How many of you guys love your .303's?

triton

triton

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I've owned a few over the years. Never loved them. Never hated them. About two weeks ago. I bought a really nice sporter. The first nice sporter. I ever owned. Don't know what it is about it. But I have fell in love with it. So I decided. Hey. Wouldn't it be nice to get some more. Maybe start collecting them. Be kind of cool. Eh? Well after todays deal. I'm up to five! I would like to get a few more nice sporters. Then I want to start collecting longbranchs. What started out as seeing a nice sporter a couple weeks ago. Has turned into an obsession. What do you guys think of the .303 as a big game rifle. It's pro's, cons and limitations? Also how many do you guys have?

Dave.
 
Just a nitpick, but this is a pet peeve of mine. Lots of hunters refer to their rifle as a 'tree-oh-tree,' but the 303 isn't a rifle, it's a cartridge. The Enfield (no 3, no4, etc) is the rifle. And the Ross. And the P-14.

30-30's are similarly used to refer to win 94's and Marlin 336's.


That aside, I think the 303 is a fine BG cartridge, and the various rifles chambered for it are servicable, if not ideal. In full military dress they're long and heavy, and sporterized they're often rather unattractive (depending who did the work). If all I was interested in was an inexpensive rifle to use a couple times a year to bring home the meat, it'd be fine.
 
Lee Enfields were a rifle used in all the British colonies of Africa as big game guns. You can read about this if you search the net. Good rifles and ahead of thier time except for the rimmed cartridge. But who cares if it is rimmed. We are not fighting a war and even the most obscure round can be bought or made.

The Rifles are great.
 
303's

I have taken several moose, some deer and other critters with the 303 Brit.
It's not a magnum and I don't treat it as one, but it sure puts the big critters down just fine.:dancingbanana:
I had a No1Mk111 that was made in 1916 that would drop everything you pointed it at with no fuss. You get weird looks from people when you show them a rifle that is older than their Grampa and still putting the meat on the table. I have new fancy rifles and a couple of magnums, but there is nothing like the 303.:D
 
i have a lee enfield long branch bubba'd or "sporterized i like to take it out once in a while my uncle made the stock , dad is soon going to pass me my grand fathers(another cut job) I think everybody in the family took a deer with it except him the both are probably worth all of 200 but to me they are a good piece of family history ........to me 303 to
Canada is like the winchester lever to the US.
I hope I can pass mine on to the next generation
 
You can look at the .303 British cartridge, and compare it to a .308 Winchester. That's about as close as your going to get. That being said, you can use the .303 on anything you feel comfortable using a .308 on. Hornady makes a decent bullet in the 150 class. Interestingly enough, I called Nosler a few years back and inquired why they don't buile a .311 or .312 dia. bullet. They told my they can't keep up with what they have now, and who would really want a premium bullet in such an obscure caliber! This from the same guy's who offer a Ballistic tip in .375! You have to figure they would sell far more .303 Partitions as opposed to .375 Ballistic tip's, no? If you could find a readily available premium bullet, I would reign the Lee Enfeild as the supreme rifle. Think about it. If you were to manufacture the same rifle today, with all that machining and fitting, it would cost a fortune. http://www.marstar.ca/gf-AIA/M10-N4.shtm It's close, but not quite. The rifles are extremely durable, quite accurate and totaly dependable. If I could only have one rifle, this would probably be it. Spare parts are a breeze, and there have been some mighty fine sporters made. Ever see the movie the Ghost and the Darkness? My best friend only really owns one hunting rifle. It's a .303 Lee Enfeild that we monkyed around with. We dropped it in a synthetic stock, and mounted a Bushnell Trophy on it. I then worked up a nice handload that litteraly cloverleafed three 150 grain hornady's at 100 yards. I used his rifle on my first day out this fall. And I'll tell you, it just felt right carrying it. But i told him, after hunting with it, to fill the stock with foam. It sounds like a drum in the sticks.
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And this one is mine. I bought it as a back-up rifle/truckgun/beater. But it lends itself so well as a hunting rifle, I may do somthing with her.
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Good luck with your collection. And take one or two afeild. It kind of throws you back in history.
 
Lee Enfields....

I love them. And no, one is not gonna be enough for you :)
My fully original iron sighted longbranch blows the 'sporterized' ones I have outta the water. Even the scoped ones. Sure wish 'bubba' had left those alone.
They are great rifles because they came from a time when rifles didn't have to 'look' a certain way, have a pile of stupid safeties or limitations. Only two ingredients: wood and steel. Only one purpose: Kill. They weren't built to save money or save wieght etc. The Three Ought Three cartridge itself existed well before smokeless powders came along. Something special about a handbuilt weapon built in a time before 'experts' ruined a lot of things.
 
I am shooting deer with my three oh three next year.
That the 30/06 and 7x57 still takes more African plains game every year than any other cartridge and will continue to do so for the next 50 years at least
 
My fishing gun is a bubba'd #1, fastest bolt gun ever and no grizz ever wanted to call me on it so far thank god. I mounted a scope on a $50 Bubba'd #4 for a hunting unit and it is real accurate. Never took it hunting though as I have other guns that are way better. WTB 357 Marlin. So you see, I don't care.
 
A truly great rifle and cartridge. My no 3 was purchased by my grandfather for $10 while he was still in the forces, he tells me they were selling surplus Enfields to servicemen cheap at the time. Unfortunatley he sportorized it, although he did a very nice job. It was the farm gun for years, before my dad got it. Currently it has been my deer rifle for the past 2 years. Stills shoots well and functions flawlessly, pretty good for being made in 1918.
 
FM said:
A truly great rifle and cartridge. My no 3 was purchased by my grandfather for $10 while he was still in the forces, he tells me they were selling surplus Enfields to servicemen cheap at the time. Unfortunatley he sportorized it, although he did a very nice job. It was the farm gun for years, before my dad got it. Currently it has been my deer rifle for the past 2 years. Stills shoots well and functions flawlessly, pretty good for being made in 1918.
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FM

Don't ever sell that No.3. :)
 
I dislike them... they are capable big game rifles and a part of history but I think they are old news.:eek:
Original military versions are very cool to collect and shoot at the range but bubba'd rifles for hunting make me think "trailer park"! JBRO:confused:
 
Original military versions are very cool to collect and shoot at the range but bubba'd rifles for hunting make me think "trailer park"! JBRO

aww come on i like to think of them as hunting with what your old DA used.
(not that I hunt though so what does my opinion count for ?)
 
My first deer rifle was a no#1 mk 3 303-bought from Sears catalogue for $8[remember the pictures of grizzly bear and moose -I would look and dream for hours over the hunting rifle pages]
I took my first deer with it-had many happy trips with my dad.Later I sold it-but a couple of years ago picked up a very nice Parker Hale 303.I haven;t shot it yet-but maybe I'll take it for a spring bear this year.
The 303?-a fine hunting rifle-and great memories![sort of like the first girl you kissed-you never forget]
 
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