Lee enfield

[RyanJames170]

Any of you guys reload cast or jacketed bullets for LE rifles in 303? If so what bullets/powders do you guys like to use? I ended up getting a few of them recently for a good price

[RyanJames170]

The rifle in question is a NOS 308 chambered Ishapore 2A barreled reciver i got that has been put into a No 1 MK III stock set i got from a DP rifle. i had hoped to get the 303 receivers but sadly i was not quick enough at the time to get a 303 barreled receiver before they were gone, how ever i decided at the time the 308 receiver might not be a bad thing as 308 brass is pretty easy to get and the barreled receiver i received was New old stock and probably never fired. now the problem was that i only had a few 303 bolts to choose from and could not find the proper 308 bolt, luckily of the 4 303 bolts i had 1 of them was a perfect fit and head spaced like well a brand new rifle should. Now the problem is that the 303 bolt is only really rated for continus use of 303 pressures not 308 pressure all be it it could handel a round or two of 308 with out blowing up as the Austrlians did trial a rechambered 303 enfield in 308 at one point and did find it could handel 308 for a while before setting back the locking lugs too much (ishapore 2A rifles use better steel for the bolt and receiver then 303 rifles).. more or less if a standard 308 round got into the mix of me shooting it it would not blow the gun up just reduce the bolts over all service life..

my question is can a person use 303 British load data to load 308 Winchester? from my little bit of research the case capacity is the same for both of them.. and the only difference is the max pressure being higher on 308 by about 8,000-14,000 PSI depedning on CIP or SAAMI

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Got a few what? Rifles or bullets? My favorite .303 Brit. load is Hornady's 174 gr. RN over 39.3 gr. of H-4895 and CCI Primers. I own several Lee Enfield rifles, and this load performs well in all of them. I have used Sierra 150 gr. FBSP and 180 gr. BTSP with mixed results, but that 174 gr. RN is the one that seems to always shoot well.

DG

[Kraschenbirn]

The Lee 312-185...PC'd and sized .314...loaded over 33.5 gr. H4895 performs quite well in my 1942 Longbranch #4 Mk1*. Consistent 2" or better groups @ 100 yds using original military sights.

Bill

[nicholst55]

Got a few what? Rifles or bullets? My favorite .303 Brit. load is Hornady's 174 gr. RN over 39.3 gr. of H-4895 and CCI Primers. I own several Lee Enfield rifles, and this load performs well in all of them. I have used Sierra 150 gr. FBSP and 180 gr. BTSP with mixed results, but that 174 gr. RN is the one that seems to always shoot well.

DG

I concur on the Hornady 174 grain RN bullet. Their .312" 150 grain also shoots well in every rifle that I've tried it in. That additional .001" in diameter matters.

[Outpost75]

The 7.62 NATO and .303 Brit are nearly identical in powder capacity. Should work OK.

[RyanJames170]

The 7.62 NATO and .303 Brit are nearly identical in powder capacity. Should work OK.

What I figured but I wanted others to weigh in on it, I don’t really plan on full house 303 loads but a lot of the load data out there is only given in min and max and I figured 303 data would not exceed the limits of the bolt as it’s the weak link..

[Scrounge]

What I figured but I wanted others to weigh in on it, I don’t really plan on full house 303 loads but a lot of the load data out there is only given in min and max and I figured 303 data would not exceed the limits of the bolt as it’s the weak link..

If you're not familiar with "The Load" you might want to check it out. It's a generic load that will work decently in just about anything that's close to .30 caliber. https://www.hensleygibbs.com/edharri...The%20Load.htm

I'm planning on using this in my Frankenfield 1903A3 with the National Ordnance action if I can ever get back to it.

Bill

[andy h]

Over here in England a high number of Enfield action rifles were converted over to use 7.62-.308 for target use and military marksman/sniper use and the only thing I can remember is the Nra at Bisley advising that if you were going to use a projectile over 155gr the gun should be re-proofed for 20 tons pressure , For more information read the following from Enfield rifles.com.
https://www.enfield-rifles.com/7-62-...441_page4.html

[RyanJames170]

Over here in England a high number of Enfield action rifles were converted over to use 7.62-.308 for target use and military marksman/sniper use and the only thing I can remember is the Nra at Bisley advising that if you were going to use a projectile over 155gr the gun should be re-proofed for 20 tons pressure , For more information read the following from Enfield rifles.com.
https://www.enfield-rifles.com/7-62-...441_page4.html

From my understanding the no 1 Mk III action could not take 7.62 for a very long time as was found by the Australians who converted a number of them, if I remember correctly they would of needed to build new actions of better steel like the 2A rifles were made of, at what round count it would become a issue I don’t know, but I suspect it would beat the locking lugs back on my bolt after a while, so I am planning too treat it like it’s 303 British to be safe

[Whole Bunches]

Here's my mild/moderate Ishapore 2A load: 15GR 2400, 311291 SIZED .311”, #2 ALLOY HARDNESS, 50/50 LUBE, CCI 200, 2.525” OAL. Nice accuracy, not chronographed, but probably around 1500-1600 fps. Only need to neck size the fired brass and keep it segregated for use in my 2A. 785 rounds fired so far; no bbl cleaning (other than initial cleaning to remove copper fouling); will clean bbl after about 1,000 rounds fired of cast. I keep using the same 100 cases over and over.

