anyone reload .303 British?

ATOM said:
The third one is to reuse cases in the same rifle you fired them in and neck-size only vs full-length resizing. The case is already stretched to fit the chamber, so neck sizing doesn't push it back to the 'book' size which will, on firing, cause more stretching. This is where redryder's suggestion comes in.

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so would this be the set to get to decap, necksize and seat bullet?

http://ca.wholesalesports.com/store...collet-neck-size-rifle-die-set/prod53990.html

thx,

Matt
 
awesomeame said:
so would this be the set to get to decap, necksize and seat bullet?

http://ca.wholesalesports.com/store...collet-neck-size-rifle-die-set/prod53990.html

thx,

Matt
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There are some who swear that Lee produces nothing but absolute cr*p. I've always found their stuff to be pretty good and the item you mention is the same as I use - and get good results with. I will confess that I don't use the decapper as I deprime with a universal die and then tumble before moving on, but I would buy the same set again with no doubts.
 
Thanks ATOM! I've had some crap luck with lee dies in the past, but I think for this application they'll be fine. Where I ran into probs with lee dies is when using Berger bullets...the tips are so fine, the lee dies would damage the tips...switched to RCBS competition dies and no problems. But I think for the SoftNose bullets I'll be using in the .303 will be fine using Lee.

Anyways, another question:

How does one measure for excess headspace?

Matt
 
I agree with Eagle Eye.

W760 is great with the 175 grain bullets.
H414 is great as well.

My P14 Enfield .303 British shoots near 1- 1.5 inch at 100 yards regularily!.......................................It suprised me too! LOL! My friend gave it too me to boot!
 
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Because the LE headspaces on the rim, it maybe headspaced properly, but due to a sloppy chamber, the brass life maybe short. As Atom said, oring, and necksize only
 
My 303 British is a P14, and I have great case life with it.
I have a second P14 in 303 EPPS, which will outpace the 308 Winchester by a small margin, velocity-wise.
Both these rifles will shoot close to MOA with loads they like.

I am hoarding a few bullets I got from Steve Redgwell.
They are 200 grain jacketed soft points and sized at .313"
These shoot right at moa in both my rifles, which have similar groove diameters at .3137-3138"
Higginson's 47N powder is great with these heavier slugs.

The Epps prefers W760 with the 175/180 grain bullets, delivering 2700 fps in the 25" barrel.
The standard rifle prefers IMR4320 and RL 15.

I took my standard 303 deer hunting 3 years ago, and shot 3 deer with 3 shots.
Closest was 85 yards, farthest was 175.

Great cartridge, with a very colorful history.

Eagleye.
 
Eagleye said:
My 303 British is a P14, and I have great case life with it.
I have a second P14 in 303 EPPS, which will outpace the 308 Winchester by a small margin, velocity-wise.
Both these rifles will shoot close to MOA with loads they like.

I am hoarding a few bullets I got from Steve Redgwell.
They are 200 grain jacketed soft points and sized at .313"These shoot right at moa in both my rifles, which have similar groove diameters at .3137-3138"
Higginson's 47N powder is great with these heavier slugs.

The Epps prefers W760 with the 175/180 grain bullets, delivering 2700 fps in the 25" barrel.
The standard rifle prefers IMR4320 and RL 15.

I took my standard 303 deer hunting 3 years ago, and shot 3 deer with 3 shots.
Closest was 85 yards, farthest was 175.

Great cartridge, with a very colorful history.

Eagleye.
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I've had good results out of a variety of Lee Enfields using bullets by Hornady and Woodleigh that are 0.312". Quite a while back, I did have the opportunity to pick up some by Speer, 175gr if I recall correctly and 0.313", apparently made for the 7.65mm. Obviously I was a little slow on that deal:(.
 
A friend of mine told me he had never seen someone shoot a big game animal with open sights (sheltered fellow for sure! LOL!).

So during Bear season, I spotted a nice reddish brown phased black Bear. My friend tagged along behind me while I stalked closer to the bear. when I got about 150-175 yards away, I found a rest and shot the bear. The .303 did just fine! the bear ran two or three strides and was done.

My friend said he was impressed, but in reality it was a routine shot that allot of experienced hunters can make. I tend to think that most people FORGET HOW CAPABLE these old rifles are! Just because they dont have the big scope, or a modern cartridge with the MAGNUM name.

When I get the chance to shoot this old P14 Enfield, it just feels good to handle. Yes it is heavy and long,... but it brings forth an enjoyable atmosphere of days gone past. I will never sell this old girl, and I hope to get my son to enjoy a hunt or two with it as well.

Take care guys and Merry Christmas!
 
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i reload but not my 303 although i have tried it. do you have another cartridge thats easy to start reloading i would not start with the 303 if i didnt have to you may have issues
 
porpoise said:
i reload but not my 303 although i have tried it. do you have another cartridge thats easy to start reloading i would not start with the 303 if i didnt have to you may have issues
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.303 isn't that big a challenge, but if that's how you see it, try reloading .308. Very easy, lots of powders and bullets to try out.
 
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I recently put together a plinking load using 10 grains Universal Clays and a 123 grain plated bullet that I believe is made by Berry's:

http://www.berrysmfg.com/product-i14848-c34-g8-b0-p0-7.62x39_.311_123gr_SP.aspx

These loads will shoot low relative to conventional full-power loads, but Lee Enfields, like most milsurp boltguns, have lots of sight elevation to work with.

You can also try the same powder charge (or 10 grains of Unique) as a starting point with the heavier cast bullets, again as a light load.
 
The Lee Enfield is not bad to load for. I started with unfired brass and necked it up to 35 cal. Then ran it through a full lenght die That i adjusted so the sheel would just chamber In oyher words headspaced off the shoulder and you should not get the brass stretching to fill the chamber. From that pont on I necksized the shells. For a control group I used factory ammo of the same brand and full length sized after each firing. The control group had to be trimmed every firing because the stretched an aver of .020 " per firing.I cut one open after the 3rd loading and you could see an imminnent head seperation. The ones I made fit the chamber and necksized I loaded 5 times. Total case stretch was about .010 and that is for 5 firings. Cutting one open lengthwies did not show any thinning off the brass ahead of the web.
I should have continued to see how many firings I could but the results were dramatic enough that I went on to other experiments
Neil
 
For target shooting, I neck-size my .303 brass and I stay toward the lower end of the reloading tables e.g. 42 gr H414 with 174gr FMJBT Hornaday, and no crimp. That particular load has given me ragged-hole 3-shot groups at 100 yards, using sand-bag rests (Bushnell 4X scope).

For hunting I use commercial ammo, but I've never had to shoot at any game further than about 50 yards, so the accuracy is fine. I recently tested some of the commercial ammo (Winchester 180gr PP) from the sandbag rests, and it's almost as good as my handloads ;).
 
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