Thread: .303 loads

hard case Marty Henry.....Im loading 41grns 2208 and 180grn round nose pills in the .308
guys have long said the two catridges arent that much different

Originally Posted by Carlsen Highway

OK I am going to try 2209 and see how I get on.

I use 43.5gr 2209 behind a 216gr RN and get 2076fps out of a 16 inch barrel. For a 180gr pill the ADI hand book says between 44 and 48gr to get between 2300-2500fps. They use a 24in barrel and as a (very) approximate guide, drop 50fps per inch of barrel length under that if yours is shorter.

First timer on 303. Thinking of 125 or 150gr Sierra Pro Hunter? My sons mates rifle. Presumably 2208 as powder?

I think I use 180 hot cores, been ages since I loaded or even shot any of my 303s

Greetings,
Velocity in .303 rifles can be extremely variable due to the amount of erosion in the throats from firing the old cordite ammo which was very erosive. The second problem is that the chambers can be large and the headspace, which is measured on the rim, can be generous as well. The two .303 old soldiers I have here both have like new barrels and shoot well and are loaded with light loads in neck sized cases. These rifles produce velocities a little under the Hodgdon data and well above what is likely to be produced in a worn barrel. The Hornady 174 grain round nose projectile has shot well in 3 different Lee Enfields so might be a good place to start, Work up to a max of 38 grains of AR2206H which should give between 2,200 and 2,400 fps depending on barrel condition. Keeping loads below the level that you need to FL size and neck sizing cases should give significantly better case life. The .303 is not a rifle for a novice handloader.
Regards Grandpamac.

Bought new Redding dies. Bought new Redding shell holder. Using HPX brass [used] but annealed. The brass had a significant hump around the shoulder area. Sized initially by 1/4 turn in. Mate tried to chamber but no way. Went home and tried various sizing thru the die. Took home a commercial PPU loaded round. A comparison showed the sized brass had a much much smaller shoulder than the commerical round . Yet to attempt a further chambering. What step has been missed to have such a significant difference to the commercial round. Doing something wrong?

Much smaller shoulder....as in the body is fatter perhaps?? Is your resized neck sized all the way to the shoulder??? Possibly not down far enough??? Eg not hard down onto shell holder as per best practise to ensure longer brass life?? But if it was fired in your chamber it should fit back in there. If fired in big sloppy chamber and yours is tight a full length resized should get it back small enough to fit.

Photos of unfired, fired and also one you've resized will help. I keep tins for brass for each .303 as chambers often vary significantly.

Your 1/4 turn in has me puzzled possible you not hard down enough to bring fat brass back to spec.

http://www.ranchdogoutdoors.com/Fire...tish_cases.jpg

This illustrates the problem

Originally Posted by TeRei

http://www.ranchdogoutdoors.com/Fire...tish_cases.jpg

This illustrates the problem

Greetings @TeRei,
I fished out some of my old military ammo and none look like the SAAMI spec case but more like the fired cases and the fired cases from my two rifles. A cartridge drawing from a Pet Loads article however shows a case with a long sloping shoulder like the SAAMI case. Handloading was not even thought of in the design of the .303 case which headspaces on the rim and not the shoulder. All it had to do was chamber and fire with the empty case being ejected into the mud. To get around the problems I neck size only with a Lee Loader and keep the loads light. Fired cases often chamber without sizing or are FL sized just enough to chamber and neck sized thereafter.
Regards Grandpamac.

Unfired amo will resemble the Sammi spec case not that an American standard was ever considered for brit ammo. As gmp says headspacing on the rim allows for massive chamber variation. Trying to get cases fired in one rifle to chamber in another can often be an exercise in frustration. It might be better to start with some virgin ammo and fire that for your cases

I also just neck size, lee loader as well. I just run min loads as all I shoot with mine are targets so dont need the fastest load out there

Originally Posted by grandpamac

Greetings @TeRei,
I fished out some of my old military ammo and none look like the SAAMI spec case but more like the fired cases and the fired cases from my two rifles. A cartridge drawing from a Pet Loads article however shows a case with a long sloping shoulder like the SAAMI case. Handloading was not even thought of in the design of the .303 case which headspaces on the rim and not the shoulder. All it had to do was chamber and fire with the empty case being ejected into the mud. To get around the problems I neck size only with a Lee Loader and keep the loads light. Fired cases often chamber without sizing or are FL sized just enough to chamber and neck sized thereafter.
Regards Grandpamac.

Greetings again,
This has fascinated me a bit so I dug out a couple of cases from my scrap bucket that had shoulders that looked much the same. One was full length sized in my Lyman die from around 1970. This flattened the shoulder a little but not as much as in your picture. I looked up both the CIP and SAAMI case drawings and they were about the same. One thing I did note was that the shoulder angle for the chamber is about 3 degrees steeper than the case. This means when the case is sized the shoulder body junction is moved back slightly with the neck shoulder junction being left in about the same place. The shoulder head space is also increased slightly. Why this was done I have no idea.
Regards Grandpamac.