.303 British?

[Adam Helmer]

Mr. 16 gauge,

I have many .303 rifles and some are better than others; apparently due to wide bore and chamber variations due to the rushed war efforts of WWI and WWII.

Gil is correct, one may be able to locate a No.4 or No. 5 replacement bolt head that tightens up long headspace. Bolt heads are numbered "0", 1, 2, 3, and 4. I disagree with Gil about Enfields made in India. Many MkIII* .303 rifles were made post WWII and then came the .308 MkIII and 2A1 Jungle Carbine .308 arms that really are well made arms. Most are in far better condition than WWII rifles.

I reload jacketed and cast bullets for my Enfields and have not had a head separation since I backed off the resizing die so there is a slight "crunch" fit in each individual rifle. I load ammo specifically for individual arms and label the boxes. After 7 or 8 jacketed loadings, I use the cases for cast loads as I do with other high power rifle cases.

I recommend the .303 or .308 Enfields (including those made in India) for hogs, deer and bear. The limiting factor will be the iron sights. I think hits to 200 and 300 yards are reasonable expectations predicated on shooter skill.

Adam

[Brithunter]

Oh dear I had to laugh at the case life comment Now i don't know how many handloads I have got from cases, never counted but I have yet to have a case failure on re-loaded cases. My dies are RCBS reloader specials and the cases are HXP-69. The rifles I ahve loaded for are:-

P-H Supreme sporterised BSA 1916 No1 Mk111
P-H De Luxe sporterised BSA 1916 No1 Mk111
P-H targetised ERA P-14
SSA No1 Mk111
Century arms P-14 Sporter
Martini Enfield AC11
No4T
P-H sporterised No4 1/2
BSA sporting rifle on Metford carbine action
BSA Model E
BSA Model C
Martin Muscat 303 bore

And no I do not usually keep cases segregated, the exception is the the Mucat martini that is of Belgian maufacture and the shoulder is different to British military and sporting chambers.

Modern American made brass is more often that not undersized which causes the brass to stretch more. I use this to my advantage with R.P brass as I use it to shorten and form into 6.5x53R as even the web area is undersized but corect for the 6.5x53R case.