I have just picked up a shoebox full of .303 Brit from a friend and need help identifing the brass. I do not have a camera so it might make this harder. It is old surplus ammo with 1944 on the top of the headstamp as well as D I Z. It has been hiding in this shoebox for a long time and has the old boxes with it. My biggest question is it corrosive and if it is from 1944 is it still good to shoot or should I pull the bullet and dump the powder?
Identifing Surplus .303 Brit
- Thread starter EvilDezel
- Start date
- Location
- WMU247 near Edmonton
dont have my book but I'll say DI = Dominion (canadian) Z = Nitrocelulos
I noticed you used the word "was"
The ammunition is 65 years old. It may shoot just fine, if it has been well stored. Non-corrosive, Boxer primed, loaded with nitrocellulose powder, rather than cordite. This ammunition was of superior quality. Accurate, consistant, high quality brass from the reloading standpoint.
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maple_leaf_eh
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
FNB is Belgian ammo. Very well regarded too. It is modern production and I THINK it is non-corrosive primed.
A little story about DIZ .303 BR. My father is a very experienced target rifle shooter (Queen's Medals, Olympics, Bisley, Commonwealth Games, Worlds, etc). He is also a passionate competitor, as Tiriaq will attest.
There was a vintage military rifle match somewhere, and he needed to check the zero on his Long Branch No.4T sniper rifle. He heads to a military rifle range which he knew was having a target rifle practise. But, the relay was already at 800yds by the time he arrived. So, out with the sniper rifle and the ordinary boxed DIZ issue ball ammo. From a cold barrel zero with the 1945 production scope cranked to 800yds, the first shot was a V-bull. It doesn't get any better than that.
A little story about DIZ .303 BR. My father is a very experienced target rifle shooter (Queen's Medals, Olympics, Bisley, Commonwealth Games, Worlds, etc). He is also a passionate competitor, as Tiriaq will attest.
There was a vintage military rifle match somewhere, and he needed to check the zero on his Long Branch No.4T sniper rifle. He heads to a military rifle range which he knew was having a target rifle practise. But, the relay was already at 800yds by the time he arrived. So, out with the sniper rifle and the ordinary boxed DIZ issue ball ammo. From a cold barrel zero with the 1945 production scope cranked to 800yds, the first shot was a V-bull. It doesn't get any better than that.
"...nitroceluos is corrosive right??..." It's the primer that makes milsurp corrosive or not. The propellant has nothing to do with it.
"...if it is from 1944..." The best .303 ball I've ever shot was DA Mk VIII, 1944 vintage ammo. It made the '85 vintage IVI we got later look very sad.
'DI' is Defence Industries Montreal, Quebec. The forerunner of IVI.
"...if it is from 1944..." The best .303 ball I've ever shot was DA Mk VIII, 1944 vintage ammo. It made the '85 vintage IVI we got later look very sad.
'DI' is Defence Industries Montreal, Quebec. The forerunner of IVI.
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maple_leaf_eh
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
The DCRA had DA 65 as their 'proof' round for a while. Some lots were stunningly good ammo. And the packaging was especially clever. Little plastic cups with stripper clipped rounds, sealed to a green plastic and fibre bandolier. The cardboard boxes were pretty easy to handle too.
From the DCRA Hall of Fame page.
EDSON WARNER
Edson Warner has been shooting for well over 50 years. In Ottawa, he has qualified for 9 Bisley teams, has been runner up for the Grand Aggregate 3 times and third on 3 occasions also.
In Bisley he came second in the Queen’s Prize in 1956 and third in 1960. He was in the Grand Aggregate top 50 once and the Queen’s Final twice. In 1968 he came second in the New Zealand Queen’s Prize.
In addition to his successes in our game, Edson won 5 Queen’s medals in service rifle shooting and won 3 Canadian small bore Championships. He was on Canada’s Olympic Team in Helsinki in 1952 and Rome in 1960.
maple_leaf_eh
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
My father got his 60yr DCRA badge last summer.
Sporting rifle was lighter than match rifle (or gallery rifle). No sling and heavier trigger. Most of sporting rifles COULD be magazine fed, but the shooters NEVER did. A junior or lady could handle a sporting rifle, but not necessarily a match rifle in its sling.
His sporting rifle is a Win 512? and the match rifle a Win52C. He and Gil Boa had to share a rifle for one Olympic selection trials because someone's had failed. Fiercely competitive but neither one was unsportsmanlike.
Most of his DCRA shooting was with No.4s. Three of his Queen's medals with FNs, and No.4s for the first two. His DCRA rifles have been various No.4 conversions, Musgraves and Model 700s. Nothing especially exotic or expensive.
