Thread: 250-303

any body have any experience with this cartridge
thanks in advance

Which one of the varied 25-303 catridges are you asking after?

I have dies
Of all the 303 wildcats it makes the most sense

Used to be pretty common here when i was a kid. The interest in .303 based wildcats started before imported rifles in modern cartridges became available at the right price. Most of the them (.303/.25/.27/.22/.243/.35) were built on No1 Mk 3 SMLE actions so you have to watch the pressure. While the case dimensions and powder capacity vary amongst the wildcats preformance is generally in the .250/3000 sav range. Some rifles built on p14 actions get loaded more stoutly.
The .243Win and the cessation of ammo manufacture by Super and Riverbrand pretty much brought about their extinction here (Aust.).

I wasn t aware there were variants
I have lee dies and had to bump the shoulder down 50 thou for the case to chamber

Originally Posted by bearfighter

I wasn t aware there were variants
I have lee dies and had to bump the shoulder down 50 thou for the case to chamber

50 thou or 5 thou? 50 seems an awful lot.

I had one built on a P14 action.
It had been used as a target rifle when I bought it from Rod Satherly, Manchester Street, CHCH way back early 70's.
Had the barrel shortened (I think back then that member @gundoc was involved in that).
Very nice to shoot, very accurate.
The bolt ran as though on rollers. So smooth.
I used the 87 grain projectiles and the data from an Aussie reloading book (said it should be running at ~2900fps and that did for reds, goats, bunnies, and the odd possum).
So yeah, not much wrong with a 303-25.
I've seen a couple of photos on this forum and I'm quite sure that a member here has my old rifle.
I sold it to a CHCH guy way back...about 1974-1975.
Geez, I must be getting old!
EDIT: This guy...Nick Harvey reloading book.
https://sportingshooter.com.au/ask-u...or-the-303-25/

Originally Posted by bearfighter

I wasn t aware there were variants
I have lee dies and had to bump the shoulder down 50 thou for the case to chamber

Might have misled you there bearfighter, the variants are in the .303/.22’s. 3 or 4 different case dimensions.


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50 thou checked by licensed gunsmith
looking for some load information
will reduce loads or rechamber

Originally Posted by bearfighter

50 thou checked by licensed gunsmith
looking for some load information
will reduce loads or rechamber

Greetings, I would not rechamber, just size your cases to fit the chamber. Should not make any significant difference to your loads. The first thing would be to measure the barrel twist to see what projectiles should shoot in it. It may be a slow twist which would limit you to the lighter projectiles. Please get someone to mentor you with your load development. There is data out there but how safe it is is anybody's guess.
Regards Grandpamac.

Originally Posted by bearfighter

I wasn t aware there were variants
I have lee dies and had to bump the shoulder down 50 thou for the case to chamber

so HOW did you bump shoulder down 50thou????50 thou from what? or are you saying when fired the cases have grown so much you needed to make them 50 thou smaller than the after fired size??? if your dies are hitting base....thats your saami spec size give or take a flyshit..so if indeed your fired case is way bigger.... set your die to only move it just enough to chamber again.

Originally Posted by bearfighter

50 thou checked by licensed gunsmith
looking for some load information
will reduce loads or rechamber

Just curios here, if you don't mind my asking.
Is there such a qualification under NZQA?

I just had a quick look, in NZ there is a voluntary gunsmith register:
https://www.armsregister.com/gunsmit...pplication.pdf
You just need to be a Kiwi with a firearms license for that though.
Overseas people in NZ would need a NRA qualification in gunsmithing or similar.

I have been lazy and not researched it myself, is any such thing up and running in NZ?

Greetings again,
I managed to find a bit of info on the interweb. This is essentially a wildcat cartridge but it appears from the case dimensions that the original .303 case is left the same from the base to the body shoulder junction. The shoulder angle is increased to 20 degrees so part of the shoulder is set back during forming in your die. The barrel twist is likely to be 1 in 12" but still needs to be checked to be sure. Case capacity is between that of the .250 Savage and the .257 Roberts but as many of the .250-303 rifles are built on No1 Lee Enfields performance is likely to be closer to the Savage and perhaps a little lower.
Regards Grandpamac.

don t know how it works in NZ in canada we would have to have a machinist ticket to apply to a gun smithing school

Grampamac. my gun smith believes that the fella that chambered the gun didn't run the reamer far enough into the barrel. gun is built on a Mauser 96 action