Midway has surplus 303

[funnyjim014]

Just thought some people would like to know midway was surplus .303 brit in stock. 250rds for 139.99 in 30cal ammo can. I can't buy due to the fact I live in NY but others might want to get some b4 it's gone. O yea they say it's berdan primed

[square butte]

Looks like it is Berdan primed so not easily reloadable - And the stuff for 139.99 is corrosive.

[funnyjim014]

I know it's kinda steep for corrosive non reloadable but any surplus ammo is 3/4 new ammo these days. Fine for the non reloaded but I'm passing today. I picked up some from CTD for .25 each last year

[Earlwb]

I wonder how old the stuff is; where it is from, etc.

[Multigunner]

Not worth even half the asking price.
The POF ammo especially is an accident waiting to happen.
Hangfires with POF .303 have caused injury. These can ignite the moment the shooter tries to extract the supposed dud.

Only use I'd have for any of the older surplus .303 is to salvage the bullets. Later production HXP ammo is good reliable ammo with reloadable Boxer primed cases. Look for it if you insist on Milsurp .303.

[Scharfschuetze]

When training on recoiless rifles (90mm and 106mm) we had a hang fire drill in case of such an incident. As a result, I took the situation to heart and I always manually recock without unlocking the bolt on a Mauser, Springfield or Enfield in the case of a click instead of a bang. If the second strike doesn't set the round off, wait a good 15 to 20 seconds before ejecting the recalcitrant round. Most commercial rifles will not allow recocking without opening the bolt, so the wait becomes more than important with these designs and I'd even wait a bit longer.

I have some WWI 303 British as well as some 1920s 30/06 ammo that I shoot regularly out in the deserts. While I do get a hang fire now and then, the above procedure usually sets things right with the second strike... usually. Be safe and wait before opening an action on a dud round.

As an aside, a hang fire will tell you if you are flinching or not. It's great training to perfect your 8th steady hold factor: Follow through

[Earlwb]

Well, it had me wondering about how old and where the surplus ammo is from. Some military groups were still keeping the rifles around as late 2016 still. For example some of the Canadian Rangers still have them and the Myanmar Police still use them. So the ammo could be really old or fairly new stuff or somewhere in between. Granted the Berdan primers are typically corrosive so it likely renders the brass useless due to mercury contamination once you fire them off.

Midway was using the abbreviations "(UK)" for some ammo and "(POF)" for other ammo. So I didn't recognize POF as to where it was made.

[Hardcast416taylor]

When training on recoiless rifles (90mm and 106mm) we had a hang fire drill in case of such an incident. As a result, I took the situation to heart and I always manually recock without unlocking the bolt on a Mauser, Springfield or Enfield in the case of a click instead of a bang. If the second strike doesn't set the round off, wait a good 15 to 20 seconds before ejecting the recalcitrant round. Most commercial rifles will not allow recocking without opening the bolt, so the wait becomes more than important with these designs and I'd even wait a bit longer.

I have some WWI 303 British as well as some 1920s 30/06 ammo that I shoot regularly out in the deserts. While I do get a hang fire now and then, the above procedure usually sets things right with the second strike... usually. Be safe and wait before opening an action on a dud round.

As an aside, a hang fire will tell you if you are flinching or not. It's great training to perfect your 8th steady hold factor: Follow through

A hang fire can either show that you have a flinch or it can aid in making you develop a flinch. When I ran an indoor pistol part of a gun club a person that couldn`t keep WC loads on a 18" square target at 30` usually was flinching. A semi cure was to load their revolver with only 2 or 3 live rounds and empty cases in the other chambers. A flinch showed up real fast when an empty chamber was `fired`.Robert

[Scharfschuetze]

Some military groups were still keeping the rifles around as late 2016 still

I saw both No I MK IIIs and No 4s in use as late as 2012 in Southern Central Asia with militia groups.


A semi cure was to load their revolver with only 2 or 3 live rounds and empty cases in the other chambers. A flinch showed up real fast when an empty chamber was `fired`.Robert

"Ball and Dummy training." It's a great training technique. I used it quite a bit as a LE firearms training officer as well as a primary trainer in the military.

I looked at the photos of the Midway 303 ammo and it looks like the projectiles are of the old cupronickel jacket material. That would indeed be some old stuff. It would have been informative if they would have shown a picture of the headstamp on the cases.

[bruce drake]

Pakistan Ordnance Factories, Wah Cantt, Pakistan = POF

[Earlwb]

Thanks for that about what POF meant. I took a look again at the website and they mentioned "patina" on the rounds. So if they have a patina growing on them, they would tend to be pretty old then. There might be some information on the cartridge packaging, etc that might hint at the age for them.

[JeffinNZ]

Not sure that I would buy it. A real gamble. If it was boxer primed at least you are buying cases.

[daengmei]

The shown box says 1941.


There might be some information on the cartridge packaging, etc that might hint at the age for them.

169560

Military Surplus (UK) Ammunition 303 British 174 Grain Full Metal Jacket Berdan Primed Loaded in Ammo Can of 250 Rounds

[Earlwb]

Wow! 75 years old. Thanks for the information. So it might be OK or it might not be OK. Tough call. We do not know how it was stored all these years. Stored underground in a ammo bunker is ideal where the temperature and maybe humidity remains constant. But if stored in the back of a military warehouse where the temperatures vary a lot between the seasons would not be good.

[Japlmg]

You can buy new PPU manufactured FMJ 303 British that is boxer primed, for about the same price as the non-corrosive ammo Midway is selling.
Gregg

[Geezer in NH]

At $.o5 per round buy but for more I will Pass

[Jake70]

If it was reloadable, I'd jump on that deal. Berdan is too much of a hassle.

[justashooter]

garbage at a horrible price compared to the 25 cent greek boxer stuff we got 2 years ago.