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How I bought 303 in 1964

14K views 51 replies 15 participants last post by  Jim Bridger 
#1 ·
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Went surfing and found 303 I used to buy in same box. 32 rounds. I think I paid $3.50 back then. 1955 production. Now they want $32.00. I remember that box well. Army Navy store.
 
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#12 ·
Very good ammo, used it in Competition and still have some.
If you want to save the cases, you can pull the bullet, empty
the cordite and boil the cases to nullify the primers, then chisel
them out. We even chopped up the strands of Cordite to re-use
This is old school of course!:):) dont let the primers dry out
keep them boiling. Have fun.
 
#5 ·
I don't know about Russian ammo.
That Pakistan ammo I bought 3 box's thinking I could pull the bullets shoot off the primers, and reload the brass.
Wrong. Can't get the primers out.
They must have a tool for that.
I took two of the box s back .kept the one and pulled the bullets, at least I got 32 bullets.
 
#9 ·
The WW2-era Cordite loaded MkVII was all OK when new, but some of it didn't age well, and with surplus ammo you cannot be sure of its conditions of storage. In my experience the Brit primer mix used in the Cordite-loaded, WW2 era ammo is adversely affected by heat exposure during long storage. Ammo that came out of Africa, the Middle East and Afghanistan frequently exhibits misfires or hangfires after 40+ years. This also includes that loaded by KF in India, POF from Pakistan, as well as FN ammo.

But MkVIIz (Ball or extruded tubular powder, NOT Cordite) of Cdn., German MEN manufacture and US WW2-era Lend-Lease by WRA or Rem-UMC and 1960s or later Greek HXP and US WCC has been sure-fire and reliable. I've run thousands of rounds through Vickers, BRENs, P14s and No.4s with no issues.
 
#14 ·
When I was a kid you could buy those 400 count ammo boxes for the price of the box. You had to know where to get it though.

A mate's dad used to buy them, he wanted the boxes ( he had an auto repair business and put " stuff " in them )

Folk would snip the ends of the projectiles with side cutters to increase the damage on wild pigs. The ammo was never what you'd call pristine.... This was in the 60's and 70's when a 303 rifle would cost about 5 dollars.. There was 1,000's of them everywhere.

Auto repair dad also allegedly had a single shot .410 shot gun cut down to a pistol that he dispatched sharks with when fishing. He'd rattle 303 out of it for this purpose o_O
 
#16 ·
I've shared this before, but I have several thousand rounds of 1941 headstamped .303 British ammo loaded in London during the Blitz.
I decided to never shoot any of it after the guy I bought it from pulled out one of the strippers and dissected each round in front of me.
One round had what looked like floor sweepings - sawdust, plaster and dustbunnies as filler, one had what looked like aluminum filings as filler, one had a tiny rolled up picture from an ad in a porn magazine, one had a rolled up "Killroy" with "To Fritz, with love" written on it (though in previous versions I think I wrote "to Jerry with love", but ran across the paper recently and realize I was mistaken), and the final one had sawdust. That was just out of a single clip of ammo.
The man I bought it from told me that in others he had dissected he had found mostly floor sweepings, though some had cotton, scraps of cloth and plaster as filling.
I don't know how they even managed that much diversity unless these rounds were practically hand-loaded by the workers rather than with machines.
 
#22 ·
Thee Enfields live here: a 1916 No. 1 Mark III, a No. 4 Mark I*, and a No. 4 Mark 2. Acquired the No. 4 Mark 2 from an individual for $30 sometime in the 1990s. Rehab'd it a few years back.

Before



After




Quantities of the Kynoch 174 grain FMJ spitzer ammunition (which is loaded with Cordite and is dated in the early 1950s) came my way soon after completion of the rifle's rehab and I shot most of it away. It was sure fire and seemed reasonably accurate. A couple boxes were retained as "collectibles."

I always assumed that the No. 4 Mark 2 would be the most accurate of the three rifles, but the World War I dated No. 1 Mark III has proven to shoot the most dependably tight groups to date.
 
#24 ·
Thee Enfields live here: a 1916 No. 1 Mark III, a No. 4 Mark I*, and a No. 4 Mark 2. Acquired the No. 4 Mark 2 from an individual for $30 sometime in the 1990s. Rehab'd it a few years back.

Before



After




Quantities of the Kynoch 174 grain FMJ spitzer ammunition (which is loaded with Cordite and is dated in the early 1950s) came my way soon after completion of the rifle's rehab and I shot most of it away. It was sure fire and seemed reasonably accurate. A couple boxes were retained as "collectibles."

