[rastus]

Howdy,

I was wondering if anyone handlloads this type (or similar) types of projectiles in the Lee Endfield .303 (especially the No4 ). Remmington won't tell me the required velosity at muzzle to make sure that it expands when striking game.

Can anyone help me out????

The .303 British (7.7 x 56 mm R) is a rifle and machine gun cartridge first developed in Britain in the 1880s as a blackpowder round, later adapted to use cordite and then smokeless powder propellant. It was the standard British and Commonwealth cartridge from 1889 until the 1950s, when it was replaced by the 7.62 x 51 mm NATO round, and in the 1980s by the 5.56 x 45 mm NATO (.223 in) in most roles. It is a rimmed cartridge and is therefore not entirely suitable for use in modern automatic weapons, but remains popular due to the large number of surplus military rifles chambered for the round which have been released to the civilian market, some of which have subsequently been modified for sporting use.


History

The Cartridge, S.A., Ball, Magazine Rifle, Mark I Solid Case, .303inch was first introduced with the Lee-Metford rifle in 1889. In its original form, the round was a 215 grain (13.9 g) round-nosed cupro-nickel jacketed bullet propelled by 71.5 grains (4.63 g) of RFG2 Blackpowder, giving it a muzzle velocity of 1830 feet per second (560 m/s) and a chamber pressure of about 19 short tons force per square inch (260 MPa). Blackpowder is not very dense, and the charge had to be pressed into a solid pellet in order to fit inside the round. The rimmed cartridge made it easy to extract spent rounds from the chamber, although it did make them somewhat harder to stack in a magazine because the protruding rims would cause a jam if they were loaded incorrectly due to a double feed—that is the rim of the cartridge being fed by the bolt snagging the subsequent cartridge rim.

Cordite was used as a propellant from 1891 and the first adopted cordite cartridge, the Cartridge S.A. Ball, Magazine Rifle Cordite Mark 1, used the same bullet but delivered 1970 ft/s (600 m/s) at a chamber pressure of about 35,000 pounds per square inch (240 MPa). Small changes to the bullet jacket resulted in the Mark II of both the black powder and cordite versions, the Mark 2 and Mark 2.C respectively.

Nitrocellulose was first used as a propellant in 1894, but the higher temperatures and chemical activity was enough to make it unsuitable for use in the Lee-Metford, and the newer Lee-Enfield was introduced to address these problems. Although not officially adopted until 1916, nitrocelulose rounds were widely used during World War I, although cordited-loaded rounds were still produced for use in the tropics, where it was considered to be somewhat more stable.

The round nose bullet was found to be less than satisfying in combat, notably when compared to the Dum Dum rounds issued in limited numbers in 1897 during the Chitral and Tirah expeditions of 1897/98 on the North West Frontier of India. This led to the introduction of the Cartridge S.A. Ball .303 inch Cordite Mark 3, basically the original 215 grain (13.9 g) bullet with the jacketing "cut back" to expose the lead in the nose. Similar hollow point bullets were used in the Mark 4 and 5 rounds, the primary production versions. These soft nosed and hollow pointed bullets were later outlawed in the St Petersburg Declaration and the Hague Convention, and in 1903 they were withdrawn from active service and were afterwards to be used for target practice until stocks ran out. To replace them the Mark 6 round was introduced in 1904, using a round nose bullet similar to the Mark 2 but with a thinner jacket. It was generally agreed to be unsatisfactory.

In 1905 Mauser changed bullet design completely with the introduction of their "spitzer" rounds, the first of the classic design now referred to universally as "bullet shaped". In addition to being pointed, the round was also much lighter in order to deliver a higher muzzle velocity. It was found that as velocity increased the bullets suddenly became much more deadly, an effect later explained by hydrostatic shock and cavitation when the round hit.

The British took the opportunity to replace their Mark 6 rounds with the new Mark 7, using a 174 grain (11.3 g) pointed bullet that gave a muzzle velocity of 2440 ft/s (740 m/s). In fact the Mark 7 was considerably different than earlier designs, or the spitzer for that matter. In order to lower the weight they made the front 1/3rd of the interior of the bullet out of aluminium instead of lead. While similar weight savings could have been had by using a single lighter material, such as steel, the design was deliberate in order to make the bullet "tail heavy". When flying through air the stability of the bullet was marginal, but when it rapidly decelerated when hitting a target, the heavier lead base wanted to "swap ends", causing the bullet to tumble and greatly increase damage. The Mark 7 round remained the standard for the remainder of the .303 service life.

