Older .303 ammo

Butcherbill

Butcherbill

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I found some old .303 Brit ammo a friend gave me awhile back, just about 50 in total. All but 6 are larger than reg primers, half are cupro nickle the rest copper fmj’s with a couple lead sp in the mix.

Are they boxer or berdan, corrosive or not? I’m guessing I’m out of luck getting primers for them, I thought I could pull the bullets and reload in once fired PPU. Or just shoot them and be done with it, I’m not interested in collecting cartridges or selling them.

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Probably berdan and corrosive. Sorry , but that's the way they were loaded. I would just shoot them if you were out shooting stuff and see if the brass could be reused.
 
For sure Berdan primed and corrosive, no question of that. Bang 'em off, have fun, and scrap the brass. You need a special tool or technique to remove the spent primers and then you have to source Berdan primers, all of which to my mind is a waste of time and money. I throw all my non-reloadable or donated brass into a bucket and when I have enough, I take it to the local scrap dealer, sell it, and use the money to buy reloading supplies. If you're really stuck on reloading .303, PM me and I'll mail you some good IVI and commercial brass.
 
World War I ammunition. Do you really want to be shooting cartridges well over a 100 years old?
 
LawrenceN said:
For sure Berdan primed and corrosive, no question of that. Bang 'em off, have fun, and scrap the brass. You need a special tool or technique to remove the spent primers and then you have to source Berdan primers, all of which to my mind is a waste of time and money. I throw all my non-reloadable or donated brass into a bucket and when I have enough, I take it to the local scrap dealer, sell it, and use the money to buy reloading supplies. If you're really stuck on reloading .303, PM me and I'll mail you some good IVI and commercial brass.
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That’s what I was guessing when I found it, I almost forgot I’d had it lol. I might pull a couple and inspect, think I have a half a box of similar stuff that I inherited from my dad as well I’ll have to dig up. Will either shoot them or pull for the bullets.

Thanks for the brass offer but I’ve been saving brass from my No.1 and No.4 for awhile, so I should be good.


tiriaq said:
World War I ammunition. Do you really want to be shooting cartridges well over a 100 years old?
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If it hasn’t started to degrade, sure. I’m familiar with dealing with corrosive ammo. The alternative is to pull it for the bullets or give it back to my buddy, he’s since picked up a No.4 and we could shoot it between the two of us.
 
Mark V11 ball ammo. 1917-1919 vintage. Cordite. Berdan primed. Corrosive. As noted in other posts. No obvious signs of degradation. Pull 'em or shoot 'em....your choice. Bullets may be a little hard to yank out, due to stab crimps. The soft point ammo likely commercial hunting ammo. These might be Boxer primed.
 
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If you think some of them are cupro-nickle bullets, be aware that the fouling from that is very "difficult" to get out of the bore. I had read that was an "armorer only" commotion - the solvent they used really close to taking out the bore as well - they had "one" correct way to use that stuff. If a rifle was fired with that stuff 50 years ago, and that fouling never removed, it is probably still welded within that bore, I had read. Subsequent shooting with normal "gilded metal" jackets does not remove it, I understand. Altogether different issue, than the corrosive primers.
 
Products designed to remove nickel fouling used either abrasives or ammonia. Cork the chamber, fill barrel with ammonia, let it soak long enough to dissolve the nickel but not long enough to damage the bore. Nickel fouling is tenacious.
 
tiriaq said:
World War I ammunition. Do you really want to be shooting cartridges well over a 100 years old?
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After reading that one story about the Lee Enfield that blew up and launched pieces of the bolt into the shooter (It was a members father wasn't it? Diopter perhaps?) and then they blew up ANOTHER Enfield with the same ammo before pulling some down to see that the powder had degraded, I don't think I'd be playing around with ww1 ammo just in case.
 
Potashminer said:
If you think some of them are cupro-nickle bullets, be aware that the fouling from that is very "difficult" to get out of the bore.
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See the first pics, nickel plated for sure. Have 20-25 of them.

Alex McKr said:
Mark V11 ball ammo. 1917-1919 vintage. Cordite. Berdan primed. Corrosive. As noted in other posts. No obvious signs of degradation. Pull 'em or shoot 'em....your choice. Bullets may be a little hard to yank out, due to stab crimps. The soft point ammo likely commercial hunting ammo. These might be Boxer primed.
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Only the nickel plated ammo have that crimp style, all the copper fmj and lead sp have a roll/taper crimp. Here’s some pics of the lead sp, all from the 40’s going by the headstamps. Love the price on the 20 pack lol.

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Pics of the 6 smaller primers.

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Dug out the stuff my dad had, handful of VPT 41 with lead sp and a handful of old Privi fmj marked PP 60 VIII

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After WW2, it was very common to sell mil-spec ammo that was re-purposed for hunting by replacing the bullet. They typically came in packs of 10, with names like Cogswell and Harrison. Be aware that not all boxer primed 303 is non-corrosive - your old FN stuff is corrosive, and likely the old PPU...
 
LawrenceN said:
The DIZ and WRA is reloadable and Boxer primed but you'd need a primer pocket reamer remove the crimp and allow a new primer to seat, if you choose to go that route.
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Good to know, I’ve got a Lg pocket reamer. Anything that’s reloadable will be used again.

cosmic said:
After WW2, it was very common to sell mil-spec ammo that was re-purposed for hunting by replacing the bullet. They typically came in packs of 10, with names like Cogswell and Harrison. Be aware that not all boxer primed 303 is non-corrosive - your old FN stuff is corrosive, and likely the old PPU...
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Thanks, I remember looking up the VPT & PP headstamps when I ended up with all dad's gear. Anyone recognize the K 65, corrosive I’m guessing by the date.

Nevermind the K is Kynoch, VPT
Valtion Patruunatehdas, Lapua, Finland
 
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Bb, there are folks on this site who would love to have ten rounds of that ammo, to display with their WWI, No1 MkIII SMLE.

Instead of shooting it, trade it.

Your ammo, your choice.
 
bearhunter said:
Bb, there are folks on this site who would love to have ten rounds of that ammo, to display with their WWI, No1 MkIII SMLE.

Instead of shooting it, trade it.

Your ammo, your choice.
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If shipping ammo wasn’t such a pita I’d consider selling/trading the cupro nickle, be fun to shoot some of the copper jacketed out of my dads 1917 Lithgow No.1 though. ;)
 
Butcherbill said:
If shipping ammo wasn’t such a pita I’d consider selling/trading the cupro nickle, be fun to shoot some of the copper jacketed out of my dads 1917 Lithgow No.1 though. ;)
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BB, there are several ways to ship that stuff. But I hear what you're saying. That stuff is full of Cordite.
 
tiriaq said:
Products designed to remove nickel fouling used either abrasives or ammonia. Cork the chamber, fill barrel with ammonia, let it soak long enough to dissolve the nickel but not long enough to damage the bore. Nickel fouling is tenacious.
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I agree with the above post. Is it worth shooting? Break glass incase of emergency ! Some ammo collectors keep it for historical value. I personally wouldn't risk the possibility it could squib. Again shooting 100 year old ammo if done well could be fine to shoot it is the what ifs....
 
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