Lee enfield

[RyanJames170]

Do any of you guys load for 303 a lot? Have you guys found any particular load/bullet combos that have performed well across a few rifles? I have a few in my collection?

[cwtebay]

I reload a few thousand a year. I use the Lyman that casts a 0.314" 200gr bullet for most. I also use a lot of pull downs that are jacketed.

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[barnabus]

i use 40 grains varget and a 174 matchkings after pulling my ever loving hair out. my No4 m2 shoots 3 inch consistently at 100 yards i have no experience with cast and in my experience of finding a jacketed load id rather gouge my eyes out than trying to find a cast load

[Bloodman14]

Try 13 grains of Red Dot and a -299 style from NOE. I use a 316 size in both of my Enfields with good results.

[beemer]

Shooting cast I like the Lee 185, mine pours very close to .314. I use a lot of IMR 4198 at around 20 grains and a Dacron filler. Most any cast bullet will work reasonably if it is the proper size.

For jacketed I use mostly the Speer 150 grain because I found a deal on several boxes, Hornady and Sierra both do well. I like 42 grains of IMR 4064 or RL15. Whatever you use they seem to do better several grains off max. I seat out as far as I can, usually what the mag allows.

Loading for a 303 can be a trip, loose chambers, sometimes head space problems and rough on brass. The bedding can also be a pain. Usually you need to fire form, neck size and sometimes assign brass to a certain rifle but then I am pretty serious about loading for them. Pure battle rifles that have been pressed into target work and hunting rifles. For some unknown reason they are my favorite rifles.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

One of my very favorite rifles! I have several, and have found that the Hornady 174 gr. JSPRN over 39.3 gr. of H-4895 will work well in most of them and is outstanding in some. A shooting buddy started from scratch working up a load and ended up with 39.2 gr., and we used to jokingly argue about the .1 gr. I also had good luck with a 180 gr. CLRN from a Lee mold, gas checked, 30.0 gr. H-4895. This one seemed to shoot especially well in RFI (Indian) L.E.s. These were all the No.1 Mk III* models.

DG

[atr]

my two groove barrel likes
150gr -J Sierra
180 gr-Cast RN

IMR 4895 and 3031 are both powders that work well

[Streetwalker]

My favorite powder for my Lee Enfields and cast boolits is Unique. I use the Lyman 314299 mold which drops a 200 gr. casting which I size to .314. I use 10 to 12 gr. of Unique [each rifle has its own powder amount preference] any any standard force large rifle primer that I currently have on hand. Fun gun to shoot and I frequently use these rifles for CMP competition. Enjoy!

[Hick]

My Enfield loves this bullet: I have no idea what it is exactly. Its on old mold labeled "SAECO #44" It drops about 177 grains and 0.311 with Lyman #2 and I PC it to 0.313. Typical loads: 10 grains of HP-38 at 1370 fps (<2" @100 yards) up to 29.5 grains IMR 4895 at 1850 fps (nice 200 yard load).. Mine also does well with 314299GC-- but not as good as the SAECO #44.

[Bigslug]

314299 or 316299 depending on the dimensions of the throat/bore in question, in front of 5744 for a tad over 2000 fps.

[Adam Helmer]

Ryan,

I got my first Lee Enfield in 1959 and collected more after that. The .303 is very closely akin to our .30/40 Krag round. Both calibers like the Lee 185 C312 RN and IMR 4198 and 2400. For J boolits, my best powders are IMR 3031 or 4895. I load each box of ammo specific to each individual Enfield per label data.

When resizing .303 British brass, size the cases to each individual rifle. I back off the resizing die a couple turns and turn it down until the case closes on a slight "crunch" fit. I have Enfields that like a quarter or half turn off the shell holder and one favorite MkIII requires 1.5 turns OFF for long case life.

I love my .303s and carry a few in the PA woods every deer and bear season.

Be well.

Adam

[MOC031]

Do any of you guys load for 303 a lot? Have you guys found any particular load/bullet combos that have performed well across a few rifles? I have a few in my collection?

I load a lot for exactly one; a 1950 Long Branch No. 4 Mk1 I specifically chose from 20 NIB that I cleaned up and test fired for group. It has chamber and bore dimensions that are almost all you could ask for - that really makes Lee Enfield Life much, much easier (if you only own one). And I have helped others learn the corporate knowledge of reloading for Lee Enfields, just as I learned it from others.

