New ro reloading. 303Brit Reload Discussion

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DylNeu

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Thanks to all that have responded. I appreciate all your advice.

I decided to get into rifle reloading after a long practice of 12ga. shotgun reloading, and boy. I think im out of my depth. Burn rates, ballistics, precision. Where do I even start?

Here's what I understand so far/ What I have:

-Klassic Lee Loader .303 - $90CAD incl. Shipping
-CCi Large Rifle Primers No.200 - $15.99CAD
-(Haven't obtained) Hogdon H4895/Imr4895/Imr3130(unobtainium) (I can get a 1lb from the local shop for... $109.90?CAD)
-(Haven't obtained) Hornady [Insert ultra V-max pro ultra mega super grain marketing here] 170gr. Bx.100 - $89.99 (Ill probably bite the bullet (pun intended) on paying the high prices for these since I know these are the right dia. AND they're just a quality brand.)
-All of my used single use brass in the... 200+ rnd range

Any advice on powders that will work for a better price or anything? Thanks.

Any powder suggestions for this round? Im not wanting to make a chinsey poor reload but I want to get be be
 
1) Buy yourself some new brass [PPU is great; it's the ONLY brass nowadays that is made to milspec].
2) If you cannot find IMR4320 or RL15, try Varget, Vvn N140 or Vvn N540.
2a) There are NO cheap powders any more!
3) Know that at some point you're going to have to buy yourself a press & a set of dies [Redding body die & neck-bushing die to prolong the life of your cases] in order to re-size the bases of your brass, unless you're shooting them in a P14 [not sure about the chambers in a Ross, as I've never owned or even shot one].
4) Start reading about cast bullets in the .303. You'll save yourself a bunch of money & your brass, rifle & shoulder will thank you for it.

The above presumes you have at least one, & preferably many, reloading manuals of different brands. Study the front of these manuals before you start to reload.

My $0.02 Cdn.
 
I'd suggest Hornady product #3130 for bullet selection. It has a flat base which leads to much better results in Lee Enfields. Lee classic loader kits are functional but do suck to use. A Lee hand press is a much better investment, it's worth it purely on an ergonomic level while still being compact and inexpensive. Collet neck sizing dies are reccomended. For case lube, a small tin of Imperial sizing wax will last you a very long time. If neck sizing only, you can use powdered graphite for lube. Redding sells a little kit but you can make your own easily. I've used IMR 4198, IMR 4895, and Unique all with good results in this calibre.
 
If you are going to reload .303 British - maybe research what is "incipient head seperation" and how to prevent that from occurring - it can and often does happen on the cartridge's first firing - so a factory new brass fired in an oversize chamber will do that - no coming back from that, that I know of - can not be repaired. Reloading and prepping/inspecting (and head spacing) .303 brass is MUCH different than for .223 Rem (5.56 Nato), 308 Win (7.62 NATO) or 30-06. Some people will oversize the neck and fit the brass to the chamber before reloading - others will use "o-ring" or other bands to keep face of cartridge against bolt face for firing pin strike - many WWI 303 British chambers were deliberately cut to larger diameter and longer to shoulder than Spec - that was alleged to do a few things, but "reloading that brass" was not one of their concerns! Same thing should occur with any rimmed case like 30-30 Win or most belted cases, but WWI 303 rifles also had the chambers enlarged. And "incipient separation" has about nothing to do with headspace on a 303 British cartridge. Many users will suggest a flat based bullet - not a boat tail bullet - WWI made rifles had groove diameter measured up to 0.316" - you will want your bullet to "obturate" to make a seal.
 
DylNeu said:
Thanks to all that have responded. I appreciate all your advice.

I decided to get into rifle reloading after a long practice of 12ga. shotgun reloading, and boy. I think im out of my depth. Burn rates, ballistics, precision. Where do I even start?

Here's what I understand so far/ What I have:

-Klassic Lee Loader .303 - $90CAD incl. Shipping
-CCi Large Rifle Primers No.200 - $15.99CAD
-(Haven't obtained) Hogdon H4895/Imr4895/Imr3130(unobtainium) (I can get a 1lb from the local shop for... $109.90?CAD)
-(Haven't obtained) Hornady [Insert ultra V-max pro ultra mega super grain marketing here] 170gr. Bx.100 - $89.99 (Ill probably bite the bullet (pun intended) on paying the high prices for these since I know these are the right dia. AND they're just a quality brand.)
-All of my used single use brass in the... 200+ rnd range

Any advice on powders that will work for a better price or anything? Thanks.

Any powder suggestions for this round? Im not wanting to make a chinsey poor reload but I want to get be be
Click to expand...
3031, blc-2, 4320, 4064, 4895 and the old hornady 174 grain round nose ( .312) is a great go to bullet.
 
