Ruger #1 303 British and moose

albertaal said:
My Ruger #1 in .303 British shoots Federal 150 grain bullets quite well. I imagine that if the bore size was .314 to .316 they would have rattled all the way down the bore and given me 2 foot groups at 100 yards as opposed to the 1 1/2 inch groups I am getting with the Federal bullets.

I haven't handloaded yet, so I am sure mine will shoot even tighter. But those Federals worked well on moose. Deer are next on the list.
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I have a pair of Jungle Carbines and although I haven't slugged the barrels, they both seem to do better accuracy wise using bullets of 0.312" diameter such as the Hornady 174gr and the Woodleigh 215gr.I have no interest in getting a No. 1 in 303 Br., but I was curious as to what their barrel specs would be in a modern made firearm. To that end, I called Ruger tech people and posted the following reply in the Reloading forum, in the thread Loading for the Ruger #1 303 British, post # 63.

  • 6 groove.
  • 1 - 10 twist
  • Bore diameter, 0.303" - 0.305".
  • Groove diameter, 0.314" - 0.316".
 
I have no problem with believing that a moose was downed with a 303-150 grainer. Lots of guys I know have killed moose with a 30-30 and that is a little less gun then a 303.

Good job...!
 
Highwind said:
I have no problem with believing that a moose was downed with a 303-150 grainer. Lots of guys I know have killed moose with a 30-30 and that is a lot less gun then a 303.

Good job...!
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Fixed that for you!


No slur on the 30 30 but its nowhere near a .303 apart from 100 yards or less.
 
moose are NEVER killed with shots under 400 yards,running, too.Funny, rifles these days self destruct and are no good after the most recent write up in the gun writers magazines ....last years models just don't work anymore and WHOEVER heard of going hunting with a 303 and factory ammo-probably bubba'd too
 
This got to be a joke. .314 groove. With factory bullets at .311 you get a lot of blowby reducing velocity and fouling. I am glad I did not buy one, nor will I buy a used one unless it is really cheap
for the stock and action only. I have a spare #1
barrel. I have two #1 rifles that have custom barrels.

I bouhgt a very nice #1 One in 500 in 30-06 instead. Could not wait till the 303 came available.
Not that I need a 30-06 real bad but was attracted
by the nice engraving and checkering and pretty
lumber.
If I have to cast bullets to get some accuracy with the 303 it would not be for me in any event.
 
John Barsnes form Handloader Magazine slugged his bore and got .313

Accuracy and velocity isn't going to be an issue for this hunting rifle. It may never perform as well as a target rifle, but that is largely irrelevant...
 
Fred M;5038832[U said:
]This got to be a joke. .314 groove. [/U]With factory bullets at .311 you get a lot of blowby reducing velocity and fouling. I am glad I did not buy one, nor will I buy a used one unless it is really cheap
for the stock and action only. I have a spare #1
barrel. I have two #1 rifles that have custom barrels.

I bouhgt a very nice #1 One in 500 in 30-06 instead. Could not wait till the 303 came available.
Not that I need a 30-06 real bad but was attracted
by the nice engraving and checkering and pretty
lumber.
If I have to cast bullets to get some accuracy with the 303 it would not be for me in any event.
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I know what you're saying, [/B]but that was the response I got from Ruger and then posted it. Now I'm going to ask a somewhat 'silly' question:redface:. Silly, because in all the years I've been shooting, hunting and reloading, I've never miked a spent jacketed bullet. Cast bullets, especially when slugging a handgun barrel yes but never spent jacketed rifle bullets. Here's silly and I hope someone can set me straight. When the rifiling lands 'mark' a bullet, seeing as the metal can't be compressed, where does the metal the bore/lands displace go? Would this help explain where the 0.314" - 0.316" groove diameter and the 0.303" - 0.305" bore measurement quotes Ruger gave me 'come' from??:confused:
 
The groove diameter in my #1 Ruger 303 Brit is very close to .313" It shoots all the 303 bullets fine [except some old Speer GS 200 grainers I have] The .311 Sierra 180 Spitzer is actually one of the better shooting bullets, averaging around 1½" for 3 at 100. The best so far is the 150 grain Hornady .312 Spitzer, which is very close to 1¼" on the 4 groups I have shot with it so far. Don't think that larger groove diameter is much of an issue. Has anyone slugged a number of the Lee-Enfields? If not, you are in for a big surprise!! I have measured them with groove diameters as large as .317"
By the way, Bill. I chased deer for 4 days with my #1, and never took a shot at one! Either too small, too far away, on property with no permission, or so windy they were all hiding in the bush. Regards, Eagleye.
 
