Thread: Cac 303

I got given a bit of old random 303 most of it was on stripper clips and there were loose rounds as well. Some look to have the ends snipped off and others are fmj and old cac factory soft points. Put them in the tumbler to give them a clean and theres a few that look to be crimped half way down the neck. Pic below. Was this something done at factory or something I should avoid firing in a rifle?

Its called a stab crimp. Common in old ammo from the UK. Tumbling live ammo is a very bad idea, first because a sharp point can possibly fire a primer and second that the tumbling can damage the powder. The primers are likely to be corrosive and the powder possibly degraded. Don't fire them.
GPM.

Thanks. Been tumbling ammo for 30+ years and haven't had one go off yet. In my experience from letting primers off with a dot punch and a hammer it actually requires a reasonable hit more than what you'd get in a tumbler. Any one personally here had a round go off in a tumbler?

More the issue is that tumbling can alter the grain size of the powder and affect the burn rate.

I dont know for sure if that happens in real life but I would prefer someone else to find out and report back

Powder wise they might be fuked, cant hear it shaking around in the case. Whenever I've had that they dont go off. Also Id be wary of the ones that have been snipped off as there's quite a noticeable variation in pill length

The non rattle ones may still have sticks of cordite as propulsion.it won't rattle lol

what year did they stop putting cordite in it. I think the mil stuff is stamped 48

Some CAC was using cordite strands after WWII, not sure when they changed to kernel powder? The cordite stuff needs a LOT of abuse to degrade that, the kernel or ball powder not so much. It's a lot more reliant on the deterrent coatings applied to the powder to control the burn rate and to a lesser amount the size of the kernels or balls themselves as a measure of surface area. Old powder can become more brittle, and tumbling can make the powder break up increasing the surface area exposed to the primer's flame at the same time as the deterrent coating's effectiveness is reduced. Or so the logic goes... I've no direct experience with tumbled ammo for the obvious reason, I'm not fully convinced of any added danger from it over old ammo in general but I would put my hand up and be the first to suggest tumbling won't improve the consistency of ammo if nothing else!

Originally Posted by blip

what year did they stop putting cordite in it. I think the mil stuff is stamped 48

I understand the last year of CAC cordite manufacture was 59. Best sold to a collector as it’s corrosive and the cordite will burn out the throat.

ok well if anyone wants it and can pick it up let me know. Is the greek stuff corrosive?

Shortly going to load this venerable calibre. Some of the advice has been eye opening. Will stick to 4064 or 2208. Though Harvey suggests 2209 as well.

I use 2208 in mine and just use min adi book load

https://www.reddit.com/r/reloading/c...der/?rdt=56385

Originally Posted by blip

ok well if anyone wants it and can pick it up let me know. Is the greek stuff corrosive?

The priming compound is formulated with "mercury fulminate" which is what is considered corrosive - some refer to the HXP Greek ammo as non-corrosive and it's boxer primed, but other Greek with the Berdan priming setup is regarded as being corrosive primed. The CAC is considered corrosive primed as well.