Thread: 303 Nitro Proofed

Recently purchased an old falling block rifle in this caliber , after some advice from any 303 gurus on here for getting some ammunition going in it , what brass and components would be a good place to start ? Any help appreciated

Originally Posted by Lucky

Recently purchased an old falling block rifle in this caliber , after some advice from any 303 gurus on here for getting some ammunition going in it , what brass and components would be a good place to start ? Any help appreciated

@Lucky Falling block or tilting block martini ?

There is a difference

Originally Posted by Lucky

Recently purchased an old falling block rifle in this caliber , after some advice from any 303 gurus on here for getting some ammunition going in it , what brass and components would be a good place to start ? Any help appreciated

I assume it’s a martini Henry. Check out the bore as most are pretty corroded and some are downright sewer pipes. Reload with 200 gn cast bullets and a light charge. Ie trail boss or pistol powders. Be very careful with the later and follow published loads. Check the British muzzle loaders channel for loading tips or the cast boolits site. The lyman cast bullet handbook is also good value.

I get good accuracy sized at .314 or .316 depending on the bore

@akaroa1 , falling block (Farquharson )

Originally Posted by omark

I assume it’s a martini Henry. Check out the bore as most are pretty corroded and some are downright sewer pipes. Reload with 200 gn cast bullets and a light charge. Ie trail boss or pistol powders. Be very careful with the later and follow published loads. Check the British muzzle loaders channel for loading tips or the cast boolits site. The lyman cast bullet handbook is also good value.

I get good accuracy sized at .314 or .316 depending on the bore

Bore is definitely seen better days but rifling still appears strong and hopefully will still shoot semi ok @ 50 yards , can you not get SP copper jacket bullets ?

I cast a 190 grain Powder coat Gas check sized .314 that might work in it

Pretty hard to get the right size jacketed bullets at the moment
@Scout runs a lot of loose bore 303s and has even used 8mm bullets in them

My original Remington Rolling Block #5 303 bore doesn't look as good as it shoots

So you might be surprised what it will do

Originally Posted by Lucky

Bore is definitely seen better days but rifling still appears strong and hopefully will still shoot semi ok @ 50 yards , can you not get SP copper jacket bullets ?

Sellior & Bellot sells a 180 grn flatbased round nosed ammo that seems to work the best in tired bores.

Give the bore a good clean and blatt off some cheap stuff like ex military ammo. I have found that rough bores might need 50 shots to "season" , that really means shooting off the loose shit the bore brush didnt shift and filling the worst pitting with jacket material.

If you do use millitary ammo, pour a kettle full of boiling water down the bore afterwards. Let it cool then oil and put away.

Farquharson .303 !!

I think it should be sent to me ASAP or I can pick up for load development ?

Please post some pictures if you have time.

Originally Posted by Lucky

@akaroa1 , falling block (Farquharson )

For the sake of those who enjoy old rifles vicariously through this forum, can you please post some pictures of the rifle? It sounds intriguing!

Thanks in advance ��

Might not be a bad idea @Scout , I don’t mind coming to you for a 303 lesson one weekend , casting bullets etc. is probably above my pay grade , well I don’t have any gear or idea how to do all that , ideally would be great to shoot copper jacket bullets .

Will try and put some photos up in the weekend , its a WJ Jeffery , lovely old rifle .

@Lucky who was the maker or retailer & does it have any load info on the rifle, often left side of barrel knox form & maybe in "Cordite" ?

Does it have express sights, remember if a older rifle it may have been proofed & sights regulated with the 215gr bullet load ?

If it has been re-barreled then all bets are off, a great pity in NZ (World Wide) that worn,rusted or shot out barrels are replaced with any barrel & that history, sights & some times ribs are lost !

Ok cross post there, Jeffery's that will be nice .

@Scout , yes express sights and original Krupp barrel which I have seen on other similar Jeffery rifles, German barrel on an English gun go figure, opposite of the early English bolt actions with a German action and English barrel.

The load info must be on the underside of barrel as it is not visible.
The barrel is quite a heavy contour, and the action will be plenty strong enough as they used these for much larger cartridges .

May not be any load info on the rifle, just nice if it is & a lot of Older English rifles had such, larger cartridges does not mean higher pressure but I'm sure it has ample strength for any .303Brit load you might use.

Or were you thinking of fitting a larger caliber to the action, I think Farky's were made in two or even three different size actions ?

You have or had many interesting rifles from your posts ?

I think many of those English rifles had European actions & barrels but fitted with nice English stocks & sights !

Yes they did make a larger one for I think 600NE , might just try some 180 factory loads from PPU or Winchester ? What could possibly go wrong …..