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

[Rule 303]

454 the one I held would weight about 6 to 6.5 lbs.

Thanks for your wishes and that is a damned fine boar.

 

[HWL]

My 215 gr handload incomparison with a 180gr Winchester PowerPoint. Wish i could have loaded them to a longer overall length.

View attachment 277192

My Ruger No.1 accepts the 215 gr Woodleigh to a length of 80,00 mm

My load, calculated by Quickload, is 46,7 gr N550, CCI 200, case S&B, 697 m/s / 2287 fps, 52939 psi /3647 bar meets CIP standarts, works fine, but is for my rifle only!

 

[HWL]

For sale on egun....

http://www.egun.de/market/item.php?id=7429072#img

HWL

 

[CTDolan]

The .303 British is a wonderful, capable cartridge. I hunted with one for years and it never let me down (180 grain factory loads, Remington Core-Lokt…using 215 grain Woodleigh bullets, it’d be even better). An old African hand I once knew, back in the late 1980’s, said that it was what he carried when hunting elephant in the forest (don’t ask me why, but it was his gun of choice for hunting elephants in South Africa).


It’d be a wonderful battery to take to Africa, a falling block 450/400 NE and a falling block .303 British. Short of carrying an original Farquharson, or something of similar vintage, you could hardly get more classic!

 

[Hoss Delgado]

It's a cartridge that has worked wonderfully on Game at times and worked miserably on game the other times throughout history.
Some of the good things it accomplished are :
1) Karamojo Bell used .303 Lee Enfield's to take hundreds of elephant using the 215 grain full metal jacket " solid " bullet
2) Arthur H Neumann used a .303 Lee Metford on EVERYTHING including elephant , before switching to a .256 Mannlicher magazine rifle for normal game , and a .450 NE Rigby Double rifle for elephants exclusively .
3) For a Time , FC Sealous used to use a sporting Lee Metford in .303 loaned to him by Harris Holland with which he took down Loads of game.
Some of the bad things that happened are :
1) Col. Patterson ( who slew the vile Tsavo lions ) initially came to Africa only with a .303 Lee Enfield and a 12 gauge shotgun . When he went up against the Tsavo lions , even repeated hits from his .303 rifle failed to stop them . In the end , he had to kill them both by using a borrowed Martini Henry.
It's worth noting that Arthur H Neumann was gored by an elephant which his .303 failed to stop.
In my opinion , it makes a good plains game round.

 

[HWL]

I do not think, it is a good idea to use the .303 British for dangerous game.... no matter what bullet.

My next attempt is the 180 gr Sierra pro Hunter, just to figure out, if it is more accurate than the .215 Woodleigh soft point round nose.

HWL

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

used within its ballistic capability, however yo load it, it is useful.
what kills it is that the main rifle it is used in is the lee enfield.
while a good military rifle in its era, it has a crap trigger, and stretches brass woefully due to being rear locking.
the 10 shot mag, so useful in battle, is a hindrance in a hunting rifle.
and don"t forget to make sure all rims are on front of lower ones in the mag, or it will jam.
some find cock on closing not to their liking.
a good blow on the back of the firing pin will override the safety and permit an accidental discharge.
as a nostalgia piece, a ruger no 1 in 303 would be nice to own.
more nostalgia with a martini.
with 150 gn bullets it has a place, and another place with the 215 type bullets.
the mk7 military load was totally unsuited to hunting (ethically), while the mk 6 load had certain merit.
bruce.

@bruce moulds
You would want to give the fireing pin a,bloody big hit with a sledge hammer to dislodge the fireing pin even with the safety off. That sear takes a big bite on the cocking peice mate.
Even in the No1 mk111 the Norma 150 grain at 2,700 fps is perfectly safe and I have used the old Hornaday light magnum load in mine.
The Ruger No1 should handle any reloaded ammo up to a nominal 50 to 52,000 cup.
Some one mentioned 56,000 cup is really pushing the envelope as th at is up over 70,000 psi. It's an area I wouldn't be in.
I still use and enjoy my old SMLE 303.
Bob

 

[John Telford]

As the second member of my "very british battery ", I purchased a .303 British.

It is a Ruger No. 1, same as my .450/400 3" NE.

Does it make sense, to bring it to Africa or is it good for nothing?
View attachment 259091

View attachment 259090

Very British and Ruger don’t seem to mix well ? Almost like whiskey and milk!

 

[HWL]

Very British and Ruger don’t seem to mix well ? Almost like whiskey and milk!

You have not read the complete thread.

The Ruger is just a substitude for the Farquharson,.... which is unavailable & priceless...



HWL

 

[bruce moulds]

I can remember when guys used to buy farquarsons cheap and rebarrel and possibly restock them in varmint calibres.
bruce.

 

[HWL]

In the past twenty years, I have not seen a single one for sale in Germany.

May be, it is completely different in The States, in RSA or Australia.

For years, I am looking for a "Monkey Tail", no chance...

