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Thread: Enfield 303, need info.

  1. #21
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    Texas by God's Avatar
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    That's brilliant, UK Rifleman. I'm going to try that.

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  2. #22
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    You must use a straw or something to get it down in there???
    Any technology not understood, can seem like Magic!!!

    I will love the Lord with all my heart, all my soul, and all my mind.

  3. #23
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    I just did this on a bare Barrel and it worked very well. Getting the wax into some barreled actions may be difficult without a heated funnel or some other method.

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

  4. #24
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    I just had a passing thought about finding a mold in the .316" range. The nominal mold diameter for the 32-40 rifles is .319". Molds for this caliber are too large for our common "30" caliber bores and too small for the "32" and "8mm" bores. As such they are outcasts in the shooting and casting market. These molds are more easily found, and at lower cost, as they do not fit many rifles. One of my 32-40 molds drops boolits at .316" depending on the alloy and temperature of the cast. A quick pass through a sizing die will reduce the boolits from these molds to your target diameter. Another source may be a mold for the 8.15x46R Schuetzen cartridge, less the "stop ring" if possible, as that caliber also uses a .316" diameter boolit. These dedicated molds would be harder to find and probably more expensive. It's all a numbers game, anyway.

  5. #25
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    Do the wax cast change dimensions with time, like the Cerro alloy needs to be measured at a certain time after removal?

  6. #26
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    In regard to resizing .303 brass none of the chambers resemble factory ammo.

    The US standard SAAMI drawings for the .303 ammo and .303 rifle chambers are very different than the British rifle chambers. If you examine a lot of once fired .303 cases from a wide variety of rifles it appears the Brits had little to poor standardization of the shoulder shape and location. Most Lee Enfield chambers are .030 to .040 longer to the shoulder than factory ammo and US reloading dies. In addition the shoulder shapes are all over the place. Some shoulders are even a full radius that runs into the case neck at 90 degrees.
    In addition the chambers are much larger in diameter than US made cases. US cases are .450 to .452 diameter ahead of the rim. Brit military and PPU cases are .455 ahead of the rim.

    I have experimented with many ways to make cases last longer but the simplest way for most shooters is to dedicate a lot of brass to each .303 rifle and neck size only. FL dies will not give any sort of decent case life.

    The first firing of the brass does the most damage. There is no point of repeating the damage by repeated FL sizing.
    Last edited by EDG; 02-10-2019 at 09:34 AM.
    EDG

  7. #27
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    HAHAHAHA! What EDG said! My fired brass looks like a whole different cartridge! The shoulder must move forward about 1/16", has rounder radii and there is less body taper from factory or full length resized brass.

    Also, my full length sizing died squished the brass down to optimistic factory/SAAMI specs for 0.312" bullets as already mentioned. I found that my 0.315" boolits were being sized by the tight case necks! Not only is this hard on brass working it so much but accuracy was poor. Annealing case necks regularly helps but the brass is still being worked a lot!

    I did a pound cast and found a 0.315" throat in 3 Lee Enfields I have and as best I can determine about 0.314" groove diameter. So, I needed at least a 0.315" boolit.

    Stretching the neck up from 0.310" or thereabouts to suit that boolit and reforming neck and shoulder each time seemed like a bad idea. I backed off the die to neck size only and made a larger expander button but the neck was still being worked a lot so I ordered a Lee collet die.

    When I got it, it had a mandrel that was set for the optimistic factory sizing so no better then my full length sizing die in that regard. I made a new mandrel to size to 0.313" and that worked great! The brass is interchangeable in 3 of 4 Lee Enfields I have. The fourth has a slightly tighter chamber.

    Subsequently I found out from Larry Gibson (IIRC) that the Lee collet die doesn't even need the mandrel! You remove it then set the die to give the inside neck size you want. So, point being, if you get a Lee collet die or other neck sizer you can get the neck sizing you want to suit whatever boolit diameter your gun wants. Then you have fire formed brass and neck size only to the size you need and don't overwork the necks.

    It worked for me!

