"Many will wonder why I bother with an old relic" People have often said that about me..... :D
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"Many will wonder why I bother with an old relic" People have often said that about me..... :D
Here's a little vid I did of my first hunt with the 1916 girl in case anyone has a lazy 8 or so minutes :) No big stags/bucks, but a fun hunt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwbXTk3mSW0&t=426s
Nah maybe they said that about your missus lolQuote:
Originally Posted by bumblefoot
Your dad looks like he's taking a gentleman's retreat just after ww1 with the way his uniform looksQuote:
Originally Posted by shift14
Very interesting read in this thread.
Seems im not the only one after a three oh, it was about 10 years ago when we bumped into a DOC ranger in the bush while on a hunt and he looked my mates .303 and said to him it would have been better to have left it in the cabinet!
I have people look at me like that too. But who cares eh? :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Old_School
@grandpamac My mate in Aussie just sent me this. It's not very high resolution, but interesting. I didn't know they re-barrelled .303s to .375?
Attachment 211058
I have generally found the exact opposite down here
Leave my muzzleloader or vintage rifle outside when I arrive at a hut
Meet the strangers there and just look like an average old guy out hunting
Quietly bring rifle inside when I know they aren't freaked out by such things
When they notice it's a bit out of the ordinary then they all want to see it
Met some nice guys this way and kept in touch with a few
Some are astonished when you shoot a deer 10 minutes from the hut while they are still sleeping off their excesses of the night before
Those are all pre WW1 rifles with the bolt cover and magazine cut of. Eight pounds five shillings ($16.50) for the cheapest, and with a pistol grip stock too. Possibly the .375 cartridge was just a .303 necked up? Or it could be the .375 Flanged Nitro Express (2 1/2") which has a slightly longer case.Quote:
Originally Posted by bumblefoot
GPM.
@Scout will be able to expand on the 375s in LEs
He's either got or had some of them
https://auctions.holtsauctioneers.co...185990&image=0
Here ya go boys drool over this….:thumbsup:
Could you put an R18 XXX rating on that please? To much for my old ticker..... :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Sideshow
Pretty low estimate on price and glaring typo 1980 probably should be 1890 ?Quote:
Originally Posted by Sideshow
Quote:
Originally Posted by akaroa1
Thats a sporting rifle built on an SMLE. Its probably from the 1950's going by the stock. not the same thing as the fine sporting rifles they were making pre WW1...
My old BSA sporting rifle with the Lee Speed tang safety...
https://i.ibb.co/fvVcDJK/LEESPEED1.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/pXQ8GxQ/LEESPEED2.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/XYY23my/LEESPEED3.jpg
Nice walnutQuote:
Originally Posted by JohnDuxbury
Yeah that is a cracking rifleQuote:
Originally Posted by JohnDuxbury
Yes one of mine & looking much better now with a Lee Speed Full Rib barrel fitted as opposed to the stuffed MLE barrel that was on it then.Quote:
Originally Posted by csmiffy
As stated above .375 in the Speeders is the .375 EX 2 1/2in, I have a couple of them & one 8mm which is the 8X50R that I'm after the brass for just now .
Funny I just got home this very minute with another SMLE 303, fitted with a nice H barrel in good nick & P&H target peep sight.
Greener was one of the few company's that built there own Sporters & Lee Speeds (which are mostly BSA Sporters/Lee Speeds) I have one of those also, it is a cool old rifle, mine unfortunately has a very tired barrel, the early ones were full Lee Speeds, that one at Holts may have been reproved in 1980 ?
Makes a nice change from the rusty garden stakes you usually get givenQuote:
Originally Posted by Scout
Haha yes that is very true bud !
I actually just rang him to say I need to give him more money as barrel is excellent, he couldn't get the bolt out because of the P&H sight & assumed it was poked !
Just spent an hour loading up some military ball for my old SMLE. It has a like-new barrel on it and shoots very well, my eyes are getting too old to shoot with open sights like I used to, but I can still shoot the .303 although I now have an aperture sight to put on it (not a target sight, just a little peep sight. This is a hunting rifle) This is how it shoots with 180 Speer round noses and full load of AR2209:
https://i.ibb.co/dmh1VdX/IMG-5888.jpg
Out of interest what has everyone found as the best 180ish grain hunting projectile assuming it shoots ok out of particular rifle?
170gr sst, 180gr RN?
Apologies, thought the sst was 170. It's only 150
I shoot .308 bullets in a couple of mine that have good bores 180gr Hornady Spitzers & in a couple of worn Speeders I shoot Norma 196gr .318 bullets .