HWL

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Leslie Hetrick, just to clear up my thinking, were you referring to taking a P 14 "lee Enfield" which I thought was already a 30-06 and converting it to 303 British? I'm not familiar with the P 14 (s) that were built in the U.S. for the Brits, but I have a couple of P 17(s) one pretty much as issued (except for a new style ejector) and a well done sporter.

@Shootist43
Art
The brits designed the P13 and sent it to the U.S. to build. At the out break if WW1 the British didn't have enough SMLE Ann asked the U.S. to build the P13 in 303. It became the P14. The brits meantime ramped up production of the SMLE to the point they didn't need any more P14 s. When the U.S. entered WW1 they didn't have enough Springfield rifles and as they had plenty of P14 parts already it was simple to put an 06 barrel on them change the bolt face and mag and you had the M17's initially the U.S. had more M17's than Springfields. Sgt York even did his outstanding feat armed with an M17 despite it being a Springfield in the movie.
Just my little history lesson on the progression of the Enfield rifle.
Bob

 

[bruce moulds]

bob, I believe it was being developed to be a 7mm.
bruce.

 

[ZG47]

bob, I believe it was being developed to be a 7mm.
bruce.

Actually a .280 which is slightly bigger and pretty close ( in ballistic terms) to a 7mm Rem Mag, if I recall correctly. Currently having lunch on site so do not have any references to hand.

 

[leslie hetrick]

a tale from 60 years ago, i mowed grass-washed cars-worked on my fathers farm- caught chickens for firearm money. there was a army-navy surpluse store in town that got 90 precent of my gun money. 303 enfields- italian 91,s from scrap to like new condition from 8.00-15.oo dollars, mausers-93-95-96-98,s from 9.00-25.00, US army rifles 17-03-o3A3 from 15.oo-25.oo. ammo(corrisive ball) was cheap and plentyfull. i hate to think now about most of those rifles that ended up butchered into crude sporters by my myself, never thinking the supply would dry up in the future. i have hitch hiked home with one or two rifles wraped in brown paper with out a second look by people passing me, including police at times. what i would give to relive those days, to me they were the highlights of my youth. for several years later i would be involved in a war that took me far away, never letting me return to thoses times.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Depends on the rifle. The No. 1 Ruger I had was a damn fine shooter with its preferred load. 180gr Sierra with enough 760 to equal a .308 Win. Aint no flies on that. The LSA sporter I have now, shown earlier in this thread shoots factory Remington 215's very well with the open express sights. The round itself may not be as inherently accurate as a few rounds but will shoot along with most given a good rifle.

@sestoppelman
@Dr Ray
I don't know about the 303 not being inherently accurate as I've never found that. I've had quite a few that grouped under an inch and a half and sold one beloved No1 mk111 that would regularly group 0.75 inch 5 shot groups with 150 grain hornaday spire points.
They may not be 1/2 minute tack drivers but for game use anything that will constantly group one and a half inches will do me but smaller is better.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

The advancement in bullet technology has resurrected several old cartridges--it's almost like an upgrade in caliber as far as effectiveness goes. Some early attempts at high velocity would have been more accepted had they had access to the bullets we all now enjoy. In a nutshell, yes, the 303 is back in the game if you want it to be. BTW there is an interesting chapter in one of Nathan Fosters' books on bedding the old military 303s for long range accuracy. None of it would show externally, either.

@steve white
If you are interested in bedding the 303 have a look at how the Canadian bedded their No4 SMLE.
It's called Bisley bedding.
I've done it to a couple and my son's 25/303 will group half inch bedded this way.
Bob

 

[Dr Ray]

@sestoppelman
@Dr Ray
I don't know about the 303 not being inherently accurate as I've never found that. I've had quite a few that grouped under an inch and a half and sold one beloved No1 mk111 that would regularly group 0.75 inch 5 shot groups with 150 grain hornaday spire points.
They may not be 1/2 minute tack drivers but for game use anything that will constantly group one and a half inches will do me but smaller is better.
Bob

But I only used w open sights and military ammo.
Also I used the Lee Enfield - rear locking.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

But I only used w open sights and military ammo.
Also I used the Lee Enfield - rear locking.

@Dr Ray
My old eyes don't let me use open sights. All my old 303s were rear locking SMLEs. My original one a No1 mk111 was set up with my armourer father with a 4x40 Rhino scope in a Field side mount. The barrel was a brand new heavy barrel cut and crowned at 18 an one eight inches and Bisley bedded. It would group one inch all day with military ammo. We used to have fun busting house bricks on the local range at 300 yards with it.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

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.

@bruce moulds
To avoid case separations and stretching in the old SMLE DON'T full length resize after fireing the new case. Use a LEE COLLET die instead. When they get a bit hard to chamber use a body die to bump the shoulder back until it chambers.
I made my body die out of a LEE fps die either the spindle removed and the opening made big enough to fit a loaded round.
That way if it won't chamber I don't have to pull the cartridge down, just run it into my homemade body die until it does.
Depending on the projectile as the come in .310 t0 .312 the COLLET die may not size the neck small enough.
If that happens I just run the neck into my son's 308 die. Problem solved load any 303 projectiles without the need to crimp.
As a side I get 10 or more loads out of a case before I junk it
Bob Nelson