    Longbow

  8. #28
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    Straight up. Those old British chambers are all over the place. I shoot rifles I have put new barrels and barrels with rereamed chambers and there is a big difference to original!!!!, like others said only the rim is the same the rest is different. I too use a Lee collet die, I only adjust to give neck tension for boolits never tried j-thingys yet. Before I had the collet die I full length size all my 303, I have only head separation from substandard brass, neck cracks from old brass and loose primer pockets.
    Many original barrels are ok, some are lengthened from use or reamed that way, yet head space wont exceed 0.067, so it's right where you want it. Examining and comparing your fired brass to new will give you an idea what you have. No1s and no4mk2 and the 1/2 & 1/3 conversions I found to have the relieved chambers, some push the neck up a full sixteenth of and inch and stop square not angled.
    I hung around a fifth line amour shop all the 303 I seen that failed, failed because of elongated chambers never headspace.
    Be well
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  9. #29
    Boolit Buddy Eddie1971's Avatar
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    I've been using a Lyman 314299 sized to .314 with great results in my SMLE from 1916. The boolits are powder coated and checked. Even though I have great results, after reading this, maybe I will get a Lee .316 sizer and size them to that.

  10. #30
    Boolit Mold
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    A good plinking load in my Mk4,No 1*1949 (F) with frosted bore is 18 grs. 2400, Lee 312-185 (gas check) at 1,650 fps.

  11. #31
    Boolit Master Idaho Mule's Avatar
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    I shoot a few 303's too. Most have oversized chambers and throats, and will take a .315 or bigger slug to work well. Just measure the inside neck of a fired case from the rifle you're working on. My cheap fix for this is to neck size only, with an 8x57 size die though. That keeps from deforming the fat boolit. Won't work if using jacketed .311 bullets, they fall right thru the neck.

  12. #32
    Boolit Master

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    I have had luck with a bullet fishing weight. If it is lead, it is a soft lead.

    Quote Originally Posted by Markopolo View Post
    Actually Mr Outpost, that link I sent ya is me. I was AlaskanGuy, but when I moved farther out into the Bush in SE Alaska, I didn’t have internet for a couple years. When I got satellite internet and electrical power, I had forgotten my passwords and made this new account and just started over with the new account. I didn’t want to pester the mods about trying to recover my old account. ... now I am back..

    My biggest problem is trying to find the right sized something to pound in there. Obviously my normal 30 cal bullets are gunna be too small, and I dont cast for 38.. I do have a 7.5 x 55 bullet mold I could use possibly. If memory serves it used to cast big, but haven’t used it for many years. My biggest problem is My pot is filled with the perfect alloy for my 30 Carbine, and I need dead soft lead... so in order to manufacture something to pound, I gotta cast about 600-800 bullets or so to get the pot empty enough to drop something soft into. I could try to squish a roundball in there...lol or I could use a torch and heat up a spoonful of lead into the Swiss mold.. sheesh.. what a Pita.. (Pain In The ...) I am just being lazy I guess...lol ok ok. I will get on it.

    Marko

  13. #33
    Boolit Master
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    Adam Helmer's advice on sizing in post #5 is critical to brass life. He called it a crunch fit, I call it the bolt just kissing the case on closure; same principle. Start with a fired case that won't chamber in your rifle and slowly lower the FL die until you get the crunch/kiss on bolt lockup. After that, neck size if you have a neck size die, or just keep using the properly adjusted FL die.

  14. #34
    Boolit Grand Master Tripplebeards's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ukrifleman View Post
    Attachment 234507Another way of slugging a bore is with candle wax.

    Make sure the bore is clean and dry, push a paper plug down the bore as far as you need and tamp it from both sides with some wooden dowel to make a wax proof seal.

    Stand the rifle muzzle down and carefully pour the wax into the bore from the chamber end until the chamber is full and leave it to cool.

    Be careful not to let the wax get into the locking lug recesses as it is a PITA t get out and it will prevent the slug from moving.

    Once the wax has cooled and set and you are sure that there is no overspill of wax into the locking lug recesses, gently tap it out with a wooden dowel from the muzzle end.

    Take care when taking measurements, as wax slugs are relatively fragile and soft and you will get a false measurement if you are heavy handed with the calipers.

    The other advantage of wax slugs is that you get a chamber cast, as well as a good idea of the condition of the rifling.

    ukrifleman

    Boy does that look way easier than lead!

  15. #35
    Boolit Buddy
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    I found a great way to neck size . expand and bell 303 cases, being an old time ISU pistol shooter I had a set of .32 S+W Long carbide dies not being used anymore, the carbide FL die is perfect to neck size for cast, the expander-neck die works rather well as a M die.I shoot the Lee 185/12 as cast and a CBE 170/316 as cast,have just ordered a CBE 215/315 to try in the No4 1/2 I have. Added bonus it also works for my .308 as the neck brass is thicker than the.303.

    Cheers Hahndorf1874.Mal.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check