Reloading 303 British from components scavenged from 7.62x39 and/ or 7.62x54 surplus
- Thread starter hayday
- Start date
I did not pull them down, but bought a substantial quantity of 7.62x54R bullets from another Gunnut on here.
They are 203 grains in weight, mike out at .3108" and are a softpoint design.
I shoot them in my Epps [.313" groove] and in my 1910 Ross [.311" groove]
Because the Ross has a custom barrel it tends to shoot them well, but the Epps
makes 1.5 moa with them, and that is fine in the use they will see.
These bullets really expand!! A black bear shot with one broadside had an exit wound
almost 3" in diameter, and was DRT. Shot was 95 yards, MV is 2380 fps.
Regards, Dave.
They are 203 grains in weight, mike out at .3108" and are a softpoint design.
I shoot them in my Epps [.313" groove] and in my 1910 Ross [.311" groove]
Because the Ross has a custom barrel it tends to shoot them well, but the Epps
makes 1.5 moa with them, and that is fine in the use they will see.
These bullets really expand!! A black bear shot with one broadside had an exit wound
almost 3" in diameter, and was DRT. Shot was 95 yards, MV is 2380 fps.
Regards, Dave.
I have done a lot of testing with salvaged Czech components and the .303. I found the simple swap of components to be all over the place as far as velocity. It also is much slower by about 500fps than in its original form. The best I have developed is using 36 grains of the salvaged powder, just over 2800fps out of my Jungle Carbine. 2800 is where most "max" 123grn loads end up through the gun so I stopped there.
I use pulled down 7.62x39 bullets in .303 all the time. Probably one of the most economical ways to get .311 bullets.
The how is easy: A kinetic puller works. Surplus rounds tend to take a couple whacks, but it works. Pulled bullets from surplus 7.62x39 and 7.62x54R are .311 diameter and are good to go for .303. My Enfield slugged .313 but shoots .311 jacketed just fine.
Reusing the powder charges is an interesting game. From 7.62x39 rounds, you can dump the whole powder charge into a .303 and it'll make a nice moderate load that isn't as punchy as factory .303. It keeps things economical for sure. If you want to make things a bit more precise, dump all the powder charges into a container, then give each .303 a uniform charge. This will eliminate the factory tolerance (variance) in powder charges.
7.62x54R on the other hand is rated for higher chamber pressures than .303 - on the order 3000-6000PSI more. Thus, using the entire powder charge in a .303 is a recipe for a KB. Downgrade the charge and slowly work your way up if you want to reuse that powder.
If you'd rather use commercial powder, Hodgdon has load data for .303 for 125Gr, 150Gr, 174Gr, and 180Gr bullets, which should cover off most surplus. YMMV with usual caveats: .30-40 Krag is a very comparable cartridge - look at its load data if you need more powder selection, particularly with pulled 7.62x39 bullets (look at 130Gr data). If you want a milder load, 7.62x39 load data might be a good starting point: I've successfully used 22.2Gr IMR 4198 behind a 123Gr pulled bullet. Again, YMMV with the usual caveats.
The how is easy: A kinetic puller works. Surplus rounds tend to take a couple whacks, but it works. Pulled bullets from surplus 7.62x39 and 7.62x54R are .311 diameter and are good to go for .303. My Enfield slugged .313 but shoots .311 jacketed just fine.
Reusing the powder charges is an interesting game. From 7.62x39 rounds, you can dump the whole powder charge into a .303 and it'll make a nice moderate load that isn't as punchy as factory .303. It keeps things economical for sure. If you want to make things a bit more precise, dump all the powder charges into a container, then give each .303 a uniform charge. This will eliminate the factory tolerance (variance) in powder charges.
7.62x54R on the other hand is rated for higher chamber pressures than .303 - on the order 3000-6000PSI more. Thus, using the entire powder charge in a .303 is a recipe for a KB. Downgrade the charge and slowly work your way up if you want to reuse that powder.
If you'd rather use commercial powder, Hodgdon has load data for .303 for 125Gr, 150Gr, 174Gr, and 180Gr bullets, which should cover off most surplus. YMMV with usual caveats: .30-40 Krag is a very comparable cartridge - look at its load data if you need more powder selection, particularly with pulled 7.62x39 bullets (look at 130Gr data). If you want a milder load, 7.62x39 load data might be a good starting point: I've successfully used 22.2Gr IMR 4198 behind a 123Gr pulled bullet. Again, YMMV with the usual caveats.
I'm guessing that your trick of using salvaged 7.62x39 projectiles and a bit more-than-the-original-charge of recovered 7.62x39 powder is a real winning combination in a Jungle Carbine. That's because the the slightly faster burning, recovered 7.62x39 powder would get along great with the Jungle Carbine's shortish barrel. You said 36 grains of the salvaged powder. What was the original charge in your surplus 7.62x39? I'm trying to gauge the ratio - i.e. add an extra 15% of salvaged powder or whatever.
So we are talking about going up 38% from the 7.62x39 charge. That sounds reasonable. By comparison the max load of Hodgdon H335 with a 125 grain bullet in a 7.62x39 is 31.5 grains - giving a velocity of 2408. The max load of Hodgdon H335 in 303 British is 46.0 - giving a velocity of 2,966. There the Increase in load is something like 46%. Usual caveats. Don't rely on this data, may be different in your gun, work loads up slowly, etc.
I could very likely go higher with the charge but I don't see the point. I got to the same speed as I am getting with other max loads and that is good enough for me. I started at 30 grains and worked up. The velocity increase was steady and linear. The Czech powder is quality stuff for sure.
Mean Steak
CGN Regular
- Location
- Central Alberta
I pull the Chinese surplus 7.62x54R apart.
The powder is an average of 45 grains in its original case.
I reduce the charge by 7 grains and load that 38 grains in my primed .303 cases
Then I load pulled 150 grain bullet to 3.010" OAL and run it through a lee factory crimp die.
Shoots well and chronograph at about 2300 FPS
Oh and 3-4 inch groups at 100 meters all day long.
The powder is an average of 45 grains in its original case.
I reduce the charge by 7 grains and load that 38 grains in my primed .303 cases
Then I load pulled 150 grain bullet to 3.010" OAL and run it through a lee factory crimp die.
Shoots well and chronograph at about 2300 FPS
Oh and 3-4 inch groups at 100 meters all day long.