I would suggest that you consider the idea that the brass you are using in your rifles and how you prepare it is probably at least as important as the load/bullet combinations you trial. For your consideration:

1. As chamber dimensions vary widely between Lee Enfields, if you have multiple rifles assign each rifle it's own bunch of brass.
   
2. By comparing cases from Mark VII ball from both WWII and Korea in dimensions, weight, and volume, the commercial cases closest to military cases is Privi Partisan; it is for all purposes a replica. Remchester cases don't come close, including case life.
   
3. To eliminate the damaging case stretch on first firing due to "excess headspace", create a false shoulder that allows the unfired cases to chamber with a light crush fit and then trim all to the same length. A Lyman .33 M die will expand the case just enough that partial resizing in your full length resizer will give you a false shoulder for case support front and back.
   
4. Use a Lee collet die for resizing after initial firing to minimize working the case and neck. You will find you have to bump the cases after a while.
   
5. Anneal the cases every few firings. Many don't bother, but I believe it does and doing so doesn't add much time at the bench while doing inspection and preparing for reloading.

This being the cast bullet forum, I can't give you any experiences with off the shelf moulds; I started with a Veral Smith custom mould. Currently, I purchased a mould from Accurate with two different cavities with dimensional changes to fit my ball seat/leade: 31-184C and 31-170Y as well as for using powder coated. They group extremely well in my rifle. For hunting with a Lee Enfield (which I don't do, other than heavying up for bull gophers), I would expect 31-184C to provide very good terminal performance for the caliber of the bullet.

You will find multiple references here and elsewhere to Ed Harris's "The Load" as a starting point for reloading cast bullets in Lee Enfield and similar rifles, regardless of the mould you are using. It worked well for me when I started out and for many others here as well I'm sure.

As for jacketed, I still have somewhere around 1,300 or so Sierra Match King's remaining from a steal of a deal volume purchase of that bullet long ago when the excellent Greek HXP ball ammunition first got expensive and then completely disappeared. Privy Partisan also makes a similar bullet that would be on my list to try if I was starting the search to find the best service rifle bullet for competition. There is no bullet I am aware of currently being manufactured that replicates the ballistics of the Mk VII ball round. There were mutterings about somebody in Australia intending to do that, but as far as I know the project died on the vine.

https://www.grafs.com/catalog/product/productId/29107

[MOC031]

My Enfield loves this bullet: I have no idea what it is exactly. Its on old mold labeled "SAECO #44" It drops about 177 grains and 0.311 with Lyman #2 and I PC it to 0.313.

That is indeed a very interesting mould you have there, minus a gas check. I gas check all mine despite the powder coating; they may not require them with the powder coating, but I kind of defaulted to the idea that doing so meant one less thing that could go wrong at the base of the bullet.

The history of SAECO coming up with that bullet design would be interesting: all the surplus Lee Enfields and Arisakas after WWII and then Korea?

[RyanJames170]

I have been looking into the NOE mold 205gr .316 one, thinking it would be fat enough to fill the groves on all my rifles, but still unsure where I want to go load wise I’ve heard 4227 loaded to 1800-1900 fps is a decent one though. Would come close to MkII ball.

I wish I could find a good flat base bullet for the 303 that was not stupid expensive. As I think it would have a better chance of being bumped up into the groves of my guns, but I might look into the SMK as its thinner jacket might let it bump up.

I currently have 3 no 1 mkIII rifles in 303, of them one of them is like new and the other 2 have worn bores, one of then worn bore guns shoots decent Evan with .308 bullets the other one is current apart as part of a stock refinish, hoping to test it out this summer. I would like to replace it with one with a better bore and part it down for the other rifles.. but we will see.

[Bigslug]

You also need to consider the nose section diameter for fitting the bore. The NOE "299" series runs as follows:

311299 (206 grain): .311" base, .300" nose. Go-to for .30-06 and Finnish M39

314299 (210 grain): .314"base, .303" nose. Nominal go-to for .303.

316299 (213 grain): .316" base, .305" nose. Comes out to play for long-throated .303's, but can't be counted on to chamber in all of them.

I ended up with all three. Yeah, the initial outlay stung a little, but it's a great target bullet in the 2100 fps and slower spectrum and owning the set covers a lot of mil-surp bases. At 2000-ish fps in the .303, it nicely replicates the pre-WWI MKI through MKVI service ammo. You have to set later MKVII-rated sights a little higher, of course, but it at least feels like you're shooting the real stuff.