heavier .303 British rounds

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4thgen

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Does anybody know where to find .303 British cartridges heavier than 180 grain?

I have read lots of hunting articles referencing 200 grain or 215 grain bullets but can't seem to find any factory cartridges?

It may be that with conventionally available 150-180 theres no point, which if so, I'd like to understand the reasoning there, if anyone can enlighten me

as a side question, does anybody hand-load .303 at weights heavier than 180 grain? curious about your rationale for doing so?

thanks in advance
 
I only use 150 SP and 174 RN bullets when loading my .303 Brit for deer and bears, but I know that Hawk Bullets does make a 215 SP and 215 RN... there are a couple vendors in Canada.

You can try Summach Sports


303 British (.311 dia.)

Spitzers
125 grains x .035 SPZ........$67.50
180 grains x .035 SPZ........$72.25
215 grains x .035 SPZ........$74.00

Round Tips
180 grains x .030 RT..........$67.50
215 grains x .030 RT..........$71.25

Trade-Ex also carries Woodleigh Weldcore 215 grain bullets here;

https://www.tradeexcanada.com/content/w68-woodleigh-bullets-303-british-215gr-weldcore-rn-sn-out-stock
 
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I have loaded some heavier bullets because I found some for sale and I was curious: KKSP 215gr and Speer Grand Slam 200g. Most of my reloads are made with Hornady 174gr round nose. When I have used up all I have I'll try Woodleigh in 174gr and 215 gr and the 180gr round nose that Western Metal sells (CamPro, if I recall correctly.)

Apart from being factory ammunition i.e. relatively expensive, Remington Express Core-Lokt 180gr works well in all my .303s and I don't think I need heavier bullets for any big game I ever expect to hunt (I don't expect to ever hunt buffalo, grizzly bear, polar bear.)
 
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4thgen said:
Does anybody know where to find .303 British cartridges heavier than 180 grain?

I have read lots of hunting articles referencing 200 grain or 215 grain bullets but can't seem to find any factory cartridges?

It may be that with conventionally available 150-180 theres no point, which if so, I'd like to understand the reasoning there, if anyone can enlighten me

as a side question, does anybody hand-load .303 at weights heavier than 180 grain? curious about your rationale for doing so?

thanks in advance
Click to expand...
I own several .303's and shoot a variety of loads for them. The heaviest is the 215 gr Woodleigh that I use in the Mod 1895 Winchester lever action. I used it reasoning that in the time frame the rifle was built, the 215 gr was the most common load so this bullet would most likely "shoot to the sights" or match the iron sights adjustments most closely. My shooting with it seems to indicate I was right.
I haven't had the fortune to shoot an animal with it but would certainly do the job for deer, black bear or moose handily.
That said I shoot the 150 gr Hornady spire point in #4 sporters and it shoots well. My brother has a at least 3 bucks drop within 5-10 feet when chest shot with this bullet. Ranges 90-135 yards.
The Hornady 174 gr RN is the most accurate bullet in my .303 Epps but won't feed through the P14 action it's built on. It was designed for spitzer bullets.
 
From a manual on the Nitro Express forum .303 British 150gr Accuracy load 41gr/IMR 4895/2409fps.............180gr/Accuracy load 44gr/IMR4320/2469fps[factory duplication Load....42.5gr/IMR 4895/2433fps................215gr Accuracy load39.5gr/IMR4895/2188fps]Factory duplication load 39.6gr/IMR4895/2183fps all from a SMLE 25" barrel 1-10 twist
 
mbogo3 said:
From a manual on the Nitro Express forum .303 British 150gr Accuracy load 41gr/IMR 4895/2409fps.............180gr/Accuracy load 44gr/IMR4320/2469fps[factory duplication Load....42.5gr/IMR 4895/2433fps................215gr Accuracy load39.5gr/IMR4895/2188fps]Factory duplication load 39.6gr/IMR4895/2183fps all from a SMLE 25" barrel 1-10 twist
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if you dump this into the Taylor Knockdown calculator you get an interesting result

the 215 grain has lower energy (2200ish) than the 180 grain (2400ish) but a higher knockdown factor (215g scores 20, 180g scores 19) probably due to the bullet mass the way taylor calculates things.

not sure how the Taylor equation is received around these parts, or if anybody is lucky enough to have shot the same sized animal in the exact same place with a 215g and a 180g....?

