Thread: 303 weight comparison

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

funny how the old girls are getting a new lease on life...

Don't Ruger occasionally bring out a No 1 in .303?

Originally Posted by bumblefoot

Don't Ruger occasionally bring out a No 1 in .303?

They did a limited run fro a Canadian outfit. The Canadians liked the calibre so asked if Ruger would do a run. Ruger responded Only if they made a full run and the Canadians would take the lot. I love mine. One of ite previous owners shortened the barrel and suppressed it (I know- complete sacrilege...) but it shoots very well and I love using it. As a side note someone commented that it was too heavy so I weighed it, and a BLR 30/06 take down and a CZ 550 Full wood carbine as a comparison and all 3 were within 100grams of 4kg. The Ruger and the BLR will both fit into a back pack....

Greetings Again All,
A few more thoughts. Happily there still seems to be plenty of interest in owning and using them. Unfortunately the numbers of rifles in suitable condition is limited. I was pleasantly surprised the other day when my son expressed an interest in owning one. For him the search is over but for others here are a few notes that may help.
Generally even pretty rough .303 barrels will shoot pretty well with medium pressure loads. Some will need re crowning to achieve this. For some with oversize bore and grooves nothing will help. Rough barrels are however a bear to clean and some, myself included, simply can't be bothered. No 4 Lee Enfield rifles were used extensively for target shooting after WW 2 and barrels were frequently changed due to the erosive nature of Cordite. No doubt there are heaps of near new or perhaps even new barrels are cluttering up the nations garages. A chat with some of the NRA full Bore shooters may turn something up.
New .303 barrels are available but from what I have seen are pricey. There is another option. In the 1990's Din Collings was re barreling no 4 Lee Enfields with used .308 target barrels chambered for .30-40 Krag. The Schultz and Larsen target barrels only had a service life of around 1,100 rounds due to the projectile they were forced to use. Normal service life for a .308 barrel would be 6,000 rounds plus. There must also be tons of these take out barrels in the garages as well.
The .30-40 Krag is a US blatant copy of the .303. The bore is 30 calibre rather than 303 calibre and neither case fits the others chamber. Cases are available and can be made from .303 cases although come out a little short. Someone may still be doing this. Worth asking if you are interested. My .30-40 Martini shoots the 150 grain round noses really well in spite of about 6 mm of free bore.
Regards Grandpamac.

Originally Posted by timattalon

They did a limited run fro a Canadian outfit. The Canadians liked the calibre so asked if Ruger would do a run. Ruger responded Only if they made a full run and the Canadians would take the lot. I love mine. One of ite previous owners shortened the barrel and suppressed it (I know- complete sacrilege...) but it shoots very well and I love using it. As a side note someone commented that it was too heavy so I weighed it, and a BLR 30/06 take down and a CZ 550 Full wood carbine as a comparison and all 3 were within 100grams of 4kg. The Ruger and the BLR will both fit into a back pack....

lol I wonder if you have my old one, last there digit of serial number 472? if so Robbie T double checked I really wanted to cut it up before he fitted can

They sold the Rutger no 1 in .303Brit here in some numbers. Many buyers had accuracy issues. I believe the bores are off spec... not .312.

Originally Posted by Dicko

They sold the Rutger no 1 in .303Brit here in some numbers. Many buyers had accuracy issues. I believe the bores are off spec... not .312.

my understanding is that its like the mini30's, the earlier ones had 308 bores but later runs corrected the issue