Light load for a Lee Enfield - so a 12 year old can enjoy shooting it

louthepou

louthepou

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Hi guys,

I have some inexpensive 123gr Berry's bullets from Marstar, and I would like to know if anyone has developed a light load, giving low velocities and low recoil for it. I don't have a wide variety of powders; I know I have a decent quantity of H4895 and IMR 8208 xbr, hoping these can yield the desired result.

The reason for this quest is that my 12 year old son would like to start using a Jungle carbine - it fits his size rather well. Thanks for any tip!

Lou
 
I use a 123 grain bullet pulled from surplus 7.62 x 39 mm ammunition and load it in a .303 British case with 14.7 grains of Trail Boss powder. Primer is CCI 200. OAL is 2.900". Trail boss is a very "fluffy" low density powder, so volume-wise it is like a regular full charge of powder. Velocity is in the neighbourhood of 1200 fps and recoil is VERY light. A 12 year old boy will have no problem with it and the report is quite low as well. Point of impact with my rifle is quite low (as is to be expected from a reduced load) but with the micrometer sight on my rifle set at 400, point of impact is right on at 25 yards. A great practise and grouse load. BTW a 9 ounce can of powder lasts a long time at 14.7 grains per charge. I hope this helps. Dan
 
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The Hodgdon data site lists a max load of 45.0gr of H4895 for a 125gr bullet for 303B. A 123gr bullet wont make a difference.
You can use Hodgdon's 60% rule for H4895 for making youth/reduced recoil loads (Read second paragraph here: https://www.hodgdon.com/PDF/H4895 Reduced Rifle Loads.pdf)
45.0 x 0.60 = 27.0gr

So 27.0gr would be my starting point for a reduced load for a 123gr or 125gr bullet in 303B. See if it shoots well and go up or down if you want to tweak the accuracy. Hodgdon does say to never go more than 10% below that already reduced load.

Alternatively if you have any shotgun powders you can make really light plinking loads with ~10gr of most any medium burn rate shotgun/pistol powder. Unique tends to be the most popular for that but Alliant powders are hard to come by right now. Pistol powders from any manufacturer are pretty rare as well so it really depends on what you can find. I use 800X for some of mine but 700X would work as well.

Linus said:
point of impact is right on at 25 years
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You must be a patient man. Waiting 25 years for the bullet to impact the target... ;)
 
Cheap plinking load and either Trail Boss or SR-4759 powder, both powders will fill the case and be impossible to double charge the case. I also use this load to fireform my cases using the rubber o-ring method around the rim.

NOTE, these are pistol bullets with soft lead cores, when fired and kicked in the seat of the pants the bullets will expand and fill the bore (obturation) and shoot well in worn bores.

303pistolbjpg_zps9c6de94d.jpg


IMGP3041_zps1f500472.jpg
 
Thanks guys, this is very much appreciated. I'll likely try the 60% H4895 route, since, well, I have that powder and it sounds... very sound.

Just told my son solutions existed - guess what we'll be doing this coming weekend. :)

Lou
 
+1 for trail boss. Can't be easier to load and it's even a good powder for beginner (if your son ever want to try, with supervision of course.) because you cannot double charge it. Also, it smells like rotten eggs when you fire it.
 
tokguy said:
I disagree as well.
Sorry if it's too tough for you...it's just right for the rest of us.:p
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Me three! Former military cartridges like the .303 are simple to down load, and doing so significantly increases their versatility, as well as making them less intimidating to a novice. I load .30/06 and .308 with 125-130 gr bullets to 2600 fps, and this is a nice starting place on both the range and in the field and with a pointy bullet it provides a surprisingly flat trajectory. A mid weight cast bullet would be a less expensive way to start, providing more rounds per shooter dollar, and old standby powders like SR 4759, 2400, or Unique will spit these across the range at 1600-1850 fps in a pleasing fashion, as will Trail Boss.
 
I have had good results with 10 grains of Universal Clays with the 123 grain plated bullets. A similar quantity of Unique would probably also work.
 
I'd re-think the No. 5 rifle idea. Regardless of the load, its muzzle flash and noise might put him off.
Mind you, his size makes no difference. I've seen big, strapping, teen boys(plus a certain slightly overweight officer who dislikes 'em) whine about a No. 4's felt recoil while a 5 foot nothing 100ish pound girl shot circles around 'em. The length of the No. 4 is really an advantage. Put on a slip on recoil pad and he'll be fine with 150's.
 
sunray said:
I'd re-think the No. 5 rifle idea. Regardless of the load, its muzzle flash and noise might put him off.
Mind you, his size makes no difference. I've seen big, strapping, teen boys(plus a certain slightly overweight officer who dislikes 'em) whine about a No. 4's felt recoil while a 5 foot nothing 100ish pound girl shot circles around 'em. The length of the No. 4 is really an advantage. Put on a slip on recoil pad and he'll be fine with 150's.
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All which sound like pretty good reasons to down load it a might; not that a .303 Brit is a .300 magnum, but because the shooter is young, smaller steps shorten the learning curve.
 
Boomer said:
All which sound like pretty good reasons to down load it a might; not that a .303 Brit is a .300 magnum, but because the shooter is young, smaller steps shorten the learning curve.
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It's funny when I hear stuff like sunray posted about the jungle carbines. You never seem to hear it about .308 "youth" rifles and such which have shorter barrels as well. And .308 is a higher pressure round. Besides that's what hearing protection is for.
 
There's a cheaper, easier way which doesn't put any strain on precious reloading supplies - buy some dirt cheap surplus 7.62x39. It doesn't matter if it's corrosive or not, so buy the corrosive it's cheaper. Pull the bullet, and dump the powder into a primed 303 case, then seat the x39 bullet. Voila. Cheap, safe, easy on brass and apart from primers your precious stash of components is untouched. Sometimes it helps to put the 762x39 round in a seater and give it a crunch to brake the bullet sealing before pulling the bullet.
 
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