.303 British, good for nothing or classic African cartridge?

[JPbowhunter]

I can attest to the 303 Enfields' effectiveness during My last trip to Africa. The trip was pure nostalgia; a 303 and a 9.3x62. The Parker -Hale Deluxe No.4 Mk1* made fast work of a large Kudu bull at 148 yards. Three clicks up on the Singer sight put the 215 Woodleigh, launching at 2250fps, right through the shoulders and exited the far side. As it staggered on the hillside, I sent another through the spine. The last bullet weighed 190 grains and was 0.76" in diameter.

My advice is use only new brass for your hunting loads, I separate cases on the third reload with full power charges.

View attachment 279958

I like every word of that!

 

[454]

454 is your No4 a factory sportirized or done by a gunsmith.? Good looking rifle.

Rule 303,
To the best of my knowledge my rifle was factory sporterized by Parker Hale by the evidence of the Parker Hale front ramp. I shortened the forearm slightly and added a No5 800 yd singer sight. I have a 0.0625" aperture (same as an AR15) inserted into the stock 0.10" aperture and the large aperture battle sight was remachined and sleeved to align with the adjustable sight. The front post was replaced with a KNS hooded crosshair sight.

My long range load is a 180 Sierra pro Hunter driven at 2450fps. I was smacking rocks at 550yds to quite the amazement of my SA PH's. This bullets was used on a moving long nose Impala at 80-100yds. The twilight shot required the use of the battle sight.

 

[Brent James]

That's a nice bull you have there , well done.
Absolutely nothing wrong with the 303. I have a ruger # 1 in 303. Case stretching does happen, but havnt had separations yet.Kept to just under 2500 fps, 174 grn woodleigh, ppsn open to about 7/8 inch, almost perfect weight retention.
Whilst I have a trip for elephant, hippo, & buff booked next March, when I head over in 2021, for kudu,sable, & zebra, the 303 is what I'll be taking.

 

[Brent James]

I love my old bsa lee enfield. The action is o so smooth. There was a time when it was my only rifle and with careful shot placement I have taken eland with her. I found 180gr Winchester power point factory ammo to perform above my expectations and thus never handloaded for the old girl. I am currently working up a load with a local made 215gr RN bullet. Bonded but with a thin jacket. Still working on the load but I have reached 2080fps from my rifles 21 inch barrel. Can not wait to test these rounds on a large warthog boar. I found a beautify of a martini henry in 303 the other day. The temptation......

View attachment 277179

Hope you bought that martini, it looks exquisite in the photo.

 

[bruce moulds]

you will probably get a lot less case stretching than with a rear locking lee action.
(unless the ruger has a loose chamber)
tapered cases are known to stretch more than less tapered ones, but the old lee, being rear locking, is guaranteed to stretch brass.
that is why 303/25 etc were never loaded to full potential.
put the same case in a p14 and higher speeds/pressures will work better.
I knew a guy that had some kind of mauser in 303/25 rimless, where the cases had the rims turned off and an extractor groove cut in them.
interesting but too hard.
I had an Anschutz mod 1530 rear locking action which shot well, but had similar case life to a lee.
quite suitable for using new brass for serious stuff, as the old dead guys did in Africa.
there must be some interesting old cases around Africa if you could only find them in the dirt, rocks, and bushes.
bruce.

 

[Rule 303]

454, thanks for the reply. Very much a great stalking rifle and a great load for it.
I have handled a custom made/sportirized No1 Mk3 and it is my dream stalking rifle. Light comes to the shoulder and the sights are already aligned with my eye

 

[Brent James]

you will probably get a lot less case stretching than with a rear locking lee action.
(unless the ruger has a loose chamber)
tapered cases are known to stretch more than less tapered ones, but the old lee, being rear locking, is guaranteed to stretch brass.
that is why 303/25 etc were never loaded to full potential.
put the same case in a p14 and higher speeds/pressures will work better.
I knew a guy that had some kind of mauser in 303/25 rimless, where the cases had the rims turned off and an extractor groove cut in them.
interesting but too hard.
I had an Anschutz mod 1530 rear locking action which shot well, but had similar case life to a lee.
quite suitable for using new brass for serious stuff, as the old dead guys did in Africa.
there must be some interesting old cases around Africa if you could only find them in the dirt, rocks, and bushes.
bruce.