[Rockindaddy]

I have a pile of 7.65 Argentine ammo with dead primers. Sold a bunch for components. But I pull the .312 bullet and dump the square flake powder right into my primed 303 case and run em through my old No.4 Enfield. And an old Savage Lewis gun chatters along just fine. They shoot great! Tearing up the strip mine!

[MUSTANG]

Keep in Mind that the SAMMI listed Max Pressure for the .303 round is 49,000 PSI; while the Max Pressure rating for the .308 Winchester is 62,000 PSI. The 7.62x51 NATO specs are for a maximum pressure of 60,191 PSI.

Those Enfields and other rifles "ARSENAL" rebuilt for the 7.62 X 51 NATO should be good to go on the higher pressures, but those with the original .303 chambering; ??????????


Loading with Cast Boolits should not be an issue as the pressures for accurate .303 rounds will fall below the 49,000 PSI thresh hold for the original .303 round.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Hornady 174 gr RN's are great, but I mostly shoot 150 gr Hornady's and Lyman 314299 which is a slightly larger version of the 311299 used in my 30 cal. guns. I shot my best Short Range silhouette score of 32/40 with my #4Mk1 L39 Replica and the 314299's. I was lucky to get a nearly perfect barrel on that gun.

I also have a box of Woodleigh 215 gr RN's but I haven't shot any of them cuz I haven't gotten to go on that NW Territories Caribou Hunt yet. Any of the older powders used in .30-06 will work just fine.

Randy

[gwpercle]

For :

303 British - Lee C312-185-1R (sized .312") - 13.0 grs Red Dot

308 Ishapore 2A - Lee C309-180-R (sized .309") - 13.0 grs. Red Dot

" The Load " ( 13.0 grs. Red Dot ) should be perfect for both ... estimated velocity for both ...
about 1600 fps or so .

"The Load" is my pet accuracy load in my 1942 303 British BSA No 4 MK I rifle .

When loaded for 308 Win . and shot in my brothers Winchester model 70 ... it is just as pleasant shooting and accurate .

Gary

[Bigslug]

I have NOE's clones of the Lyman 311299, 314299, and 316299. Between them, you get 200 to 215 (ish) grain bullets that solve A LOT of your 20th Century milsurp needs. Depending on your barrel, the .314 and .316 will handle your .303 British chores - BUT WHAT YOU REALLY WANT TO FIGURE OUT is your bore diameter, since the nose section of this bullet is intended to be a bore-rider and the nose diameter increases along with the shank diameter on those molds. Bore is easy enough with pin gauges. Measuring groove diameter with a lead slug pounded through the bore is a little trickier since the Brits like 5-groove barrels. The V-anvil micrometers with the correct "flute" number (somebody please chime in) is the right tool for that (and your Smith & Wessons too).

I worked up my loads with 5744 to roughly simulate the early MKI through MKVI British service loads of 215 grains at 2000 fps. Unless you've got one of the really old pre-WWI rifles, your sights will be set up for the MKVII's 174 grains at 2440, so you'll probably end up using your 300 yard sight setting for 100 yards or something similar.

Great rifles once you learn the design and their quirks. The barrel bedding system on either the early SMLE or later No.4 is a product of mad genius - not really compatible with Mauser & descendants two-action-screw/one-piece-stock thinking, but it does work quite well when in spec.

[KCSO]

Depending on bore size a 165 grain bullet over 12 grains of red dot is my plonker and a load of 200 grain cast over a charge of one 4198 for deer hunting.

[RyanJames170]

The NOE mold is on my short list of ones to get probably going to snag a .316 one as I got a Lee 180gr .312 mold I use for smaller 30 cal stuff.

[Bigslug]

The NOE mold is on my short list of ones to get probably going to snag a .316 one as I got a Lee 180gr .312 mold I use for smaller 30 cal stuff.

The throat of the rifles will be the critical thing there. The .314" version of the 299 bullet has a .303" nose section; the .316" version is .305". I believe it's my P14 that runs well on the .316"; on the SMLE's, that nose is a bit too snug to chamber reliably. .303's are all over the map, unfortunately.

[RyanJames170]

The throat of the rifles will be the critical thing there. The .314" version of the 299 bullet has a .303" nose section; the .316" version is .305". I believe it's my P14 that runs well on the .316"; on the SMLE's, that nose is a bit too snug to chamber reliably. .303's are all over the map, unfortunately.

yeah, a person needs to really have a .312, .314, and .316 one to do lee Enfield's, i am going to start with the .316 version as it was recommended to me by a guy who dose alot of shooting with them, however i will look into the .314 version just in case as i think my No 4 is very tight.