Before that the Hornady 174gr RN & Spitzer, don't shoot the Old girls far so RN is Ok !
Attachment 211146
The 180gr Hornady.
180 grain Speer RN is good, the 174 grain Hornady RN is good. The Winchester 180 Power Point SP is good. The Highland / PPU 180 Grain BTSP is good. (I have not shot anything with 150 grainers as far as I know. I think.)
If you have an old bore, dont shoot boat tails in it, flat base will shoot better. 220 grain .308 may shoot in a good .303 bore.
Good idea from SCout re shooting .318 bullets in a worn or large bore
Haha seems all the good flat base are round nose.
Pity powerpoint arent available to reload
That's more my selection bias, I like heavy round nose bullets on game; they are also very accurate.
Been mucking around with my 80 year old Isophore MKI No III for a while and recently got hold of some PPU 180 gr SP bullets. I loaded some up with 39 grs 0f Win 748 which clocked just under 2300 fps. I also have recently found some Staball 6.5 which is suitable for the 303 along with a raft of other calibers ( burn rate similar to AR 2209) so is a useful powder. These were loaded at 46 grs with the 180 gr PPU.( 47.8 grs is Max )and clocked in at 2341 fps av which isn't to bad a speed. My rifle has a 25 inch barrel.
Attachment 211272
Attachment 211273
Anyway today I took it out for a bit of a shoot, my rifle has open sights, V rear and a straight blade up front. I set up a target (4 inch squares ) at 60 yards, I have great difficulty using open sight now and even with glasses on the rear sight is a bit fuzzy making precise aiming hard.
I shot three rounds of each of the 180 gr loads and 2 rounds with some 150 Hornady loads I had on hand and was pretty pleased with the result.
Load one with 39 grs Win 748 / 180 gr PPU put three shots into 1 3/4 inches, load two 46 grs StaBall 6.5 / 180 gr PPU did 2 inches and the 150 gr Hornady with 42 grs RL 15 went into 3.5 inches.
Attachment 211275
Attachment 211276
Attachment 211277
For an 80 year old rifle and some tired eyes shooting it it was a pretty good result I thought.
Good shooting for old eyes and rifle,i wouldnt want to be your target at a hundy.Yrs ago i worked with a guy who use to be in his fathers fencing gang around TeAnu and up the milford road abit(1950-60s).They always shot deer where ever they had smokos.Thing was they never left their smoko wagon to shoot deer.Deer were always in range of their 303s.They made more money selling meat than fencing.
Good idea from SCout re shooting .318 bullets in a worn or large bore
Just make sure your seating/crimping die has enough clearance for the oversize bullets- mine didn't.
Here is the military ball load I have been shooting, its Greek 174 grain FMJ, loaded with 42 grains of 2208. Shot this group below at 100 m with the military open sights, two inch group which I consider good enough for government work. Velocity clocked at 2525 fps (which is just slightly over book velocity.)
(To be honest I just wanted a cheap load to shoot, but I am also satisfied that deer die just as well with FMJ bullets too...)
https://i.ibb.co/LQFJvy9/IMG-20221204-102915.jpg
Here is a better shot of the rifle itself, standard Lithgow SMLE with a good bore:
https://i.ibb.co/x6ys4hP/IMG-20220907-103641.jpg
1980....hmmm suspect thats a century out LOL.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sideshow
Try again, please, with the image, @JohnDuxbury
At 2" you're getting better accuracy out of the pulled + reloaded HXP than I ever got from HXP factory loads.
Not with the charger bridge, that was introduced in the 1900s. Beauty all the same.Quote:
Originally Posted by akaroa1
My 1916 girl regularly shot like this when I sighted it in with PPU 150's . I think it all comes down to how poked the barrel is. Also; I used a 3-9x scope. My eyes aren't good enough for irons or low powered scopes! It'll be interesting to see how it shoots when I start handloading
I hit the big six-oh in Feb so am thinking about what trip I should take the rifle on as a celebration...
Attachment 211688
That's dinner plate accuracy, as in, venison on the plate.Quote:
Originally Posted by bumblefoot
That's around 2" group, the dark square outlines are 1" The stick-on dots on the target are the small ones :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Cordite
Try 180s
Or even better try 190sQuote:
Originally Posted by Jhon
These powder coated, gas checked and sized .314 weigh exactly 190 grains
Attachment 211868
Attachment 211869
Looks like your casting and coating techniques have really improved. Does the gas check help?Quote:
Originally Posted by akaroa1
