why is there no military surplus .303?
- Thread starter Mcwalleye
- Start date
Now a days it is a case of serendipity to find cheap .303 .I pulled into a estate garage sale last year to find a assortment of old rusty tools and other junk.Just before I left I asked do you have any old firearms?The guy said,Well we have grandpa's old .303 would you be interested?
The fellow drug out a Ross sporter and asked would you be interested in it for $100.00? Looking at it it was a tastefully done English sporter that was in fine shape.I told him that was too low a price for such a nice rifle and I offered to buy it for $300.00.Money changed hands and I was off to my truck with my new Ross when the fellow stopped me.
I have Grandpa's shells too, would you want them also?I replied sure what do you want for them.The fellow responded that neither him or his wife liked firearms and since I had bought the rifle and treated them so fairly I should have them, just to get them out of the house.
Low and behold the fellow comes out with 2 cases of MK VII ball and 3 extra full bandoleers.I was surprised at the amount and told the fellow I had to give him something but he refused saying it saved him sneaking into the dump one night to get rid of them.One man's garbage is another man's treasure.I have to admit I felt like the chick in the IKEA commercial,START THE CAR,START THE CAR.
The fellow drug out a Ross sporter and asked would you be interested in it for $100.00? Looking at it it was a tastefully done English sporter that was in fine shape.I told him that was too low a price for such a nice rifle and I offered to buy it for $300.00.Money changed hands and I was off to my truck with my new Ross when the fellow stopped me.
I have Grandpa's shells too, would you want them also?I replied sure what do you want for them.The fellow responded that neither him or his wife liked firearms and since I had bought the rifle and treated them so fairly I should have them, just to get them out of the house.
Low and behold the fellow comes out with 2 cases of MK VII ball and 3 extra full bandoleers.I was surprised at the amount and told the fellow I had to give him something but he refused saying it saved him sneaking into the dump one night to get rid of them.One man's garbage is another man's treasure.I have to admit I felt like the chick in the IKEA commercial,START THE CAR,START THE CAR.
In the early 90's I bought a bunch of Greek .303, on strippers ,in bandoleers and its also NC boxer primed. I have been hording it and reloading commercial brass instead. I had a box of 71 grain 32 auto bullets kicking around that I loaded into 303 brass with 8.5 grains of Unique. This made for a very light recoil load for target practice.
Nothing: just want to have them when I get old and can have a "show'n'tell" about'em! Who knows how many cordite rounds will be around in 40-60 years?
@ Sharps '63:
Yes, Winchester and Remington both, but it is awfully scarce these days.
BEST WW2-period .303 ammo made ANYWHERE is the stuff turned out by Defense Industries, headstamped DI, Date, Mark (VII). Bullet-tip tells type; unmarked is Ball.
It was ALL NONMERCURIC and NONCORROSIVE and BOxER PRIMED.
Still a bit turns up at gun shows, singles, Cartons of 48, Crates of 1248.
Wonderful for reloading but anneal the brass after first firing; it IS 70 years old.
Yes, Winchester and Remington both, but it is awfully scarce these days.
BEST WW2-period .303 ammo made ANYWHERE is the stuff turned out by Defense Industries, headstamped DI, Date, Mark (VII). Bullet-tip tells type; unmarked is Ball.
It was ALL NONMERCURIC and NONCORROSIVE and BOxER PRIMED.
Still a bit turns up at gun shows, singles, Cartons of 48, Crates of 1248.
Wonderful for reloading but anneal the brass after first firing; it IS 70 years old.
It didn't go out of production. Canada, India, Pakistan and other countries still issue the rifles chambered for the 303Brit and still manufacture the ammo for their needs as military/Ranger and police firearms.
The stuff is out there. If you are looking for cheap, that is a different matter. Many here are spoiled by the relatively cheap Soviet block and Chinese ammo being dumped onto the markets right now.
infideleggwelder
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
.303 is still issued to the Canadian Rangers, any actual Rangers please confirm or deny. it is Gov`t issue, not off the shelf stuff. it was still issued as of 2012 in 5 CRPG. don`t know the year or manufacturer, but IVI does have the ammo contract with the CAF. Brass can be found occasionally after they have their range weekends, if you are lucky.
They dumped plenty off the West coast too. My Dad helped dump it: open the box and get enough of the belt running to keep going and away she goes.
They were burning .303 on the west coast a few years back. I saw the cases in the "oven" they use.
I have some of these DA marked ones too, Berdan primed, not reloadable. Mine have steel-jacketed bullets. Also have some of the DA marked, with copper-clad bullets. What's the difference in purpose of steel vs copper?
antiqueguy
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- windsor ontario
you will never see Canadian military surplus ammo they don't even trust us with fired brass. and you don't want anything out of Pakistan I don't know about India but I an bet quality is not good
antiqueguy
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- windsor ontario
Canada did
I spoke once with a guy who was into competitive shooting at a national meet, he told me that a number of years ago, they were issued a MILLION rounds for a week long competition. Needless to say they had a lot left over. He said after the competition was over, they did their best to fire off as much as possible, but still had a ton at the end.
There was a batch of match ammunition made up in 1950 for DCRA and provincial rifle association use. The cartridges are exactly like those in the photo above and the jackets IIRC are what looks like cupro-nickel (silvery colour) Berdan primed, 1945 dated cases, and very, very accurate.
infideleggwelder
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
its not surplus, it is issue ammo. there is a difference. it is held in supply and ammo depots. i know many people think that the Rangers get the cast offs from the military, maybe in the past but no so today. ask one.
