Black Powder Loads for 303 Brit?

[303Guy]

I have this 1896 Lee Enfield which cannot be used for full pressure loads. It has an SMLE barrel on it with a large bore/groove diameter. So, I am wondering whether I could load it with Black Powder and plain cast (or maybe paper patched) boolits. Heck, I could even make my own powder! Anyway, obviously I would not be using the original loading of a compressed BP pellet, nor do I want the pressure such a charge would produce (it only bears on one lug - the outer one).

So, is the idea even feasible and if so, what powder and charge and boolit weights would be recommended? I should be able to load a 225gr boolit to feed from the magazine (245gr boolits do shoot well in a Brit but are too long for the mag)? I need a use for this rifle and I cannot sell it because it's not safe for normal loads and this seems like a good 'need'.

[Nobade]

I have found that black powder loads in small bore rifles do indeed work well if I:
1 - use a duplex load with a few grains of smokeless powder on the primer, followed by the charge of black.
2 - Use fairly coarse black powder. Fg has proven to be best, certainly no finer than FFg.
3 - use a wad stack consisting of a LDPE poly wad and a lubed felt wad under the bullet
4 - use a bullet with the most lube capacity you can find.

By doing this, I have gotten reasonable results, say less than 2 MOA and plenty of repeat shots without wiping, from several rifles that aren't normally used with black powder. Since your 303 has such a short neck, bullet selection gets tricky if you want to use any kind of wad stack. But the wads scrub the bore, as well as the duplex loading keeps the fouling down, and it all works well together.

-Nobade

[303Guy]

Thanks, Nobade. I wonder how wheat bran under the boolit would work? Being able to flow some it can go into the powder space. A card wad seated to the base of the neck with the boolit 'glued' into the neck with molten lube. Would a loverin style boolit hold enough lube?

[Nobade]

Thanks, Nobade. I wonder how wheat bran under the boolit would work? Being able to flow some it can go into the powder space. A card wad seated to the base of the neck with the boolit 'glued' into the neck with molten lube. Would a loverin style boolit hold enough lube?

I would be concerned about blowing the neck off the case using wheat bran filler. There is going to be enough violence going on at that point getting all the powder though that sharp transition. Keep an eye on case stretch! A Loverin boolit should hold enough lube, but it'll be delicate to handle since the lube needs to be pretty soft and will be easily wiped off.

-Nobade

[303Guy]

I would be concerned about blowing the neck off the case using wheat bran filler.Thanks for the warning. Some Brit chambers have a sharp angled shoulder. I think this one is the normal spec shoulder, not blown out like many SMLE's.

I have a lube recipe that is quite firm until squeezed when it becomes quite soft. I could try that one both on the boolit and as a grease cookie. It won't contaminate the powder.

How would a paper patch stand up? I'd think a grease cookie would still be in order. If over a card wad it could be cast in place.

What sort of velocity can I be expecting?

[Nobade]

Paper patch should work great. Do keep the grease cookie, and make the lead plenty soft. I would guess it would do 1400 - 1500 fps. You can adjust that with your duplex charge to some extent.

-Nobade