For .303 British reloaders.

Got a box of Hornady 174gr RN. There seems to be quite a few powders that will do, so i'll see what i can find. Now, any primer in particular?
 
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I load the Hornady 174 round nose, I dont hunt with it anymore, I prefer my Remington pump in 35 Whelen. The one moose I did shoot with it was about 40 yards, I fired two shots broadside. One through both lungs and the other through the heart. One pass through and one lodged under the skin on the far side. The moose took about 3 steps and laid down.


The 174 also duplicates the Mk VII load that the Allies used in WWII, So the sights on the No. 4 and No. 5 rifles are probably regulated for that. The original No.1, MkIII load was a 215 gr bullet. I'm not sure when or if they were sighted in for the MkVII loading.

If your barrel is stamped HV immediately behind the rearsight it is altered for the MK VII cartridge.
 
I don't know if power coating would give you a large enough diameter bullet. Sounds like the powder coater guys only get .001 or slightly larger. Not enough to get to .311 or .312 if that's what you're looking for.

I don't powder coat, but I've mucked about with paper patching. Mixed results. But, in theory I prefer a heavy for caliber boolit traveling around 2000 fps. I don't need long range accuracy, but I do need smackdown. Been trying to work up a load for my latest .303 and just need more range time to get something dialed in. 220 grain 314299 cast from 50-50 wheelweight pure lead is what I've loaded up, but haven't had time for the range lately.
 
It might be interesting to check out the real-life history of the Lee Enfield weapons system. This proudly captured from another forum. :)


- The Enfield rear-locking lug action is very strong - far stronger than myth has it. The plain .303 rifle can easily sustain a 30 tonne proof (Text Book of Small Arms 1929), which is 50% higher than that required as standard by .308/7.62mm;

- The "quality of the metallurgy" is fine, and has been for over 130 years. Did you have some vision of these rifles being created in village blacksmiths, rather than one of the world's leading engineering nations?

- Ishapore 2A/2A1 actions are identical production to their contemporary .303 No1 actions. The Belgian and British gun trade have also produced perfectly good 7.62mm/.308 No1 rifles; however they are not common for the obvious reason that the No1 had been long obsolete by the time 7.62/.308 entered civilian use, and the No4 action was instead available;

- All 7.62mm Enfield target rifles (L39A1, L42A1, Envoy, Enforcer, P14, Club conversions, etc) are built on plain old .303 military actions. The only modifications required for 7.62mm are the barrel and a longer extractor claw. These rifles, which have often fired tens of thousands of rounds, do not exhibit any "issues" at all;

- More than 17 million Enfields have been produced and used under all conditions; to date, no-one has come up with a documented example of a catastrophic failure of any sort - at least one that didn't involve an idiot with a handload! In fact, the Enfield "record" appears surpass that of all other action types;

- In the accumulated experience of the military and the civilian gun trade with the 17 million Enfield over 130 years, there is no observed track record of any design or quality "issue" such as headspace, bolt compression, weak rear lugs, poor metallurgy, wet weather performance, craze cracking, action stretching, or any of the other invented dramas that seem to concern some US pundits.....



Best,
Ted
 
Back when C-I-L ruled the world, I was partial to the 180 gr Saber-Tip for my .303. Who knew back then that nylon tipped bullets would become state of the art in the 21st Century?

I shot my first white-tail with one of these , they were great bullets . If I remember correctly , I shot my first moose with one as well , that would be about forty years ago . My old man was partial to the 215 KKSP's for moose , they worked well on swamp donkeys lol .
 
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