dale said:
When ever a deer or what ever was shot with a 303 it died twice, once from the bullet and once from indignity.
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That cartrdige has a lot more ( and noble) history than any of the newer
abominations that they call the fastest, bestest, newest, greatest or whatever the add departments call them to sell the new cartridges that are designed more to make money than to actually kill stuff.
Cat
 
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I have say, it was acceptable for Lee Enfields, Enfields, 7.7 Japs, 7.65 Mauser etc. to have barrels in which the diameter was .313" plus. There is absolutely no excuse for this sort of slop in a modern, American made, rifle. Shilen and McGowen both make barrelswhich are .311-.312. I would be willing to accept .3125 (5/16). The knowledge that Ruger is happily producing barrels of .313 is enough to remove a Ruger built 303 from consideration. I would rather have a barrel of the proper size. When I buy a 30 caliber, I expect it to be .308 up to .3086. I don't want a .310. Regards, Bill.
 
TimC said:
Fixed that for you!


No slur on the 30 30 but its nowhere near a .303 apart from 100 yards or less.
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If you compare the cases beside each other, there isn't a whole lot of difference in capacity. And while the 303 has more room for powder then a 30-30 and definitely has the edge over longer shots beyond 150 yards. The 303 case is not as large a difference as comparing a 30-06 case and a 30-30case. So thanks for correcting my post but my intent in my wording was to NOT give the impression that there was a major spread in the difference between the 303 and 30-30 cartridges, and that lots of folks have taken plenty of moose with a 30-30. And the original poster who indicated he took a moose with a 303 is certainly more then adequate to me.

I guess you qualify as a retired teacher.
 
have to laugh cause i just dropped a 5 1/2 yr old white tail in his traxx last week with my old brit!! a 180gr in the right spot at the right distance will do the job on a moose!! if your really worried just get closer!!lol
 
You don't have to get that close to them, the .303 will reach out there and touch them. SOme of the .303 loads aren't that slow.

I shot my Ruger #1 .303 at the Sask Wld. Fed. on Sunday. It still shoots
1 1/2" groups.
 
A well placed shot will drop a moose with a 150gr but the key is placement. The magnum craze boggles my mind. I was in Wholesale Sports in Kamloops the other day and a couple of newbies were pricing a 300 Win. Magnum?? Wondered if they were going to Africa for their first hunt. Then they stated that one of them had shot a 300WM. and closed there eyes as they shot. How many thousands of big game animals have been shot with a .303, countless. Remember the days when most people didn't have much of a disposable income and bought Parker Hale sporterized 303's and hunted everything, I do. Was at the range last fall and a friend showed up with a 300WSM in a very light hunting rifle, it kicked like a proverbial mule. So true that firearms manufacturers have convinced us you must have the newest Mag. as they really need the sales no other reason.
 
Highwind said:
If you compare the cases beside each other, there isn't a whole lot of difference in capacity. And while the 303 has more room for powder then a 30-30 and definitely has the edge over longer shots beyond 150 yards. The 303 case is not as large a difference as comparing a 30-06 case and a 30-30case. So thanks for correcting my post but my intent in my wording was to NOT give the impression that there was a major spread in the difference between the 303 and 30-30 cartridges, and that lots of folks have taken plenty of moose with a 30-30. And the original poster who indicated he took a moose with a 303 is certainly more then adequate to me.

I guess you qualify as a retired teacher.
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No I was just being silly and taking the pish, apologies if my sense of humour didnt work. To be honest the real limitation to the 30 30 is the barrel length of the rifles it is fired from. That said at deer ranges it does the job!
 
The difference berween the 30/30 and the 303 British is roughly the same as the difference between the 30/30 and the 308 Winchester. That's a significant difference. I recently chronograghed some old CIL Dominion 303 cartridges I have (180 grain KKSP). The velocity average from a 24 inch barrel was 2508 fps. That's about 300 fps faster with ten grains more bullet than the fastest 30/30 ammo I've chronographed. Regards, Bill
 
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