what booolit for brit 303.

[adrians]

morning ,,,
what boolit performes best in your 303 brit?
a general question for "run of the mill " 50 year old bores.....
have a great friday ,,, :evil: :cbpour: :twisted:

i ask cos i just took possesion of a nice #4 mk1 ( .313 or so lol) .
this groove design is tuff to mic [smilie=b:

[303Guy]

For me its about fit. Fit in the throat, fit in the bore and fit in the magazine. I've tried 245gr smooth sides, 220gr smooth sides, 208, 192 right down to 146grs. I prefer a slow powder for a gentler launch and to that end a heavier boolit seems to be better. I've kinda settled on the 206gr to 208gr smooth side for its fit in the case and magazine and in some of my rifles, the throat. I can load 40grs of AR2209/H4350 under a 208gr with 87% load density which gives 2250fps and mild pressure. Recoil is real comfortable and muzzle blast tolerable. The 220gr and 245gr ones were not patched and had gas checks. I estimate a velocity of about 1800fps for the 220gr. Accuracy was encouraging but I didn't pursue it.

This was only 45m and is only 3 shots but the other group was the same.

http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo327/303Guy/th_MVC-457F_edited.jpghttp://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo327/303Guy/th_MVC-745F.jpg?t=1242336641

[Uncle Grinch]

303Guy,

That's a new one on me... I'm not familiar with smooth side boolits. No grease grooves would, I assume, require them to be lubed very sparingly.

I'm going to try 314299 sized to .313 in my No.4 Mk1*. I may have to size it down a little as the bore is in very good sondition. It's a 5-groove, so I can't really tell the size.

[Shooter]

Lyman 314299 and IMR4064.

[sharab85]

NOE has a group buy about to wrap up for 311299, 314299, and 316299. I am getting the 314299 for my 303 brit.

[littlejack]

adrians:
If you can make a cast of your chamber, then you will be able to decide what would be a better fit for your rifle. Proper throat and bore would be best.
As stated above, I am also getting a mould from NOI's. Mine to fit my Mosin/Nagant.
By bore is .313 but the throat is .317. I have ordered the 316299 mould for better fit the throat.
Jack

[303Guy]

Those smooth sides got seriously lubed with a 'waxy-lube' concoction I made. It's applied by dipping the boolit into molten lube. Knurling the boolit seemed to work better. The lube also 'glued' the boolit into the case mouth.

http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo327/303Guy/th_MVC-617F_edited.jpg

[enfield]

size down a 314299 ? leave it as cast I say .

[adrians]

adrians:
If you can make a cast of your chamber, then you will be able to decide what would be a better fit for your rifle. Proper throat and bore would be best.
As stated above, I am also getting a mould from NOI's. Mine to fit my Mosin/Nagant.
By bore is .313 but the throat is .317. I have ordered the 316299 mould for better fit the throat.
Jack

littlejack ,,i made a chamber cast and my readings are somewhat "iffy" ,there is no leade (throat ) to speak of ,maybe 1/8" if that before the rifling starts.
my first measurement was .315.5 then i turn the cast a tad and i get closer to .317 and everything in-between.
so a question for yall.
i am on the g/b list for the NOE 316299 , but i,m not sure about it ,do you think i should change my order and get the 314299 ( it'll prolly drop bigger anyway depending on the alloy used.) ?.
what yall think?.
thanks everyone for your input ,keep it coming, :evil::bigsmyl2::evil:

[303Guy]

size down a 314299 ? leave it as cast I say .My mint bore takes a .318 base shank boolit just fine.

[adrians]

303 , i love those slugs,,,, pretty slick :guntootsmiley:

[Bret4207]

littlejack ,,i made a chamber cast and my readings are somewhat "iffy" ,there is no leade (throat ) to speak of ,maybe 1/8" if that before the rifling starts.
my first measurement was .315.5 then i turn the cast a tad and i get closer to .317 and everything in-between.
so a question for yall.
i am on the g/b list for the NOE 316299 , but i,m not sure about it ,do you think i should change my order and get the 314299 ( it'll prolly drop bigger anyway depending on the alloy used.) ?.
what yall think?.
thanks everyone for your input ,keep it coming, :evil::bigsmyl2::evil:

NO! Yo can always size down a couple thou, but it's real hard to add a couple thou! I'd get the .316 and hope it drops them more like .317+.

[adrians]

thanks Bret i was hopeing somebody would convince me to keep my original order ,
and your right i can always downsize a tad if need be .
great, so it's the 316299 and away we go :bigsmyl2:

[littlejack]

I will definately 2'nd what Bret said. That 316299 should be a good fit as dropped.
Jack

[Multigunner]

An Enfield bore with a .313 major diameter would actually be dead on the minimum acceptable bore size for these rifles. The Minimum bore is .303 minor with grooves .005 deep adding up to .313. Minor diameter for a new barrel remained at .303 but groove depth could be anywhere between .005 and .008, which means that a rifle fresh from the factory could have a bore of .319 major and still pass acceptance inspections.

I have the only SMLE or other Lee Enfield I've run across that has a true .303/.311 bore. I'd slugged it for a previous owner then had him promise to not sell it to anyone unless he offered it to me first. You don't find an Enfield with such a tight bore every day.