Its going to cost you a bit to get going but once you do, you can shoot 303 reasonably cheaply. A lot cheaper than buying it off the shelf. It can be a real pain to work with sometimes because of the different size chambers and how much the case stretches in some of them. If you only have one Enfield then neck sizing is the way to go. I use Varget or 4895 in most of my loads and a 174 grain flat based bullet. I have tried 215 grn cast in my Mk1 with limited success. If you can successfully load 303 you can load anything.
 
DylNeu said:
Thanks to all that have responded. I appreciate all your advice.

I decided to get into rifle reloading after a long practice of 12ga. shotgun reloading, and boy. I think im out of my depth. Burn rates, ballistics, precision. Where do I even start?

Here's what I understand so far/ What I have:

-Klassic Lee Loader .303 - $90CAD incl. Shipping
-CCi Large Rifle Primers No.200 - $15.99CAD
-(Haven't obtained) Hogdon H4895/Imr4895/Imr3130(unobtainium) (I can get a 1lb from the local shop for... $109.90?CAD)
-(Haven't obtained) Hornady [Insert ultra V-max pro ultra mega super grain marketing here] 170gr. Bx.100 - $89.99 (Ill probably bite the bullet (pun intended) on paying the high prices for these since I know these are the right dia. AND they're just a quality brand.)
-All of my used single use brass in the... 200+ rnd range

Any advice on powders that will work for a better price or anything? Thanks.

Any powder suggestions for this round? Im not wanting to make a chinsey poor reload but I want to get be be
Click to expand...
buy a reloading manual and you will learn everything you need to know
as for discussion forms you must be cautious
 
What rifle are you shooting them in?

Lee-Enfields and 1905, 1903 Action Ross rifles will shoot fine with Hornady 174gr round nose bullets. Some early Ross rifles had .300 bores, not .303, and wills shoot .308 bullets at lower pressure and therefore more safely than .311-.312 bullets. M1910 Rosses will not feed RN bullets from their single stack mags. These rifles were designed around the MkVII round and require a spitzer type bullet.

Case separation: not the end of the world like most make it out to be. Make a tool that will go down inside the case a put a small 90* hook on the end with a flat little spoon, something that will catch in a small crack. Use that to check your cases after each firing. If you use the oring or hair tie trick it will protect you from this a lot.

There are rifles out there with commercial chambers: Ross factory sporting rifles like the 1905R, E and M, R, and E10 all have commercial spec 303 chambers and will not destroy your brass. Same with MkIII Homeguard Ross rifles. There may be some in the Lee-Enfield family too. Steer clear of 1905bMilitary Ross rifles marked LC on the chamber. The brass comes out looking like it's been shot in a 45-70. You can neck size these a few times if you are careful but don't expect more than 2-3 loads. MkIII rifles with LC, or E chambers and Lee-Enfield military rifles, if you segregate your brass carefully to each rifle and use the hair tie trick and neck size only you can count on ten or more reloads with careful and proper annealing before they will have met the end of their service life. In commercial Ross rifles I would expect much longer life than that, the forward locking lug design of the action and the tight chambers makes them a reloader and target shooter's dream.

Lastly, if you can find Sierra Pro Hunter 180gr bullets, these are the ticket in almost any 303 rifle.

Enjoy!
 
OP - not sure what you will find to buy new bullets - there were some "old ones" on CGN over the years - 150 grain Spitzer by Hornady - 0.312"; 174 grain Round Nose by Hornady - Part number 3130 (mentioned above) - 0.312"; Woodleigh 174 grain Weldcore PP SN; Woodleigh 215 grain RN SP - both the Woodleigh bullets are 0.312" diameter. I have smaller, but they are for 30 cal (0.308" bullets) and 7.62x39 (0.310" diameter bullets). I think, back in the day, most of the Sierra bullets were 0.311" diameter - why I do not have any that size. I wanted "flat base" and 0.312" diameter for the 303 British rifles here - is what I have on hand. No doubt others, with different rifles, have had good success with something else.
 
Potashminer said:
.... Some people will oversize the neck and fit the brass to the chamber before reloading - others will use "o-ring" or other bands to keep face of cartridge against bolt face for firing pin strike ......
Click to expand...
+++ on case care with little rubber bands. I use multi-colour hair bands from the Dollar Store. Doubled and rolled down to the rim. It holds the cartridge back off the breech face and squarely on the bolt head. This way the brass expands to fill the chamber.
 
I am lucky that all three of my current .303 rifles have excellent chambers with no issues of splitting necks or case head separation.
I use a Lee collet die and FL resize about every third firing of the brass.
My hunting rifle has a modern barrel and chamber and I run 1500 grain TSX's at 308 Winchester velocities with excellent accuracy.
My Long Branch however as well as my late father's #4 get loads a bit less than that .
I use both Varget and 4895 for powder .
Cat
 
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