Reloading 303 brit for hogs

[Jamesconn]

I just got the chance to shoot my enfield and I have to say I like it a lot. I want to start casting for it. I have a bucket of wheel weights and I'm not too sure about much anything else cept I need to slug the bore. What molds do you recommend? Gas checks? What brand of brass or does it matter? How many reloads do y'all get out of a case?

I'd like to practice more but ammo is hard to find and real expensive.

[Larry Gibson]

The size of the groove diameter of the barrel will greatly influence any mould recommendations. Crimp on brass GCs would be my choice. Separate the zinc and steel COWWs out of that bucket as they are no good for bullets. Also separate out the SOWWs. Scrounge up some more lead (enough to mix at 50/50 with the WW alloy. Get a pound of tin.

Smelt the COWWs down being careful to just remove the clips and dirt/debris. Do not skim off any antimony or tin. Flus that alloy real well and add 2% tin to it. Pour it into ingots. When done smelting mix that alloy with lead at 50/50. Cast if you are ready. Go for quality of bullet not quantity. A lot of the details of casting will depend on the mould and casting equipment you have. Water Quench the bullets out of the mould to harden them. Let them age for 48 hours. That should give you an idea. Are you experienced at casting bullets?

Larry Gibson

[Jamesconn]

I started attempting to cast 9mm for my dad's pistol, but since it didn't work the first time and my old barber said cast will ruin your gun he wouldn't let me continue. I have a bit of reloading experience.

[Larry Gibson]

Best to get a Lyman Cast Bullet Hand book then; either #3 or #4. I prefer the #3. Or a Lyman #49 Reloading handbook. Those will give you lots of data and information on cast and loading cast bullets. That's the basics you need to know and will give you a much better understanding to ask really pertinent questions here. It's not hard and that's the easiest and fastest way to learn enough to start. Fumbling through learning how, even with advise from us, can get frustrating. A little "book learnin" is good.

Larry Gibson

[1Shirt]

Larry gives good advice! My advice, in addition to his, is to find an old experienced caster/reloader who would be willing to mentor you, and spend some time with him!
1Shirt!

[paul edward]

As a high school kid a long time ago, I had good luck loading for a SMLE No 1 Mk III* using Lyman 311299. These weighed 210 grains when cast with a hard alloy. Gas check crimping and sizing to .312 were done in a Lyman 310 tool. Lube was applied by standing the bullets in a pan of melted lube and removing them later with a home made cookie cutter. My favorite load was 25 grains of Hi-Vel #2. Same load also worked in the 7.65x53 Argentine Mauser. Cases were commercial Winchester, as range pick up in .303 was rare.

Today Lyman offers their 314299 which is the same shape and may cast a bit larger. Lee offers their C312-185-1R with aluminum blocks. Either one should work well for you. Be sure to slug the barrel and select a sizer about .002" larger than groove diameter. Measuring the slug may be a challenge if your barrel has five grooves. You can use .30 caliber gas checks.

One word of caution: Enfield chambers tend to be large. On firing, the cases will expand quite a bit to seal the breech. If you full length resize your cases, this will work the brass a lot. It is usually a good practice to neck size cases to avoid overworking brass in the head. Make a tool from a piece of steel wire that you can use to feel inside the case for a shallow annular ring about 1/4" above the rim. This shallow ring is an indicator of incipient head separation, and is reason to discard a case. Case life will be longer with neck sizing and lighter loads.

[dodgyrog]

I use NOE's 316299 sized to .315" in my SMLE No1 Mk3*. Excellent bullet. I use around 25gr Accurate 5744.
For plinking use a 115gr soupcan in .315 with 4 to 5gr of Viht 310.

[hanover67]

I cast the Lyman 311291 gas check boolit for my .303 Enfield. I only neck size the brass after the first loading and use a Lyman "M" die (.31 long) to flare the case mouth before seating the boolits. Powder charge is 16.0 gr of 2400. I slugged my barrel and measured the slug at .313" and my boolits are sized to that diameter. So far its is an accurate load that doesn't strain the rifle. I don't shoot over 100 yards because I have a Parker Hale micrometer peep rear sight and I can't get enough elevation adjustment on it to use over that distance.

[303Guy]

How many reloads do y'all get out of a case?How high can you count? Simply put, I only lose cases to the long grass. Well, if I forget to anneal the necks then I lose some to neck splits. Never ever do I lose a case to head separation and that's with full power jacketed loads. I don't even need to trim to length as my cases do not elongate. That is caused by excessive case to chamber wall grip, not by the 'flexy action' of the Lee Enfield (which it is). Cast boolit loads should never 'wear out' a case.

[Wayne Smith]

And when you think about the cost of the mold figure out how many hundred boolits you will need to cast to pay for the mold. Then spring for the NOE mold!

[mdi]

Another thought; Unless someone has extended experience casting/loading/shooting cast bullets, ignore their "advise". Just smile and say "thanks, I'll look into that". Cast lead bullets ruining a gun is one of the oldest, most ignorant wive's tales still running around...

[Jamesconn]

I know its a load of **** but my father thought since he was older than me he was right, and I was wrong.

[1Shirt]

Most of the time, the dad is right!
1Shirt!

[loaded303]

Great advice you have so far. I cast with lee mold C312-185-1R. Sized to 311 with gas check. Tumble liubing before sizing and gas checking. Then tumble before seating. Allow the alox to cure overnite each time. Keep them under 2000 FPS. 4064 and 3031 works good for me @125yds haven't shot any farther because of range limitations. Have fun!

[MT Chambers]

Luckily for me, the most accurate load in my .303 uses Lyman #311041 a famous 175 gr. FPGC sized to .311", this is prolly the best .30 cal. hunting bullet. It shoots better in my Win. '95 .303 br. than it does in my Marlin Micro-groove 30/30, go figure!

[303Guy]

Of course shooting lead will ruin a bore! Look at any 22lr and they're all stuffed. Actually, I really have seem a stuffed 22lr bore but that was from rust and it still shoots. Can anyone tell us where in tarnation these folks get the notion that cast ruins a bore? I've heard the argument; "Just think about it, it's lead, the rifling can't grip it". "So what about your 22?" "Ummm ... aah but no but that's different". OK that wasn't about ruining the bore but the logic seems similar.

Anyway, I'm about to try cast in one of my 303's so I'm real interested in how you go. For hogs I'd thing a real heavy boolit with a wide meplat. I've found that 220 gr is about as long as will magazine feed with the boolit base flush with the base of neck.

[Von Gruff]

This group buy for a 303 cast bullet will be made in sizes from 311 on up to 317

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?249459-311-210-(Mosin-Enfield)

http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv39/VonGruff/303%20Lee%20Enfield%20sporting%20rifle/311-210-WDIL_zps9ca0c1ba.png (http://s667.photobucket.com/user/VonGruff/media/303%20Lee%20Enfield%20sporting%20rifle/311-210-WDIL_zps9ca0c1ba.png.html)