When using oversized bullets be sure theres sufficient case neck/ chamber neck clearance.
This is seldom a problem with the generous milspec chamber but built up hard fouling can reduce clearance at the neck. Since this sort of fouling has been compressed at every shot it can appear to the naked eye no differently than the steel of the chamber, smooth and shiny.
Since this fouling is an aggregate of carbon, lead, resins, graphite, etc ,and has been hard baked under great pressure, it doesn't respond to normal gun cleaning solvents very well.
I use a tublar scraper made from brass tubing with a slot down the side and teeth filed in the rim. The stuff that comes out looks like pencil lead shavings.

[adrians]

very interesting multigunner,
sometimes the " baked on grunge " in my chambers never gets any attention cos i can't see it ,or should i say i don't look for it .:cry:
but that brass tube scraper /makeshift reamer so to speak, is a great idea and so simple to make yourself.
it's usually the simplest and most obvious things that are overlooked.
thanks for the tip,i'm gonna make one.
have a good weekend.
adrian.:twisted:[smilie=w::evil:
p.s how the heck do you mic a chamber cast of the #4's insane land/// groove configuiration ?'
i get a diff # from various parts of it's circumference :groner:

[longbow]

I have three Lee Enfields ~ two N0. 5's and one No. 4 and all like a fat boolit.

I got the NOE 316299 and it casts just a hair under 0.316" and shoots very well.

I don't worry about groove diameter, I size to the throat which measures 0.315" for both No.5's. The throat is much easier to slug and measure than 5 groove rifling. I haven't checked the No. 4 but the same boolit chambers and shoots well when sized to 0.315".

I have also been making smooth sided push out moulds for about 40 years. They work amazingly well smooth or knurled then tumble or dip lubed. For a long time my most accurate boolit for my .44 Marlin was a smooth sided RNFP 265 gr. I loaded those over grease cookies because the boolit is very short outside the cartridge. I have several I shoot in my .303's as well.

Anyway, back to .303's and chamber/barrel dimensions.

All my moulds for .303 cast to 0.314" to 0.318" and all chamber in all my .303's.

I think you will like the NOE 316299.

I also got the NOE 0.314 x 129 gr. and lapped it out to 0.316" and it shoots very well too.

Longbow

[Me not you]

303Guy, the knurled and dipped bullet looks very interesting. How do you do it?
Do you coat the entire bullet with grease, or dip the loaded cartridge and coat the exposed bullet only?

[adrians]

longbow,, " I have also been making smooth sided push out moulds for about 40 years"
Longbow this peeked my interest ,, what is this animal?
are they similar to the boolits Mr 303guy posted in an above thread?.
adrian :twisted::cast_boolits::evil:

[303Guy]

Do you coat the entire bullet with grease, or dip the loaded cartridge and coat the exposed bullet only? I dip the base first, let it set then seat it then dip the nose. You could call it a waxy jacketed boolit. I was relying on the thick coating on the front section to actually 'float' the boolit nose down the bore. These were nose pored in a mold I made that used a gas check as the base plug. It required that the mold be very hot. This made casting slow as the mold had to be removed from the heat source to allow the casting to freeze. The novelty wore off after about ten castings! :mrgreen:

I made a mold along longbow's lines for my 25 and it works great but for my 303's, I have stayed with nose pour but using a fixed base plug which allows normal casting but still requires a hot melt.

The advantage of the adjustable base pour mold is that the driving shank and nose-ride sections can be established and the weight/length varied to suite requirements at will. It's also a heap easier to make the mold with a parallel bore-ride section.

[longbow]

Yes. the boolits are very similar to 303guy's.

They are smooth sided and usually one or two diameter boolits. For PP boolits, I make cylindrical moulds and for "naked" boolits I often use two diameter similar in design to the Lyman 311299 but of course no lube grooves. I knurl to allow lubing.

There is a copy of an old Ideal catalogue page here:

http://www.sodcity.com/gallery2/view_photo.php?set_albumName=Cartridge-Springfield-pictures-etc&id=1896_ideal_pages_72_73

Info belongs to georgewxxx.

I make mine from 1 1/2" round bar so little more robust than the Ideal. I thought I had invented something new when I came up with the idea back in the 1960's but apparently Ideal beat me to it by about 100 years (maybe not quite).

Longbow

[Ed in North Texas]

303Guy, the knurled and dipped bullet looks very interesting. How do you do it?
Do you coat the entire bullet with grease, or dip the loaded cartridge and coat the exposed bullet only?

I don't know if they are still available, but years ago the knurled lead boolits were somewhat popular in .38. Can't remember which company put them out (one of the majors) now. And at least one tool for kurling boolits was available for reloaders. Haven't thought about boolit knurling in a lot of years.

Ed

[Cerberus]

I have been doing good with the Ranch Dog TLC-311-165-RF. The mold I have drops them at 312.5 and I size them to 312 for my Mk1 No4. So far, so good.

[Cerberus]

I have a Ranch Dog TLC-311-165-RF mold that drops them out at 312.5 and I size them to 312. It has done good on paper, been waiting for a chance for an OT in the field.

[Jon K]

+1 for NOE 316299.

Jon