Only hassle I run I to was with s&b brass. Whilst supposedly made to c.i.p standards, this is not the (case). The head height is considerably less than the U.S brass, did run Into head spacing troubles until I adjusted reloading dies accordingly.Have since dumped all of them, as I have mainly Remington & federal brass.I ran into this problem many years ago with ici/imi 243 brass, the case head height being far less than the U.S counterparts. This problem still exists to this day In continental made 22 hornet cases as compared to U. S made. Not only is the head height less , but the case rim height is greater. This gives all sorts of head spacing / case separation issues.
With the ruger #1 in 303 British, there are no problems with case stretching /separations, ( unless using s&b brass ).
Whilst I won't list loading data here, it's very easy to achieve velocities in excess of 200 fps over 308 factory ammunition with 180 grain projectiles, in the ruger #1.
However , my usual load is very mild, in keeping with the original loads @ 2450fps.

 

[bruce moulds]

a lovely classic styled rifle in a classic calibre.
bruce.

 

[Dr Ray]

The 303 is great used as a scrub rifle (cut down) because it holds ten in the magazine.
Excellent for relatively short ranges - no scope but simply open sighted.
To put a scope on you need to use a side mount!
Had one and about every fifth shot I would get a eye full of gas / could never figure out why
Obviously a primer leak

 

[bruce moulds]

dr ray,
a pity you doctors can only afford clunkers.

 

[Dr Ray]

303 - Boer war rifle
Medium power
Good in its day

 

[Dr Ray]

dr ray,
a pity you doctors can only afford clunkers.

That was so long ago I think we still used candles (lol)

 

[Dr Ray]

303 - Boer war rifle
Medium power
Good in its day

303 British
Groove diameter 312-313

Rear locking
About sane power as a 308 but nowhere near as accurate
Would work under all conditions
Mud dirt snow
Fired 174 grain bullet
Some were 215 grain round nose
Originally loaded with cordite

 

[Dr Ray]

Might add the 303 British uses a runner cartridge. It’s a bit pain loading in the magazine. The rims must not be in front of the previous cartridge.
Australians converted the 303 to a 25 and 270 calibers in the post WWII era.
They worked well but soon superseded by the more modern cartridge.
As I said - great scrub rifle especially when the stock is sporterized.

 

[nztimb]

Might add the 303 British uses a runner cartridge. It’s a bit pain loading in the magazine. The rims must not be in front of the previous cartridge.
Australians converted the 303 to a 25 and 270 calibers in the post WWII era.
They worked well but soon superseded by the more modern cartridge.
As I said - great scrub rifle especially when the stock is sporterized.

The rims MUST be in front of the previous cartridge in the magazine to feed correctly.

 

[Dr Ray]

Sorry I meant in front
I was originally writing not behind
My apologies
Ps I don’t like runner cartridges !

 

[Dr Ray]

Rimmed cartridges
I’m sure my iPhone predictive text hates me

 

[454]

454, thanks for the reply. Very much a great stalking rifle and a great load for it.
I have handled a custom made/sportirized No1 Mk3 and it is my dream stalking rifle. Light comes to the shoulder and the sights are already aligned with my eye

The No1Mk3 should be a bit lighter than my No4, which weighs in at 7.8 lbs with the 22" barrel. That is about a pound heavier than I would prefer for a stalking rifle. I hope your dreams are fulfilled soon.

Here is the first beast I took with the 303, down in Northern California. the guide and I crawled into the thick brush toward the melee of hog and hound. At first, all I could see was white patches darting about. When my eyes adjusted to the dim light, the white patches were the only part of the hounds I could initially make out. The guide pointed to a patch of darkness that I quickly realized was the silhouette of the hog ~25' away. Unable to stand, I crawled past him for a shot. Normally when the guide saw the hounds were clear he would whisper in your ear to shoot, this time he started shouting SHOOT! SHOOT! Those big nostrils were the only thing I made out through the battle aperture, no front post, just those nostrils aimed right at me. He was somewhere between 10-15' off the muzzle when the 215 Woodleigh raked down his right jowl, into the neck/shield and stopped somewhere in the guts. The hillside was so steep, the hog went over backwards and tumbled down the hill, gasping his last. I wore one of those 5 1/2" tusks around my neck in Africa for good luck.

 

[Witold Krzyżanowski]

454 well written. I like it.

 

[Rule 303]

303 - Boer war rifle
Medium power
Good in its day

Still good. Some SMLE's produced remarkable accuracy for a rear locker. I have only owned one SMLE that would not hold better than 3" at 100mts and that was an Indian made job. I have shot or seen others that shot from around the inch to ones shooting 6" at 100 meters.

If you load the stripper clips correctly and it is easy to see if you have, then no jams, if you load the magazine one at a time and do it correctly then no jams.

Having said that the SMLE and its later No.s are battle rifles not sporting rifles as such. Put the 303 cartridge into a modern front locking rifle and they are just as accurate as most other rounds.