thank you. I have just found this thread, I have learned to read them all before I add my 2 cents and, again, I can't believe the "info" cited for such a question.
ANYONE who has EVER seen the two cartridges would know that they are NOT IN ANY WAY COMPATIBLE!!
My word, where are our heads that we give such answers to a question posed by anyone on this site. I joined to further my information base and give anyone the benefit of my accumulated knowledge, such as it is, and I find many here who do not take this seriously and often answer disdainfully. If you don't have anything useful to offer, then don't contribute. By doing this, we make it difficult for anyone to take things as factual. I have taken the stand of watching for awhile and contribute only when I feel moved. Most info will be shared by PM. Then the subject can be objectively considered. Again, thanks for posting the diagrams, I was about to.
 
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Hi Guy's
I shoot .308 Bullets out of my.303 Cal Long Branch for years just put a .308 expander ball on work well some rifles have tight bores.
Cheers
 
I wouldn't bet on that. My son's PAL trainer insisted that "ALL" rifles have their calibre marked on the bbl and if it doesn't match don't shoot. Well I don't know about you but my gun cupboard is dominated by Milsurps that don't designate any calibre whatsoever. Even if it has a BNP .303 stamp well how do you know it's not a .303 Savage? When I confronted him on it with the bubba'd No4. that they had there for training purposes he said "It says 'England' right here so that would be a good clue" WRONG!!!! that's an export stamp, and has nothing to do with ammunition. To make such an assumption is down right dangerous even if it does work out in this instance, after all there are a lot of Enfields that have Savage stamped on them too!


Some excellent points!!

I have a 1904 Portugese clearly marked in 6.5 something, but it actually chambered/barreled for 8x57. I also have a 98 Mauser chambered/barreled for 30-06. The 98 has "7.62mm" stamped near the muzzle end. The younger "experts" would tell you that "7.62mm" means it is chambered for 7.62 NATO, but the rifle was re-barreled by Norway to "7.62mm" (30-06) before the 7.62 NATO cartridge even came into use. Especially with older military rifles, one needs to be very careful about what cartridge to use. Whatever cousin Cletus and uncle Zeke did, and got away with may not apply to your situation.
 
The answer you were looking for;
India made the 2A and the 2A1 Enfield in .308. While it looks like a SMLE, it is not, even though it uses most SMLE (No1Mk3) parts. The magazine is very different and the easiest clue to what it is. (other than what is stamped on the butt socket.)

The No4 was barreled in .308 but mostly for target work. (L39A1 target, and L42A1 sniper rifle) Plus there were additional target versions (DCRA) barreled in .308.

Service no4's were .303's. DO NOT try to fire a .308 in a rifle chambered for .303.
Even if that were possible, the .308 is SHORTER THAN A 303 and the fired cases would look rather odd:eek:
 
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