School me on the .303 British
- Thread starter mr00jimbo
- Start date
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
The .303 can be found in very good examples or in very poor. There is a plethora of numbers and marks of Lee Enfield rifles, of which the #4's are reputed to be the strongest - although there might be other opinions out there. To my thinking, the Mauser styled P-14 Enfield is probably potentially the most accurate. Lee Enfields are found manufactured from all over the Commonwealth and other places as well.
Two groove barrels are seldom as accurate as 5, however many other issues come into play here - not the least of which is the quality of the gunsmithing of the altered models. War time rifles were only required to print 2" at 25 yards according to the old manuals, but these are mostly found with 2 groove barrels. There are two rifles issued locally to the Canadian Rangers which I have seen repeatedly shoot MOA with factory ammo, and the tweaked rifles shot a Connaught are equally impressive. Check the bedding of the stock to see if the wood has become punky from being soaked in oil, check the head-space, and the crown of the barrel. Check to see if the rifle will feed the bullets you intend to use.
If all checks out OK, you have a reliable rifle on par with some .308 loadings, but like the .308, the .303 won't do what a .30-06 will do with bullets heavier than 150 grains. None of this matters though, because when used within it's range, a .303 loaded with 180 gr or a 215 gr.bullets will kill moose and bears, and the 150 gr. is a good deer bullet.
Two groove barrels are seldom as accurate as 5, however many other issues come into play here - not the least of which is the quality of the gunsmithing of the altered models. War time rifles were only required to print 2" at 25 yards according to the old manuals, but these are mostly found with 2 groove barrels. There are two rifles issued locally to the Canadian Rangers which I have seen repeatedly shoot MOA with factory ammo, and the tweaked rifles shot a Connaught are equally impressive. Check the bedding of the stock to see if the wood has become punky from being soaked in oil, check the head-space, and the crown of the barrel. Check to see if the rifle will feed the bullets you intend to use.
If all checks out OK, you have a reliable rifle on par with some .308 loadings, but like the .308, the .303 won't do what a .30-06 will do with bullets heavier than 150 grains. None of this matters though, because when used within it's range, a .303 loaded with 180 gr or a 215 gr.bullets will kill moose and bears, and the 150 gr. is a good deer bullet.
Here's a plug from the other side of the pond for one of your own.
If you get a chance to try a Ross go for it.
They've had a very bad rap and the truth is their tolerances were too close to make them an effective trench rifle.
But they stand as the most accurate 303 rifle ever made and as a well cared for hunting rifle you won't buy better.
Yes, the bolt can be assembled wrongly but then you can have all that checked by a reliable gunsmith before handing over the reddies.
Let me put this as bluntly as I can.
It's only thousands of miles of ocean and the most draconian import laws that are preventing me from buying a Ross.
If ever I make it to your blessed shores I'm making sure one comes home with me!
If you get a chance to try a Ross go for it.
They've had a very bad rap and the truth is their tolerances were too close to make them an effective trench rifle.
But they stand as the most accurate 303 rifle ever made and as a well cared for hunting rifle you won't buy better.
Yes, the bolt can be assembled wrongly but then you can have all that checked by a reliable gunsmith before handing over the reddies.
Let me put this as bluntly as I can.
It's only thousands of miles of ocean and the most draconian import laws that are preventing me from buying a Ross.
If ever I make it to your blessed shores I'm making sure one comes home with me!
Hate to gloat but, I have one!kombi1976 said:Here's a plug from the other side of the pond for one of your own.
If you get a chance to try a Ross go for it.
They've had a very bad rap and the truth is their tolerances were too close to make them an effective trench rifle.
But they stand as the most accurate 303 rifle ever made and as a well cared for hunting rifle you won't buy better.
Yes, the bolt can be assembled wrongly but then you can have all that checked by a reliable gunsmith before handing over the reddies.
Let me put this as bluntly as I can.
It's only thousands of miles of ocean and the most draconian import laws that are preventing me from buying a Ross.
If ever I make it to your blessed shores I'm making sure one comes home with me!
- Location
- Ft. Mac. Alberta
Don't believe any of the BS and crap you here about the .303 brit as being innaccurate, underpowered, etc.mr00jimbo said:
it will do fine.
The important things to remember are the rifles can sometimes be old, with oversized bores and chambers.
If you shoot factory ammo the large chambers are not a problem as far as accuracy goes .
They can be a bit of a pain to handload for some, but they are a stone coold reliable acttiion and won't let you down , same for the old Mauser military rifles - they were made to fire under the most adverse conditions.
There seems to be a saying that " more animals have been wounded by the 30/30 and .303 than anny other cartrridge" . That is because there are more of them around than anny other riflees! I like to think that "more animals have been killed with the 30/30 and .303 than any other cartridge"!
Hunt with it and have fun......
Cat
- Location
- Mission, B.C.
Visit Steve Redgewell's website, http://www.303british.com/. More information there than you can shake a bayonet at. I'm about to order one of his books and some 200 gr. bullets for my BSA-sporterized P-14.
PS to Gatehouse: I'm encouraged by the groups from your Jungle Carbine. I picked up a somewhat-bubba'd one from Epps a year or so ago (no top wood and a prev. owner had tried to free-float the barrel and made a mess of the barrrel channel.) I bedded the action but can't seem to get it to shoot well. I suspect it may be something to do with the front barrel band.
Stuart
PS to Gatehouse: I'm encouraged by the groups from your Jungle Carbine. I picked up a somewhat-bubba'd one from Epps a year or so ago (no top wood and a prev. owner had tried to free-float the barrel and made a mess of the barrrel channel.) I bedded the action but can't seem to get it to shoot well. I suspect it may be something to do with the front barrel band.
Stuart
