Does this .303 British Ammo look right?

[mooboy76]

I thought I'd try out my digital calipers and measure my factory .303 British loads (I'm avoiding real work)

Took a look at my Federal 150 grain Power Shoks, everything looked fine. Then I grabbed my box of 180 grain Power Shoks and they looked exactly like the 150 grain. Same overall length, same bullet diametre.

I also had a 20 year old box of Winchester PowerPoints 180 grain, so I took a look at them and they were observably larger.

I have a pair of each in the picture below. Anyone want to guess which Federal bullet is which? I don't have a puller, so I don't plan on yanking them both out to weigh anytime soon. Should they look so similar?

If I didn't know that the primer pocket was colour coded, I couldn't tell the difference.

 

[leadslinger]

Only way to tell for sure is to pull and weigh a bullet.
You can pull a bullet by placing it in press without dies.
rase the ram up and grab the bullet with a good pair of side cutters in those
crimping groves, pinch bullet, lower ram.
Side cutters will be braced on press.
used this method many times.

 

[PileBuck]

I would say 1st pair, 150's, 3rd and last are 180, 4th and 5th 150

Same overall length, and obviously same diameter, but the 180's will sit further into the case

 

[mooboy76]

Only way to tell for sure is to pull and weigh a bullet.
You can pull a bullet by placing it in press without dies.
rase the ram up and grab the bullet with a good pair of side cutters in those
crimping groves, pinch bullet, lower ram.
Side cutters will be braced on press.
used this method many times.

I don't have a press yet, but maybe I'll rig something up.

I would say 1st pair, 150's, 3rd and last are 180, 4th and 5th 150

The actual order was Federal 150, Federal 180, Winchester 180, Federal 180, Federal 150, Winchester 180.

Same overall length, and obviously same diameter, but the 180's will sit further into the case

Yeah, I guess they should be the same daimeter Guess I'm a bit slow tonight.

 

[bearhunter]

If you have a scale, weigh the entire loaded round. There is no way in hell the difference between the powder charge and brass will equal 30 grains. The factories, load them to a specific OAL and use similar ogives for many different bullet weights.

 

[mooboy76]

If you have a scale, weigh the entire loaded round. There is no way in hell the difference between the powder charge and brass will equal 30 grains. The factories, load them to a specific OAL and use similar ogives for many different bullet weights.

Good call,

I weighed three of each type:

Federal 150 grain - 372.47 +/- 0.40 grains

Federal 180 grain - 398.54 +/- 0.05 grains

Winchester 180 grain - 385.60 +/- 1.29 grains

Guess I'm just too used to seeing the pictures in the books/magazines where you can clearly see that different weighted bullets were used. At least I'm not red/green colour blind, so I can tell the difference between the two Federal Loads. The 180's have a green primer pocket and the 150's have a red one.

Thanks for the quick lesson in ammo manufacturing everyone. I'm sure it'll help when I start reloading this month.

 

[Amanda]

You dont need a press to pull bullets. Either invest the $22 in a kinetic bullet puller or glue some velvet or other soft non-marring material on to the ends of some pliers.

 

[JasonS]

I get a lot of good use outta my Green plastic RCBS kinetic puller. Works great.

 

[sunray]

A 180 grain bullet will be longer than a 150. SP's tend to look alike. No way of telling which is which without pulling 'em. Those don't look like they're the same OAL though.

 

[mooboy76]

You dont need a press to pull bullets. Either invest the $22 in a kinetic bullet puller or glue some velvet or other soft non-marring material on to the ends of some pliers.

I get a lot of good use outta my Green plastic RCBS kinetic puller. Works great.

I think I'll have to pick one up in the next month or so - so I can reclaim bullets from my reloading mistakes Although, velvet pliers do sound classy

A 180 grain bullet will be longer than a 150. SP's tend to look alike. No way of telling which is which without pulling 'em. Those don't look like they're the same OAL though.

The two taller ones (#3 and #6 from left) are the Winchester PP's that I grabbed for comparison. I didn't write the OAL down for the other four (mix of Federal 180 and 150 grain Power Shok loads), but they were within a few thousandths and neither the 150s or the 180s were always longer. In the picture, the one on the far left is a bit closer to the camera so it does appear to be longer. Of course, maybe it was my technique - I really haven't had the calipers very long.

The whole cartridge weights did differ by about 26 grains, so I think I can believe what Federal wrote on the box. I had just never considered that the ogive and cannelure position would be the same for both the 150 and 180 grain bullets.

Does anyone know if Speer made these Hot-Cor 180's special just for Federal? There is no 180 grain spitzer style bullet for .303 British on their website, just a round nose.

Seeing how giant the Winchester PP's look compared to the Federals, I'm tempted to grab a new box of the PP's to see if they're different now. The brass is consistantly shorter than the Federals too. I think the FIL bought the big ones in the picture in '79 or '80.

Then again, I think my time would be better spent getting those bullets out in the traditional manner to get ready for deer and moose in the Fall.