I'm just mentally hooked on the 215g a bit like was said earlier here because it seems to have been used regularly, was the original design, and just vanished now. Plus one of the advantages of using a .303 is lower pressures, more case capacity, and ability to handle bigger bullets. using 200 or 215 grain puts a 303 with heavier bullets than a 180g 308. If you're just using 180's then its not nearly that different than the .308, and you suffer from less velocity. just thinking out loud.

I am not a hand loader yet, though i bet I will be in in the next 5 years or less. but speaking as an uneducated bar-napkin type discussion - what would be the risk in taking a 200g or 215g bullet in a .303 case, loading it to .308 pressures and seeing a 2800fps velocity? would that not get you up above 308 performance and close even to .30-06? I have several P14 actions in good to excellent condition. Is this crazy talk?

I guess the fully legitimate argument against doing this, is that the .303 has killed however many moose and bear already just fine the way it is, and this mental exercise is unnecessary as a result of 100+ years of perfectly good results
 
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I have a 1910 Ross that I had rebarrelled, since the original tube had suffered the
"corrosive ammo" syndrome. It shoots the 180's in practically any flavor into 1 moa
quite handily. I loaded some 215 grain RN KKSPs that I had laying around here, and
much to my surprise, they clustered into a single, ragged hole at 100M. I only had
a few of them so shot them away at paper, but they certainly shot well. Dave.
 
4thgen said:
if you dump this into the Taylor Knockdown calculator you get an interesting result

the 215 grain has lower energy (2200ish) than the 180 grain (2400ish) but a higher knockdown factor (215g scores 20, 180g scores 19) probably due to the bullet mass the way taylor calculates things.

not sure how the Taylor equation is received around these parts, or if anybody is lucky enough to have shot the same sized animal in the exact same place with a 215g and a 180g....?

I'm just mentally hooked on the 215g a bit like was said earlier here because it seems to have been used regularly, was the original design, and just vanished now. Plus one of the advantages of using a .303 is lower pressures, more case capacity, and ability to handle bigger bullets. using 200 or 215 grain puts a 303 with heavier bullets than a 180g 308. If you're just using 180's then its not nearly that different than the .308, and you suffer from less velocity. just thinking out loud.

I am not a hand loader yet, though i bet I will be in in the next 5 years or less. but speaking as an uneducated bar-napkin type discussion - what would be the risk in taking a 200g or 215g bullet in a .303 case, loading it to .308 pressures and seeing a 2800fps velocity? would that not get you up above 308 performance and close even to .30-06? I have several P14 actions in good to excellent condition. Is this crazy talk?

I guess the fully legitimate argument against doing this, is that the .303 has killed however many moose and bear already just fine the way it is, and this mental exercise is unnecessary as a result of 100+ years of perfectly good results
Click to expand...

I suspect 2800fps would put you well beyond safe pressures with a 200 or 215 grain bullet from a .303 even with a stronger P14 action.
 
Jim870 said:
I suspect 2800fps would put you well beyond safe pressures with a 200 or 215 grain bullet from a .303 even with a stronger P14 action.
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Yeah i agree. Although on a p14 action one can just use 308 data in the 303 british case for more velocity. Same case volume. Id start low and work up.
 
Well - The venerable 303 just doesnt have the case capacity to compete with the 30-06. Using a P-14 or a Ross, and going to 308 powder charges would give you approx. 2400 fps for a 200 g bullet, and approx. 2250 fps for a 220 g bullet.
 
I have a couple of handfuls of Norma 215 gr bullets that I loaded for my 303 Br many years ago. Pulled them after hearing that the powder lot was possibly defective.

The were one of the most accurate bullets I ever shot. I'm sure they still will work on big game, too. :)

Ted
 
I am just finishing up a batch of +300 of jacketed, bonded core 200 grain soft points. I have not tried them yet at the range but did send some to Australia to be used on a camel cull taking place in March 2019.
My 180 grain soft points that I swaged, group just a little better than some Speer 180 grain bullets that I had on hand. These were shot out of my Ruger #1.
 
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