Has anyone ever tried black powder in a Lee-Metford - recreating original 1888-81 BP LM cartridges? I know the BP was compressed into a pellet and it's impossible to get 70 grains loose into a 303 cartridge, but you can still fill a good load and it might be fun to try, just for a bit of historical authenticity to recreate the dawn of the LM/LE era ...
Black powder in Lee Metfords
- Thread starter crusoe
- Start date
Those old blackpowder rounds were loaded with a pellet of highly-compressed black powder.
Occasionally, a blackpowder round will surface. The one I have is a Mark II and so stamped on the head. You can identify the blackpowder rounds by their small Boxer-type primer. The British went to that huge Berdan primer when they adopted Cordite in 1892.
I recall reading a report by a guy who loaded blackpowder rounds for his .303, and he claimed that pressures were crazy, case life almost nonexistent and otherwise it not being worth the time doing it. Might be fun trying it, though.
What I really wish is that somebody would make bullets at a decent price so that we can shoot some of these old-timers that have oversized bores/leades/etc.
An Enbfield barrel shows its condition at a glance, more or less. Metford barrels look just as shot-out when they are squeaky new as when they ARE shot-out. Oversized bullets or moulds would be really nice to have....... I have a real nice LM Mk. II that will shoot minute-of-barn all day long....... oversize bullets would cure this problem.
Occasionally, a blackpowder round will surface. The one I have is a Mark II and so stamped on the head. You can identify the blackpowder rounds by their small Boxer-type primer. The British went to that huge Berdan primer when they adopted Cordite in 1892.
I recall reading a report by a guy who loaded blackpowder rounds for his .303, and he claimed that pressures were crazy, case life almost nonexistent and otherwise it not being worth the time doing it. Might be fun trying it, though.
What I really wish is that somebody would make bullets at a decent price so that we can shoot some of these old-timers that have oversized bores/leades/etc.
An Enbfield barrel shows its condition at a glance, more or less. Metford barrels look just as shot-out when they are squeaky new as when they ARE shot-out. Oversized bullets or moulds would be really nice to have....... I have a real nice LM Mk. II that will shoot minute-of-barn all day long....... oversize bullets would cure this problem.
I SHOOT BLACK IN MINE BUT USE a cast bullet and black powder lube if one was to use a jacketed bullet you would have to figure a way of putting a lube cookie behind the bullet or I would imagine the next shot could create some nasty pressure with all the hard fouling in the bore the original bullets had a cupronickle jacket (copper;nickle) I dont know if this made a difference?
Check the size of 7.62 x 39 bullets. The variation is size is so great that you will probably find a lot that are the correct size...ask around for someone who has pulled some bullets. Unfortunately, they are all a bit light in weight, unless you can find some of the Bulgarian heavy ball...but hey...they go bang and will shoot well.
Lee Enfield
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Republic of Alberta
I was told a long time ago that trying to recreate the 70 grain load was dangerous in a .303.
According to the books, it seems that the charge was a compressed pellet with a flash hole up the middle. I believe that it would have been loaded like cordite thru the un-necked case, which would then have been formed around it.
I was told that people had blown up enfields (model unspecified) trying to recreate the 70 grain charge.
Having said that, I'm sure reloading .303Brit with a conventional black powder charge system would work fine.
I find it amazing that alot of technology has been lost and is functionally un-re-creatible which worked so well at the time.
- Location
- Tucson, Arizona
Consider that BP ammunition was only made for two years, your rifle spent most of it's service life firing cordite. Modern smokeless powder which burns cooler would be a better idea.
I loaded up some Pyrodex for a beater #1 a few years ago, fired ten rounds and then blew some regular smokeless loads thru to hold it 'till I could clean it at home. I didn't until this year, the previously shot out barrel is now rusted to hell, silly me. Nice smoke show when I fired it though.