I always assumed that the No. 4 Mark 2 would be the most accurate of the three rifles, but the World War I dated No. 1 Mark III has proven to shoot the most dependably tight groups to date.
That's a nice looking job you did there, I really love the return to it's original grandeur. I've got a soft spot for milsurp, and the aesthetic of that era.

I had a guy tell me once all old milsurp rifles were worthless because they're ancient and outdated. Uhhh....most modern deer guns have a lineage going back to the old WW1 bolt actions, and if you can still get the ammo, and still hit a smallish target at 300-600 meters, I fail to see how it's ancient and outdated.

There's a failure in thinking that new = best (or at minimum, better). I'd take an old bolt action any day in an emergency, over nothing at all, and their history proves they are solid hardware.
 
#25 ·
I always wanted to play with a Ross rifle. Never saw too many available and never really saw 'em cheap enough to play with.

It's certain that the Enfields were once cheap. I don't even recall when it was I acquired my other two. I doubt that I have $200 tied up in the three of them.

Well ... that stock set probably did push it up over that figure. The stock set cost me more than any one of the rifles did.
 
#32 ·
Paint? Not some black finish?
I have no idea what that flaky black crap on Ishapore 2A and 2A1 rifles is. I know that there is a pretty decent matte blue or park underneath the crap, depending on the year of manufacture.

The crusty stuff is supposedly some sort of enamel protectant for jungle use and/or storage. It is hideous and looks like it was smeared on.

It comes right off with oven cleaner, and sometimes you can get it off just by getting a fingernail under a chipped piece and flaking it off by hand.

Like I said, they tend to be pretty nice beneath the black crap.

The exception seems to be the nose cap. I think that black enamel is the only finish most of those got, so it is usually best to leave them alone.

I left my 2A1 with the black stuff on it for authenticity. The guy I traded it to cleaned it off and it looked like a near-mint unissued rifle beneath all the ugly.
 
#35 ·
I have no idea what that flaky black crap on Ishapore 2A and 2A1 rifles is. I know that there is a pretty decent matte blue or park underneath the crap, depending on the year of manufacture.

The crusty stuff is supposedly some sort of enamel protectant for jungle use and/or storage. It is hideous and looks like it was smeared on.

It comes right off with oven cleaner, and sometimes you can get it off just by getting a fingernail under a chipped piece and flaking it off by hand.

Like I said, they tend to be pretty nice beneath the black crap.

The exception seems to be the nose cap. I think that black enamel is the only finish most of those got, so it is usually best to leave them alone.

I left my 2A1 with the black stuff on it for authenticity. The guy I traded it to cleaned it off and it looked like a near-mint unissued rifle beneath all the ugly.
Thanks for the explanation, I don't think I've ever seen a milsurp with paint on it, but paint would make a good weather-sealant. Something I hadn't considered....and being in the far south, something I may keep in mind in a TEOTWAWKI scenario for ensuring my rifles last.

What is the finish on a Mosin considered? I'm not too familiar with the terms (I know what bluing is, though).
 
#34 ·
It even goes back farther than that. Medieval hand cannons often had brightly colored paint on them, and pretty much from the beginning of firearms in the Far East and Middle East the barrels were often painted.

The process is still done on a lot of firearms. A lot of military CZs are still painted, for example.

I think the French were just among the first to do it entirely for preservative purposes.
 
#39 ·
I have a few thousand rounds of cordite loaded .303 Brit. It shoots okay, but requires a strong firing pin spring to prevent hangfires. And of course it’s corrosive.


I sometimes pop the bullet out of one, set the cartridge on the retaining wall, and light the cordite. It burns off like a mini fountain and finishes with a “pop!” when the primer goes. I’ve only ever found clean cardboard wads in mine, no trash or mystery material like described earlier.
 
#41 ·
In 1960, a 20mm sold for less than $100.....and you could buy ammo.

I met a school teacher from Vincennes, Indiana in 1964. I stopped on a trip East to see his cannon collection. All of his heavy artillery was on rubber tires.
He had as I recall 20 or more guns from various countries. His father had started this hobby. I think he had to donate them to a museum after 1968. :(:(
 
#44 ·
But there was so much you could DO that you can't today.

I've also considered that the 1880s would have been an interesting time for me to live in, medical advances (or lack thereof) notwithstanding.

As it is now, I look around and am desperate to avoid the average American (beyond irritating to deal with in most regards, but could be because I live in a huge city area). I feel the entrapment of a dying society and a totally corrupt, in-your-face gov, cities filling with homeless and a sense of despair (Dallas has developed it's own unique odor of decay, last I was there).

I get going back to the past has disadvantages. But what I've got to work with today...….
 
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