220 gr 303 British load needed

[brstevns]

A very nice member sent me a 220gr lee mould last year to be used in a 303 British NOI MK III . I have some bullets sized and ready to go but need a load. I have the following powders on hand AA8700, AA3100, IMR 4198, Unique, AA4350 if any of these would work. Just need something to drop the small whitetail deer I hunt . I would think 1800 fps to 2000 fps would work very well. :violin:

[Larry Gibson]

Try 22 - 26 gr of the IMR4198 with a 3/4 gr dacron filler.

Larry Gibson

[JeffinNZ]

41gr of H4350 under a CBE 314 220 gives me spot on 2000fps in my SMLE and superb accuracy.

[brstevns]

sounds like some good loads.

[PAT303]

A full case of BMG powder works,the recoil will get your attention also. Pat

[JeffinNZ]

A full case of BMG powder works,the recoil will get your attention also. Pat

...and you only need 50 inches of barrel to burn it all.....[smilie=l:

[brstevns]

Funny, [smilie=s: I was thinking of a full case of AA8700

[jvg5576]

41gr of H4350 under a CBE 314 220 gives me spot on 2000fps in my SMLE and superb accuracy.

+1 except 39.5gr IMR4350 and a custom 220gr boolit chronos at 1950fps

[brstevns]

+1 except 39.5gr IMR4350 and a custom 220gr boolit chronos at 1950fps

38gr of IMR4350 sounds like a good starting load.

[batjka]

A little off top, but would you consider selling some bullets? I have a Lee Metford that tumbles .312 bullets and I want to try some .314s. I don't cast myself and can't source any commercial ones.

Thanks in advance.

[JeffinNZ]

A little off top, but would you consider selling some bullets? I have a Lee Metford that tumbles .312 bullets and I want to try some .314s. I don't cast myself and can't source any commercial ones.

Thanks in advance.

For the Metford you might need closer to .316 or .318.

[Multigunner]

A little off top, but would you consider selling some bullets? I have a Lee Metford that tumbles .312 bullets and I want to try some .314s. I don't cast myself and can't source any commercial ones.

Thanks in advance.

The Metford bore was supposed to be tighter than the later Enfield rifled bores, closer to the nominal dimensions.
If the bore slugs at .312 or less the tumbling is more likely due to the rounded rifling not getting a good bite on the bullet, with skiding deforming the bullet.
If so a harder bullet is called for.

While the Metford still used the black powder pellet version of the .303 Br it also used a steel jacketed bullet sheathed with cupro-nickel.

[brstevns]

A little off top, but would you consider selling some bullets? I have a Lee Metford that tumbles .312 bullets and I want to try some .314s. I don't cast myself and can't source any commercial ones.

Thanks in advance.

Shoot me a PM, I am sure I can be of some help.

[303Guy]

I have a Lee Metford that tumbles .312 bullets and I want to try some .314s.This might explain why the Lee Metford would shoot 'em sideways.

http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo327/303Guy/250px-Polygonal_vs_normal_riflingsvg.png

I'd think a tighter fit would help, as Jeff said. Velocity may be limited also. Paper patching should work though.

[PAT303]

I shot my MK111 today with CBE 225grn boolits over 30grns of AR2206H with a tuff of dacron and it shot to the sights at 200mtrs,I shot some rams at 200 and got 8 for 10 shots sitting. Pat

[rifle vs gun]

Hi All, I have a Martini Enfield, she started life in 1872 as a 577-450 and was re calipered to1899 to 303. The last 113 years have seen a lot of throat erosion due to possibly the large number of corrosive primers used in her. Re barreling isn't an option as I want to keep her authentic, don't want much do I. I have had some success in tightening up the groups by using Hornady RN 174 gr projectiles and seating them as far out as I dare. The OAL is the same but the projectile profile gives me around 1/4 closer to the start of the rifling. I can't go up in diameter, when I slugged the bore and measured it she is .312 at the muzzle. I just need to get some longer projectiles. Any suggestions out there please.

[JeffinNZ]

MARK: It wasn't the primers that did the throat in. It was the cordite.

You may want to paper patch the old girl. Load the fattest boolit you can fit in the chamber.

[Multigunner]

MARK: It wasn't the primers that did the throat in. It was the cordite.

You may want to paper patch the old girl. Load the fattest boolit you can fit in the chamber.

You are correct in that the high temperature of Cordite ate away the throat at an accelerated rate, almost all cases of excessive throat erosion in Enfields can be blamed on Cordite,but the earlier mercuric primers with ground glass mixed in to sensitize the compound was also a factor.
Chlorate primers also used ground glass. The pre WW2 substitution of barium salts as a sensitizer was in part to reduce the effects of ground glass scouring the bore steel.

Many old BP era repeating rifles show much wear to moving parts due to ground glass from the primers being mixed with the powder fouling.

PS
RWS came up with a primer compound intended to reduce bore erosion, and it seems to have been successful. Not sure but it may have been called Sinox.

[PAT303]

Hi All, I have a Martini Enfield, she started life in 1872 as a 577-450 and was re calipered to1899 to 303. The last 113 years have seen a lot of throat erosion due to possibly the large number of corrosive primers used in her. Re barreling isn't an option as I want to keep her authentic, don't want much do I. I have had some success in tightening up the groups by using Hornady RN 174 gr projectiles and seating them as far out as I dare. The OAL is the same but the projectile profile gives me around 1/4 closer to the start of the rifling. I can't go up in diameter, when I slugged the bore and measured it she is .312 at the muzzle. I just need to get some longer projectiles. Any suggestions out there please.

Re-tube it,there are companies around that will bore the original barrel out and reline it or bore it out to .35 cal and make it a 35/303,or ask someone on this forum to send you some 250grn wisper boolits. Pat

[303Guy]

You could try resizing 8mm bullets to fit the throat. Don't worry about the bore size, it'll size down when it gets there. A trick I use in my 'rust textured' two groove is dipping the bullet bases in molten 'waxy-lube' before seating. This prevents copper fouling and protects the insides of the suppressor from rust. I'm convinced it also reduces pressure. A thought for oversize bullets.

[rifle vs gun]

Thanks all for the input, I ordered and received yesterday a CBE 315-218GC mould. I'll measure these up and see how far I can get them up there. I'm looking at the paper patching as suggested also. As with most things the more I read the more confused I become, but that's half the fun of this whole crazy shooting thing. Thanks Pat for the input and suggestion of the the 225gr Wispers, next thing, does anyone have any. Please drop me a line and we can figure out the how, would be appreciated.
Thanks all.