PP BP .303 loads

[Sliver Shooter]

Has anyone loaded BP under a PP boolit in the .303 Brit.? It was originally a BP loaded cartridge. Just wondering how it would do in a 2 groove, No4.

[longbow]

I have thought about it but not tried it.

.30 cal is pretty small for BP and will likely foul badly.

The original .303 BP loads used a 215 gr. cupro nickel jacket bullet over 70 grs. of BP. I suspect that the jacket scraped fouling with each shot but must have worked or the military wouldn't likely have accepted it.

It wouldn't hurt to try it as at worst, you will get fouled up, lose accuracy and have to clean.

If you do try you might try using a little less BP and put a beeswax or similar "grease cookie" under the boolit. The .577/.450 used a beeswax wad under the boolit and I am sure others did as well. Not much neck on .303 but a wax wad below the neck shouldn't be an issue especially at low pressures of BP. I have been using COW filler in .303 over smokeless with no issues so wax should be fine.

If you give it a go let us know how it works.

Longbow

[Kenny Wasserburger]

It was indeed a BP round in the early begining, as the Lee Metford, however, it was changed to the Lee Enfield, as the metford rifling did not hold up well to the Cordite. I believe it was loaded with Cordite in a staight case then sized after the cordite was put in the case.

Fouling should be a real pain the the butt with BP. PP loads should be a real pain with BP unless you wiped between each shot.

KW
The lunger

[303Guy]

I've thought of this too.

I believe a compressed 'stick' of BP was also inserted into the case before the neck and shoulder was formed. I don't know what cream of wheat actually is so can'r comment on it but I would imagine that grits would clean the bore and help raise pressure for good combustion. I'm a wheat bran user which has good bore cleaning and wad forming properties. It's very compressable so if filled to just below the case mouth a wad of wax could be cast on top then once cooled, the boolit could be inserted and the wad pushed down into the shoulder area as the wheat bran compresses. Between the paper patch and the waxed wheat bran the bore may just be kept clean enough for good shooting.

[nanuk]

303Guy: COW is like grits but made from wheat instead of corn.

[linotype]

303Guy,

Cream of Wheat is a ground wheat porridge.

John