Working up a .303 British Load

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Norinco45

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I have some Hornaday .303 FMJ boat tail bullets that measure .3105 in diameter and some Accurate 2230 powder. I can't find this combination in my Lee manual or on the Accurate site.

Can they be used together safely?

If so, any suggestion as to what load of powder to start with?

I confess to being new at this and would like to avoid a large, nasty explosion in my son's Lee Enfield No.4 MkI* Longbranch. He would be more than upset with me.

Thanks all.
 
From what I have read most Enfields are around .311-.313" but some as low as .308" and as high as .317". So your bullets should be OK. If you don't get good accuracy you could slug the barrel to find out the exact size.

My Lyman 48th Edition doesn't list any loads with AA2230 but the Speer 13th lists a load for a 125gr Spitz-SP bullet using it. How heavy are your bullets?


Fudd
 
According to M.D. Smith's Reloading Page "Reloading the .303 British Rifle":

150gr JSP 43.0gr of A2230 gives an MV of 2704fps

180gr lead 39.0gr of A2230 gives an MV of 2459fps

No data for 174gr bullets using A2230.
Note: The loads listed above are MAXIMUM LOADS, so start with 10% less. I would try 38.0gr as a starting load and work up by 1/10 of a grainwith your 174gr bullets, watching for over-pressure signs.
 
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i have found that 2230 works very very well in the 303. my load was/ is :
WW case
174 gr BTHP sierra
39 gr of 2230

this was used in a nice LB # 4 set up with a PH site.
i never did get it over the crony, but its nice and easy on the brass, and shot very well
 
My most used load is 47 grs olin 760, 174 bullet, win lr primer. this gives me 2400 fps( the same as my hoard of FN ball), and gives very mild case expansion, much less than factory Winchester or IVI loads.
 
Norinco45 said:
Can they be used together safely?
Click to expand...
I am very interested in reloads of .303 British for the lee Enfield, but am "put off" by the lieberal (opps I mean liberal) head space on most lee Enfields. This results in considerable case "streaching" even after 1 shot the last 1/3 inch of new cases show a shinny band near the head. Watch your brass carefully so you don't get a case separation, and consequently brass stuck in your barrel. I have given up on the lee Enfield for now until I can solve the "head space" problem. Loading .308 for the Savage 10FP is very rewarding (read sub MOA). The Norinco 305 is very accurate with reloads also!
 
peter may be head space or may be a generous chamber. Headspace is fairly easy to fis in the No4 and No5 rifles with a longer bolt head, if its a no1 rifle then the fun starts, trial and error mostly.

I reload for all my rifles but don't use Accurate powder so I can't help you there.
 
peter3334 said:
I am very interested in reloads of .303 British for the lee Enfield, but am "put off" by the lieberal (opps I mean liberal) head space on most lee Enfields.
Click to expand...
Use Lee collet dies. It addresses your issues. Headspace isn't a problem when your brass fits your chamber perfectly.
 
peter3334 said:
I am very interested in reloads of .303 British for the lee Enfield, but am "put off" by the lieberal (opps I mean liberal) head space on most lee Enfields. This results in considerable case "streaching" even after 1 shot the last 1/3 inch of new cases show a shinny band near the head. Watch your brass carefully so you don't get a case separation, and consequently brass stuck in your barrel. I have given up on the lee Enfield for now until I can solve the "head space" problem.
Click to expand...
  1. Take your new brass, run it through a neck expander die of larger caliber.
  2. Back to your normal resizing die. Start sizing in small increments until the case will just barely chamber in your rifle. You now have a case fully supported between the bolt face at the back and the false shoulder you will now have on the neck of the case. The case now has nowhere to go and there will be little or no case stretch.
  3. If you want to get really fancy, wrap a narrow strip of tape around the head of the case just in front of the rim. Just slightly less than what will prevent the case from chambering. This will keep the case centered in that generous chamber for the first shot and expansion. Probably not worth your while unless you have a really accurate rifle.
  4. Now, after firing, resize no more than what is needed for a light crush fit. Full length resizing will take you back to square one.
Collet dies work quite well, but they won't help you with the stretch from that first shot in unprepared virgin brass.
 
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