Finally found 303 surplus

biggles

biggles

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I finally got lucky at a gun show today (Pickering) & picked up 4x 20 round boxes of surplus "1943 DIZ 303" ammo at a good price, $9.00 box less than Privi which is the cheapest 303 sold locally to me.

I also picked up a box of "DA 1940 303" & comparing it to the DIZ it has a much larger primer & I am thinking that this must be Berdan primed.

Any one out there familiar with "DA" 303 rounds?. I am assuming that if Berdan primed, it will basically be scrap after firing?.

Peter (Burlington, Ontario)
 
W.W. II vintage ammo was loaded with both type of primer. DA is Dominion Arsenals. DI is Defence Industries.
"...if Berdan primed.." Yep.
 
The large diameter primer is almost certainly Berdan. The DA ammo with the smaller primer might be Boxer primed. The surest way to find out is to look in a fired case or take apart a cartridge. I would assume the ammo to be corrosive.

While you can reload Berdan primed cases if you have Berdan primers, it really isn't worth the effort or additional cost.
 
I shot a World War II re-enactor match a couple of years ago, using 1943 reloaded brass, which I thought would be appropriate. One suggestion, don't forget your broken case extractor. Its worth its weight in gold, when 1/2 way through a timed stage its required!!
 
The "Z" stand for "Nitro-cellulose" and they are much less aggressive for the barrels than cordite. They usually were kept for plane mounted machine guns use.
 
I probably don't need to mention this, but just in case, the primers on those cartridges are more than likely corrosive. Scrub your bore with hot water as soon as possible when you get home.
 
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DI "Z" is NON-CORROSIVE and BOXER PRIMED. This was the only wartime Commonwealth-made .303 Ammo loaded with Nitro-cellulose and non-corrosive boxer primers. The British Ordonance accepted it (in WWI they refused to Sir Ross to supply ammos wich did not used berdan primers and cordite) against Cordite 'cos they desperately needed ammo supply.
 
"DI" vs "DA"

Baribal,
Thanks, that confirms what I have read previously. I also read that "DIZ" was produced at a brand new factory with all new equipment set up just for the purpose & was non-corrosive from the start.
Do you know any more about "DA"?.
Peter (Burlington, Ontario)


Baribal said:
DI "Z" is NON-CORROSIVE and BOXER PRIMED. This was the only wartime Commonwealth-made .303 Ammo loaded with Nitro-cellulose and non-corrosive boxer primers. The British Ordonance accepted it (in WWI they refused to Sir Ross to supply ammos wich did not used berdan primers and cordite) against Cordite 'cos they desperately needed ammo supply.
Click to expand...
 
Actually, it's not DIZ but clearly DI Z the "Z" being the Nitro celllose code for the Commonwealth. WWII DI was made in the Defence Industries Verdun plant (also known as "Montreal" plant)

What do you want to know about Dominion Arsenal?
 
"DA" question

Baribal,
You are right there is a space as you indicate between DI & Z.

Would the (apparent) Berdan primers of WWII "DA" ammo be corrosive or not?.
The gentleman I brought the ammo from thought not but.....?

Just to complicate things I have read that there is an Indian head stamp "DI" from WWII but have never seen any, or even a picture of it to see how different the stamp is.

Canadian "DI" I can compare to the rounds that my Dad left me (which is still in the Canadian military boxes) & be confident of what it is.

Peter (Burlington, Ont.)


Baribal said:
Actually, it's not DIZ but clearly DI Z the "Z" being the Nitro celllose code for the Commonwealth. WWII DI was made in the Defence Industries Verdun plant (also known as "Montreal" plant)

What do you want to know about Dominion Arsenal?
Click to expand...
 
Primers used with Cordite are, to my knowledge, all Berdan and corrosive. It was for preservation purposes that they used the corrosive primers.

As for the Indian ammo, using the DI headstamp 9Dum-Dum) were loaded with Mk VI (round nose) bullets and the production stopped about 1916. The indian headstamp was DÎ (with a small arrow over the "I").

DI Z is definitely Canadian-made, you don't have to worry.
 
You can reload this stuff fine if it's boxer primed.
I've been told by more than a few reloaders to stay away from reloading brass that was purchased already fired at some point( maybe years) in the past.
Apparently it can be quite brittle.
 
old brass

Mike,
I hope not as I brought a few bags of prefired 1940's DI Z cases at gunshows just to reload....I will find out soon I guess.
Peter (Burlington, Ontario)


Mike Webb said:
You can reload this stuff fine if it's boxer primed.
I've been told by more than a few reloaders to stay away from reloading brass that was purchased already fired at some point( maybe years) in the past.
Apparently it can be quite brittle.
Click to expand...
 
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