Interesting .303 rounds

[RangeRover]

Among items in a box of goodies a friend has given me were these items - something I hadn't seen before. Still in their original, unopened wrapper.

First a picture of the items in question.

"Superspeed 303 British"

And what were they for? If you hadn't figured it out, the label on the back explains it.

 

[AK]

Wow, that is unique. What piques my curiosity even more is the text on the back that reads, "available in all popular rifle sizes..." Pyrotechnics were never a good match for rifles save tracer bullets that are more of a pyrotechnic adjunct than a purpose-built signalling device. I'm very curious to know how these operate, though I'm presuming that package will never be opened (and fairly enough).

 

[boltonscouter]

Now that's something completely different! An excellent addition to an ammo collection! Congrats on the very cool score!

 

[tiriaq]

I can remember these in other calibers.

 

[NSRA Member]

Back in the day you could buy these in any store that stocked ammo. They were intended to be used as distress flares. They idea was to buy the same caliber flare as your hunting rifle. They came in a pack of three because three signals is a recognized sign of distress.

The last ones I saw for sale was in the sporting goods section of the Eaton's store in the MicMac Mall in Dartmouth. They sold rifles in those days too!

My brother and I shot a couple off years ago. They produce a very small flare not much larger than a bear-banger but they reached an impressive altitude. Hardly the best distress signal but if it was all I had I would certainly use them.

 

[NavyShooter]

I noted there were some packages of them for sale at the Orangeville show a couple weeks ago. Someone had them on his table.

Kinda neat!

NS

 

[-DeerStalker-]

A guy at out camp had a few of these in .270. The first one didn't even exit the barrel. It got stuck in the barrel, and the barrel for extremely hot. Yikes!

 

[A&Shuntr]

Back in the day when I was a young pup at our deer camp my father shot one out of his Win 94 in .30-30. Never even made it 6" down the barrel. He spent till 3 in the morning chewing it out of the barrel with anything and everything we could find in the middle of no-where so he could hunt the next day! Shortly after that, seems to be everyone started bringing a backup gun.