Thread: Resurgence of interest in the old "Three Oh"?

Originally Posted by bumblefoot

Well I scored a Lee Loader for the old 303 so am looking to start reloading for it again. Trust me to begin reloading when powder is as common as rocking horse s**t.... Anyway; powder's "meant" to be arriving next month.

I don't suppose anyone has a pdf or a jpeg of a modern 303 Lee Loader powder chart? There is one pic in a thread on the forum but it's too small to see. The model I have is older and many of the powders seem to be obsolete. I used to use IMR4895 in it shooting Hornady 174gr round noses. It was a minimum load as I used it originally as a pig bail gun (16.5inch barrel I think). But it sure knocked over deer and pigs too!

I scored a box of Speer Hot-Cor 150 to use in it. The last box Gunworks had so I'm interested to see what it'll shoot like with them. It likes Highland 150 factory ammo. I'm thinking of picking up a set of Hornady Balance Beam scales too for experimentation. I was thinking about ADI 2206h or 2208 for it. But I see the ADI site doesn't have load data on it now; you have to buy the manual

When I was in my 20's I used to load for the 303 and 270. I used a Lee Loader for the 303 and a press for the 270. I stupidly sold all my reloading gear when on a bit of a hunting hiatus.... I also stupidly sold my Ruger M77 270 then too. Something I've regretted all of these years... Hindsight is wonderful.... Could never have sold the three-oh though! I bought it when I was 18; so have had it for over 40-years. If I had the m77 it would be 40-years old too......

I used IMR4895 in the 303 and H4831 for the 270. Now I have a 308, 223 and 303 but will probably only handload for the 303. More for the fun than anything else. I quite like the idea of shooting a goat/pig/deer with handloads through a 77-year old rifle and then processing, smoking and curing etc everything from it. Sounds silly, but will be fun.

hold the line caller.....