HXP .303 British ammo

[Jack Stanley]

Anybody have a clue what .303 British ammo made by HXP , packed in chargers and on bandoleers is worth ? Nice and clean , just out of the case and non corrosive boxer primed .

Thanks , Jack

[Outpost75]

It is probably the best .303 ammo currently out there. Around here it goes for a buck a pop in chargers and bandoliers.

[RogerDat]

It varies, for awhile the Greek financial crisis caused a bunch of their surplus ammo to get dumped on the market. Saw the bandoliers and clips, ended up buying the bulk case. Ended up buying some stripper clips separate. Don't recall the price of the case or the stripper clips. But that was then and this is now so probably not relevant. Did ask around here about the quality and was reassured by what members said. Which was good because I had to explain that little "bump" on the credit card bill to dear wife. Good to know the pain was going to be worth it :-)

Google search for greek hxp 303 ammo for sale yielded prices from 55 cents on stripper clips for 50 caliber ammo can full to around 50 cents in boxes of a 480 round case at auction.

Nice ammo, good weight of bullet and I think a little hotter than a lot of the commercial stuff. Good quality overall without the FTF reputation of some of the Pakistan surplus that was around at one time, and HXP is really nice brass for reloading.

[bruce drake]

HXP is the best 303 British surplus that is currently available in the US when it can still be found.
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/744654195
A current gunbroker auction for you to compare.

[RogerDat]

Where this gunbroker auction has price closer to what outpost75 had listed. buck a round + buck per stripper clip as minimum bid.
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/744852786

More than 3 days left but not getting min bid met at this time. It is regional I think, and availability is spotty. The term "when you can find it" sort of sums that part up well. I think there was more of the 480 & 240 round bulk boxes than there were of the bandolier boxes during the initial release. I'm just darn glad I picked up that case. No regrets, that ammo was money well spent.

[square butte]

Anyone have an opinion as to whether the HXP brass is as good, or better than PRVI brass

[Artful]

Have not tried HXP in 303 but in '06 it is darn good brass

[higgins]

I've never done a side by side comparison in .303 Brit. between PPU and HXP, but I would tend toward PPU because of the case life I've had with 6.5x55 PPU brass, which was better than I had with HXP .303. Never had a major failure with either; I'm talking about until necks cracked, with occasional annealing. With PPU you wouldn't have to deal with crimped primers.

[RogerDat]

I can't say I have ever done a side by side compare. The 303 British Enfield is known for having more headspace than is ideal for brass life. Might just come down to price, not sure the difference in number of times it can be reloaded will be enough to make a significant difference. Of course what amount is significant is sort of individual. One persons 10 out of a 100 fail after 4 reloadings is another fellows 90% get 5 or more loadings.

HXP is surplus, it will have a year on the headstamp that might well indicate that it is several decades old, still good but the PPU stock is probably new brass, or at least much newer. And as pointed out no crimped primer pockets to address before reloading with PPU. If one is simply interested in having some 303 Brit to shoot more so than to reload then price rules since they are both good ammo. You could probably sell the brass from either one if you didn't reload it.

[Jack Stanley]

Outpost 75 , Bruce , thanks that is helpful .

Jack

[bruce drake]

Comparing PPU brass to HXP brass in 303 British (I don't like to compare case life between a rimless and rimmed cartridge), I will tell you that my lot of HXP 74 brass, was heavier than my PPU commercial brass (not by much though, PPU was definitely heavier than R-P commercial 303 Brit brass but lighter than HXP) with good case life when the brass was necksized on reloading. the stab-crimped primers in HXP brass is very easy to remove and the cases are worth keeping around.

[marlin39a]

I bought cans of this about 25 yrs ago. Boxer primed, non corrosive. I've been shooting it and reloading the brass with no issues. Great stuff.

[ukrifleman]

Although PPU brass is excellent, I would give HXP the edge when it comes to reloading life.

ukrifleman

[leebuilder]

Although PPU brass is excellent, I would give HXP the edge when it comes to reloading life.

ukrifleman

I second this. I still have HXP brass I have loaded many times, even the primer pockets are still tight. One of the best 303 brass you can get. HXP is good ammo and haven't seen any for sale in a long time. I bought 300 rds on clips in 50rd bandoliers for 30.00$ in the late 80's. You just have to cut the 3 little crimps out and you are god to go.
Be well

[Jack Stanley]

I know the brass has very good life if treated right , that's why I bought so much of it ;-) I didn't realize the value of my ammo stash had appreciated better than the stock market .

I remember a batch of the HXP 75 that I loaded twenty-five times before cracked necks took over . Then I bought a machine to anneal the necks .

Jack

[bruce drake]

I'll bet those HXP primer pockets were still good on the 25th reload

[Jack Stanley]

Yes indeed they were .

Jack

[funnyjim014]

Cheeper than dirt had a batch 3yrs ago, I bought a good stash at .25 each.... Great stuff. It was listed as it could be Greek or something else. I must have been lucky because I got the hxp and it's clean. Went fast and went to reorder more and it was gone