Thread: Greek 303 Ammo

Hello Guys

Has anyone tried the Greek 303 ammo that Gun City sells.

And more importantly reloaded it ?? Results??

Are the tarnished cases reloadable - what percentage did you have to write off

Thanks

just standard ball fmj with modern primer and propellant

Service rifle club got a bunch. Some had been wet tumbled (the worst degraded stuff anyway). We'd shake it and if the propellant wasn't to be heard we'd bin it (to be pulled and reloaded). It's meant to be quite nice brass, though I haven't personally loaded my little pile yet

Originally Posted by Tommy

Service rifle club got a bunch. Some had been wet tumbled (the worst degraded stuff anyway). We'd shake it and if the propellant wasn't to be heard we'd bin it (to be pulled and reloaded). It's meant to be quite nice brass, though I haven't personally loaded my little pile yet

How come you would chuck the powder? Would that have been a powder less load?

Originally Posted by Russian 22.

How come you would chuck the powder? Would that have been a powder less load?

Nah it’s got wet and turned into a lump

No im guessing it was a test to see if water had got inside the case clumping the powder. From experience I know cartridges that have been through the washing machine although clean do not work as intended.

Originally Posted by Tentman

Hello Guys

Has anyone tried the Greek 303 ammo that Gun City sells.

And more importantly reloaded it ?? Results??

Are the tarnished cases reloadable - what percentage did you have to write off

Thanks

Take a magnet & see if the projectile has a steel core, if so its probably not very legal now......

If it's the stuff with the HXP headstamp, I used a bunch of it in the early 1990's sold in clips in green cloth bandoliers
it was clean burning and non-corrosive and we filed down the projectiles to expose the lead core. Shot about 2 moa in my chopped no.4

I like the Greek HXP ammo through my LB No4. Does about an average of 2429.3 fps about 3 MOA iron sight off a backpack. Personally I use the HXP more for plinking. Neck-size for each reload thereafter. IIRC the Greek does a similar FPS through my 1918 SMLE. Never saw any issues reloading with tarnished/untarnished. Its more of a look factor if anything. And no the projectile is not magnetic.

Good luck and have fun. Its one of the few milsurp left in the market that is slightly affordable for the average firearms owner.

@Tentman only a small batch, but I put about a dozen down the 303 I got off you. I reckon I had some that recoiled like a 243, some that recoiled like a 303 should and some maybe a little more but that is very subjective. they definitely didn't all recoil the same.
I didn't do any shake'n'bake like @Tommy though.
Nowhere near the round count that other forum members posted have done.
Winchester made the brass I believe.

The Service Rifle Nationals was held recently. The individual first place was won by an Aussie with a 6.5 swede (belonging to @C7A1 ) using handloads specifically loaded for that rifle, however the team event was decisively won by the Saffas, I think by a 50% margin in V bulls over second place team, and they were using borrowed .303 military pattern rifles and this very ammunition.

The HXP factory (Hellenic Xartridge Pompany, or to that effect) was set up in Greece (Hellas) by a Winchester subsidiary. They produced among others .45 ACP, .30/06 and .303 for the greek armed forces which adopted both the No 4 rifle and the Garand. The former two they supplied to the US Army, the latter to the UK cadet forces which used the LE No 4 up until the early 1980s. The HXP rounds are non-corrosive boxer primed (reloadable). The military ball powder is basically W76 / H414, as has been said above the projectile is lead with copper/brass jacket so remains legit. I anneal cases before reloading them for the first time as the ammo is relatively old, not quite as old as me though.

Don't cut the noses off to make cheap hunting ammo as the lead will be too hard for good expansion. (Who is that poor anyway?) Military spitzers primarily make a mess by tumbling, not by expansion or deformation. Also there is the increased risk of leaving a bullet jacket in the bore, especially if you have filed the jacket too far back, and no one knows exactly where that limit is.

Had one misfire with hundreds of HXP rounds fired, no hangfires (they are part of the fun of shooting the old Mk VII rounds from war and postwar periods). IMHO HXP is best used for unsupported target shooting as it will then shoot as good as, or even better than you.

It's not too shabby at all, most of the rounds I got weren't corroded or tarnished at all and no hang fires or duds. Definitely in better nick than the greek .308 GC have right now which is pretty shit all round.

I've saved all the brass if anyone wants to snag it off me.

Milsurp ammo is is a buy what you can when you can item for a importer. No massive quality range to choose from esp for 303.

Originally Posted by TheWuce

It's not too shabby at all, most of the rounds I got weren't corroded or tarnished at all and no hang fires or duds. Definitely in better nick than the greek .308 GC have right now which is pretty shit all round.

I've saved all the brass if anyone wants to snag it off me.

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