why is there no military surplus .303?

cantom said:
...I hope their nuclear warheads work better than their ammo does.....click........poof.....:cool:
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yeah I got nothing but split casings in the round that went off and flattened primers on some I pulled the rest melted the lead out of the bullets and crushed the cases not a big fan of that crap
 
jethunter said:
I used to buy surplus .303 at $.15 per round but those days are long gone. .
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YOU GOT RIPPED, MAN!

I paid $70 per 1000 (7 cents each) for mixed headstamp, FMJ from Century Arms about 15 or 18 years ago.
I wish I bought o LOT more!
 
A friend has about a case of sealed boxes of DI. The excellent boxer primed non-corrosive Canadian made ball. This is reputed to be some of the best .303 ball made. He has no use for it, does not shoot .303. I should make a deal with him.
 
tiriaq said:
A friend has about a case of sealed boxes of DI. The excellent boxer primed non-corrosive Canadian made ball. This is reputed to be some of the best .303 ball made. He has no use for it, does not shoot .303. I should make a deal with him.
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...maybe he'll trade for a brick of those ultra-rare .22's eh?
 
I was given a mittful of .303BR milsurp just last week! :)

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buzzmagoo said:
There was once a little war in the mountains and some great powers ( our brothers to the south , shussssh!!) decided that it was in their best interest back the little guys with arms and ammo from a far off land ( that no one would miss) Quebec. A couple of these arsenals where magically emptied of all surplus small arms and munitions. Brens / Lee Enfields , 303/30cals and orders were made for more ammo that was never made " but they were filled in full.Conspiracy theory ?No just supply and demand. One govenments wants""one goverments chance to un load old surplus hush" hush". In side story" most of the 303 Enfield collectors talk about it in whispers amonge them selfs ( small circles) the proof is there for those that know where to look. So thats why theres no 303 /30 cal surplus ammo kicking around it was pretty much all sold out of country thats my story and I am sticking to it. To all you trolls that have anything smart to say ,do us all a favor and keep your comments to yourself thank you!
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I heard a similar story from a large dealer in a western city - he had a sea can of it until 2 guys in suits bought every last round from him, all at once - they even had a truck come and pick it up. I do know an older gent with quite a few cases of CF Surplus, but he doesn't want to share - he's keeping it for his Bren gun.
 
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Q: Why is there no military surplus .303?

A: Because, in 1992, when there was lots of it, I bought it all and shot it into a mound of dirt. Sorry bud...
 
crash277 said:
All the 303 was used up to stop evil. A buddy in the US said it's about $18/box of 50 rnds.
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Yup, basically the round is old enough and the weapons replaced long enough go that the ammo has been used up. Yeah, maybe India might have some mid-70's or early 80's surplus (my guess, take it as that) but I'm not going over to find out.

I picked up a mixed box of 20 someone had collected, each one different stamp/look/bullet/etc, and I think there might be two rounds in it with cordite: no feck'n chance I'd try firing them.
 
Aniest said:
I picked up a mixed box of 20 someone had collected, each one different stamp/look/bullet/etc, and I think there might be two rounds in it with cordite: no feck'n chance I'd try firing them.
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What's wrong with cordite? As long as I had one in my collection, I've shot stuff dating back to the 1920's and have never had any problems. The worst 303 so far has been some 1950's RG stuff and it just had hang fires - good for checking your flinch - still every one went off.
 
While you are busy snickering at the dodgy Pakistani .303 ammo, do try to remember a couple of little things:

Both India and Pakistan still issue .303 rifles, they still make the old military Mark 7 load and they still issue it for training purposes by the millions of rounds.

Surplus ammo is ammo which is surplus to the requirements of the military. That is WHY it is termed "surplus".

NO Government surpluses GOOD ammunition which they are still manufacturing and using. They surplus the stuff with dodgy old primers (and the old British corrosive/mercuric primer WILL go dodgy in their climate, given time and poor storage). That includes the Russians, BTW: a Moisin-Nagant rifle with GOOD ammo often will shoot 1 MOA, not 6 or 8.

They keep the good stuff, surplus the garbage.... and you buy it and complain.

It is still an excellent source of Mark 7 bullets.... and you ain't gonna find those anywhere else.
 
There is a rumour that an old plant in near northern Ontario (Huntsville?) used to manufacture ammo for the military during the war and at the end of hostilities it is said that bulldozed a huge pit and just buried tons of surplus ammo. Maybe some old timers from the area know something about that. I don't know if IVI is still making the .303 ammo for the northern rangers but of course you can't get your hands on the stuff anyway (well, not legally). I still have about 300 rnds of the FNB stuff that came on the market years ago, but now that I've gotten some Hornady 174 gr. bullets, I'm loading my own like most of us Lee Enfield lovers. BTW, the Hornady Interlock 150 gr. soft point ammo with 43 grs. of Varget is absolutely accurate and good deer medicine out of my sporter No.4.
 
I remember when I was a kid there used to be a gun store in London Ont called Parkinsons Guns. Great little mom & pop operation. Used to go in there and was able to fondle anything I was strong enough to lift. None of this behind the counter nonsense! Anyways, he used to have an old wooded whiskey barrel in the store full of 303 surplus with a hanging scale like you see over a bucket of nails in old time hardware stores. You just grabbed a paper bag and the little scoop and filled the bag with however many pounds of ammo you wanted. Yup ......... was a simpler time! Miss those days!
 
buzzmagoo said:
There was once a little war in the mountains and some great powers ( our brothers to the south , shussssh!!) decided that it was in their best interest back the little guys with arms and ammo from a far off land ( that no one would miss) Quebec. A couple of these arsenals where magically emptied of all surplus small arms and munitions. Brens / Lee Enfields , 303/30cals and orders were made for more ammo that was never made " but they were filled in full.Conspiracy theory ?No just supply and demand. One govenments wants""one goverments chance to un load old surplus hush" hush". In side story" most of the 303 Enfield collectors talk about it in whispers amonge them selfs ( small circles) the proof is there for those that know where to look. So thats why theres no 303 /30 cal surplus ammo kicking around it was pretty much all sold out of country thats my story and I am sticking to it. To all you trolls that have anything smart to say ,do us all a favor and keep your comments to yourself thank you!
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yeah, some 25,000 No4 rifles apparently...explaining why Canada had to buy worn out No4s from India a few years ago, and brand new in the grease new No4Mk2's on the commercial market for retail pricing I heard...
 
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