303 British Jungle Carbine and Lee C312-185

[smkummer]

So a friend complains how hard his Jungle Carbine kicks with military ammo. I was considering this combination and 13 grains red dot for a fun plinking load. These are dropping out 312-313 so I was going seat the gas check with a .314 bullet sizer. Thoughts on this combination?

[GhostHawk]

I started my Mosin at 13, ended up down at 10. It seemed to like the lee .312 185gr gc leemented up to .314 and a 314 sizing die to put checks on.

[bob208]

yes the jungle carbine does kick with military ball. that is why they have a rubber recoil pad. if the pad is missing or just hard it hurts more then it helps. I use a load of lyman 311299 loaded to 1600 fps. that load shoots good and drops deer.

[longbow]

I have 5 Lee Enfields (three No. 5's and two No. 4's) and only one with tight bore and chamber. Mine all like the NOE 316299 sized to 0.315". Generally I load the NOE 316299 (200 gr.) or the Mihec 316410 130 gr. HP. Both shoot quite well from my guns. I started with Unique but usually use IMR4227 at 18 to 22 grs. under the 316299 with good results and light recoil.

I originally bought a Lyman 314299 mould but it cast at 0.312"/0.313" so too small for my bores at about 0.314" and I got leading. The NOE 316299 solved that when sized to 0.315". Size your boolits to suit the throat and you'll be good.

Longbow

[RU shooter]

The bullet may not be big enough if you need bigger you can shim the blocks with some foil duct tape . As for the load I'd drop down to about 10 grs and work up from there the13 grs load never shot good for me but 10-11 grs was always a sweet spot in several 30-31 cal rifles . The usual and popular loads of unique and 2400 usually shoot well also

[Kegcaissy]

The lee bullet is too small for most 303 rifles, i use the IDEAL 311413 and NOE 316299 with really good results in many enfields rifles.

[LAGS]

I shoot the 316-299 sized just a little larger than bore diameter in my LE's
I had a Mk 5 before and it liked that boolit and unique

[samari46]

Buddy of mine now no longer with us had bought my jungle carbine and had it at a local smith for parkerizing.I reminded him that there was a plastic freezer bag in the butt stock with lead shot. He called the smith to tell him about it only to be told that he already found the freezer bag with the shot and had a bunch of it on his workbench. We both got a good laugh out of that one. Some guys take the butt stock off the #5 and put one on from a #4 as that butt pad don't do nothing for the recoil. And it's a miserable excuse for a recoil pad. Frank

[smkummer]

Ok, starting with about 11 grains red dot and see how these shoot. Thanks everyone

[Maven]

smk, I think the Lee C-312-185 may work in your Jungle Carbine if you first determine its actual bore diameter and then either "beagle" the mould or size its castings down and then paper patch them to fit. Moreover, 13gr. Red Dot is too much as I only use 12.5gr. Unique in similar sized cartridges with CB's of that weight and am very pleased with the accuracy I get.

[smkummer]

Ok, sent out a load of 11.3 red dot and the bullets are coming out at 313 and gas check seated with a .314 sizing die. A buddy is taking him the ammo and he can report back. Don’t know the bore size. Guessing about 1450-1500 FPS.

[Hahndorf1874]

I shoot the 185 lee in my no1 Mk3 ,albeit a HB target barrel 312.5/303, 11gns Unique 1.25” to 1.5”@ 100yds, slug the barrel and match with a pill to suit.

Cheers Mal.

[tbx-4]

yes the jungle carbine does kick with military ball. that is why they have a rubber recoil pad...

Actually the rubber pad is more of a bump pad for paratroopers who might drop their rifle... The No5 was designed from the No4 after a request for a shorter rifle to be used by paratroopers. It was first deployed in Operation Market Garden.

So contrary to popular belief the No5 was not originally designed for jungle warfare... it just worked out that way. The aftermath of WWII left a power vacuum in Malaysia so the local warlords rose up and this was the beginning of the Maly-Emergency. The British troops found the No5 carbine was well suited to jungle fighting.

And the name "Jungle Carbine" has no reference in British military communications. Though it may have been used colloquy by the troops in the jungle, the earliest use for the name in writing is from Golden State Arms of Pasadena, CA in advertisements and roll stamped on various No1 & No4 Lee Enfield conversions.

And now you know the rest of the story.

[gwpercle]

I could only find the Lee mould C312-185-1R when I was gearing up to reload for my 1942 BSA No. 4 MKI . I ordered the mould thinking .312 might not be large enough but the Lee 2 cavity mould was cheap . Luckily my bore measured .303 with lands measuring .004 ...
So .303 + .004 + .004 = .311 Perfect ! the boolits drop .3125 and run through a .313 boolit sizing die just for lubrication ...it works just fine .
I tried my best to find a Lyman .314 mould (#314299) but at that time didn't find any...that I could afford anyways ...sellers on ebay wanted way too much money for them .

All depends on bore size..you might get lucky like I did .
Mine likes that boolit and 13.0 grains Red Dot... The Load !
Gary

[FullTang]

I have 2 JCs, and both shoot great with the Lee 185 gr bullet, but I've also Beagled mine out to about .3145-.315, which allows me to use the Lee .314 sizer to attach gas checks. Seems to work just as well with Al or Cu checks and a double coat of liquid alox. I use a really hard reclaimed alloy which I water quench, and I get no leading. One of these JCs is scoped, so I can shoot tiny groups at 100m with 13 gr of Red Dot, Unique, or Herco---or a case full of Trail Boss. They feed pretty well, too. Lots of fun!