In 1938 the Mark 8 round was approved to obtain greater range from the Vickers machine gun. The primary change was the addition of a boat-tail and slightly more propellant, giving a muzzle velocity of 2550 ft/s (780 m/s) and somewhat better ballistics. Chamber pressure was higher, at 40,000–42,000 lbf/in² (about 280 MPa), making it suitable for firing only from the machine gun.

Tracer, armour piercing and incendiary cartridges were introduced during 1915, and explosive bullets in 1916. These rounds were extensively developed over the years and saw several Mark numbers. The last tracer round introduced into British service was the G Mark 8 round in 1945, the last armour piercing round was the W Mark 1Z in 1945, and the last incendiary round was the B Mark 7 introduced in 1942. Explosive bullets were not produced in the UK after 1933 due to the relatively small amount of explosive that could be contained in the bullet limiting their effectiveness, their role being successfully fulfilled by the use of Mark 6 and 7 incendiary bullets.

In 1935 the .303 O Mark 1 Observing round was introduced for use in machine guns. The bullet to this round was designed to break up with a puff of smoke on impact with a target or the ground. The later Mark 6 and 7 incendiary rounds could also be used in this role if required.

During World War I British factories alone produced 7,000,000,000 rounds of .303 ammunition. Factories in other countries added greatly to this total.

Today, military surplus .303 British ammunition can be found readily from any number of suppliers or most commonly, at guns shows. Care must be taken to properly identify the round before purchase or loading into weapons. Cartridges with the Roman numeral VII on the headstamp were manufactured for Vickers machine guns. If loaded into weapons chambered in .303 British, this ammunition can potentially damage the rifle, as the powder used is hotter than the standard powder found in normal .303 cartridges.

[Shaun]

Remington won't even release that to Manufacturers so that is why I have shifted some to Nosler. But I still load the corelok's when necessary

[Mick]

I have only used corelokt 180gr .303 with factory loads, I found that on red deer, they do not expand as well as a dum dum, to much weight and speed, for such a small animal, I would reckon that there is no game in Aussie that is big enough, except buffalo and crocodile.

What sort of game are you after, and what sort of country are you going to be shooting it in?

[rastus]

Mick,

I was looking to use them mainly on pigs and on buffalo a pinch (215grn woodleighs prefered) probably 100yard range but I was hoping to handload it to be effective at 200yards if I can.

http://www.african-hunter.com/303_rifle.htm

[Mick]

well there's no doubt it'll be effective at 200 yards, the mil spec ammo is about 170 gr I think and it's good for a lot further than that. Are you heading to the cape for a hunt? ( I've just read your pm, I can see why you might want a 215 gr projectile)

[rastus]

Mick,

Not heading to the cape. But I was thinking when I'm pottering around - using the Remmingtons for pigs and having a couple of the Woodleigh's in the pocket for unexpected game. I think the 215grn projectiles will deffinately be a 100yards and under proposition. It looks like the BC will pull it up fairly quick. Hope not to any closer than 100yards though!!! Need to handload it to get some specifics for the No4 and No5. Are you using the Remmingtons (any size) at all???

[rastus]

Quote:       Originally Posted by rastus

Mick, Not heading to the cape. But I was thinking when I'm pottering around - using the Remmingtons for pigs and having a couple of the Woodleigh's in the pocket for unexpected game. I think the 215grn projectiles will deffinately be a 100yards and under proposition. It looks like the BC will pull it up fairly quick. Hope not to any closer than 100yards though!!! Need to handload it to get some specifics for the No4 and No5. Are you using the Remmingtons (any size) at all???

Mick,

Sorry didn't read your last post carefully. I meant have you handloaded the Remmingtons!!!

[Mick]

no mate I havn't, I havn't got any gear for the .303 yet.

[rastus]

Mick,

what sort of bullet drop are you getting with the factory ammunition at 100 and 200 yards???

[Mick]

Honestly I couldn't tell you, but I sighted my .303 in at 100 yards, and if I'm shooting something 200 yards away I just aim up a bit, maybe an inch or two, I've never tried it out with a paper target though.
I'm using a Jungle carbine too so it'll be different to a longer barreled .303.

[rastus]

If you ever get the chance to test it could you let me know. It would be good to compare notes

cheers

[Mick]

yep righto.