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

catnthehatt said:
Sile was a company that built stocks for many, many different companies.
Weatherby, Anschutz, Voere, Steyr, Parker Hale , C.I.L., just to name a few.
Their stocks were characterized by rosewood tips and caps, roll over cheek pieces, etc. and more than often a white diamond on the grip cap.
They were commonly stamped "sile" inside the stock on the forend bed.
Great stocks.
Cat
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Thanks Cat, I learn something new every day on CGN.
Cheers
 
triton said:
Hey RR wanna maybe sell the middle one?

Dave.
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That ones not for sale it's a #4 mk 1/3 Longbranch that bubba screwed up.
I dug the barreled action out of a parts bin,found the rest of the parts and the wood. Then I had the chamber reamed to Improved.
Rich
 
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MiG25 said:
another reason for germany's defeat in 1918 must have been the french wonder weapon, the 8 shot M1886.
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That's a poor analogy since the 1886 Lebel was obsolete before the war broke out. It had 8 shots, sure, but it could not be reloaded effectively in combat conditions while the Gew88 and The SMLE could be speedily topped up with chargers.

The 1886 sucked so hard in WW1 that it was mostly supplanted by late 1915 with the 3 shot manlicher-berthier which could be rapidly reloaded ;)
 
My memory is a little foggy about the Gewehr 88 - does it not use a clip that is actually inserted into the rifle and stays there, unlike a 98 stripper clip? Drops out the bottom once the cartridges are all spent?

Maybe I'm confused with an older rifle but I thought that style of loading didn't allow you to top-up the mag. I have to check my Mauser/Mannlicher/Walther book at home.

On reflection, I guess you mean the Gew98 anyway. I understand that there were even extended magazine models made for WWI, e.g. a 20 shot sniper variant.
 
The 98 mauser used a charger that stripped the rounds into the magazine. the Austro hungarians used a Steyr which used a Charger which remained in the magazine until it was empty then it dropped out of the bottom of the magazine!
The 98 couldnt be topped up, it has a 5 rd capacity, once you fire 5 or more from a lee enfield then you can top it up with a 5 rd charger! Much superior!
 
Claven2 said:
That's a poor analogy since the 1886 Lebel was obsolete before the war broke out. It had 8 shots, sure, but it could not be reloaded effectively in combat conditions while the Gew88 and The SMLE could be speedily topped up with chargers.

The 1886 sucked so hard in WW1 that it was mostly supplanted by late 1915 with the 3 shot manlicher-berthier which could be rapidly reloaded ;)
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maybe i am off base, but i do not believe that the 10 rd mag of the SMLE had any influence on the outcome of WWI (or the boer war, or WWII), although germany did manage to defeat serbia, romainia, and russia in WWI, all armed with 5 shot rifles. while the british empire (10 rd mags), french (3,5, or 8 rd), and italians (6 rd) managed to be victorious in 1918. even though the later two were both on the verge of collapse in 1917/18.

and it certainly didn't help the british (and canadian) forces against japan with their 5 rd mags in places like hong kong or singapore during WWII.

besides, any advantage would have been negated by the superior ballistics of the 7.92x57. how's them for fightin' words?

i guess it was a good thing then that britain was unable to switch to the P13 due to the start of WWI. or that germany didn't figure out the 5 vs 10 round thing before WWII started.

both the mauser and the LE stayed in production into (at least) the 1950's, if one was truly head and shoulders about the other as a military arm, it should have been known to the world's military forces by then, and mauser production would have ended in 1945.

but i have strayed from the theme of this thread and for that i apologize.

i would like to aquire a winchester 1895 or a nice single shot in 303 at some point in the future to use for hunting.
 
TimC said:
Loading with the chargers requires sequencing, loading a mag by hand just requires that the base of the round below is closer to the back of the mag!
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So what exactly do you mean by sequencing in the charger - Do you mean that the the cartridge rims should alternate as they go down the stripper clip? Is the very top round against the back of the stripper first and then the next one is in front then the next in the back and so on? How do they line up then when inserted in the mag?
 
303 not dead

well boys the 303 aint dead yet. every northern ranger is issued with one along with ammunition to take home with him-her and encouraged to hunt with it. issue ammo is a soft point bullet. all the ones ive seen are #4 longbranch.some are a bit rough, but they-can gov , also have brand new ones for special occassions. like the trips they make into the high artic. great gun, great cartridge.
 
savagefan said:
_-_-_ like that in the stripper clip.
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Thats right mate, I am surprised that its not more widely known. I thought everyone knew that automatically, like breathing involuntarilly, leering at fit women and knowing the sequence for loading a .303 charger, just like knowing the offside rule in Association football, its a natural man thing!
 
TimC said:
Thats right mate, I am surprised that its not more widely known. I thought everyone knew that automatically, like breathing involuntarilly, leering at fit women and knowing the sequence for loading a .303 charger, just like knowing the offside rule in Association football, its a natural man thing!
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Its my understanding that all .303 was issued in stripper clips and that the magazine was never normally removed for loading. Nor was a spare magazine issued. The Enfield does cycle quicker too with its #### on close bolt action. The Mauser action is a lot stronger with two forward locking lugs plus a safety lug at the rear.

5 shot vs 10 shot. I think who wins a war boils down to a little more than a rifleman's rifle. Think about the Germans: MG-42, 88mm Flak guns, first coordinated use of air power, armour Blitzkrieg. In the beginning they were the innovators. By giving their enemies too much time, they ultimately were defeated by their own tactics, refined further and employed against them in overwhelming force.
 
TimC said:
Thats right mate, I am surprised that its not more widely known. I thought everyone knew that automatically, like breathing involuntarilly, leering at fit women and knowing the sequence for loading a .303 charger, just like knowing the offside rule in Association football, its a natural man thing!
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Association football? That's a girl's game bud. FWIW we call it soccer.
 
Spare magazines were held at unit level, rarely issued. Ammo was issued in the Chargers packed in bandoliers and issued that way. The locking/safety lugs arent inferior on the Lee Enfield, just different.
Loose ammo could often be issued in cartons of 48 and would be used t the range of for Lewis gun magazines or brens.
 
And not to forget the advantage of Lee-Enfield 60 degree versus the Mauser 90 degree bolt throw, as well as the Lee-Enfield position of the bolt handle that makes the Lee-Enfield the fasted handling bolt action ever build :)
 
Not just different. I don't think any rifle with rear locking lugs is as strong as one with front locking lugs. I'm not saying they are unsafe but there's a reason why Mauser actions have been chambered up to elephant loads. Enfields use a dated, rimmed cartridge that is underpowered compared to its contemporaries.

In any case, Enfields are great rifles that are a blast to shoot and did their job through many wars. I doubt you can convince any Enfield lover that their rifle is inferior - people that shoot them know better! .303 Brit is one of the all time great cartridges and it does the job it was designed to do.
 
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