.303 British Bullet

[gliebegott]

Ok, I once again own a few Enfield rifles. Seems I sells them off then end up getting a few more along the line. I am fully aware how much the bores can vary and the need to slug them. Just asking what bullet folks can recommend, maybe there is an older overlooked bullet out there that performs well.

Thanks,
George

[Outpost75]

NOE clone of #316299

[gliebegott]

Thanks. That puts me on the right path!

[Der Gebirgsjager]

This will shock you, but I've used the Hornady 174 gr. RN with success in every Lee Enfield I've owned.

DG

[Kosh75287]

This will shock you, but I've used the Hornady 174 gr. RN with success in every Lee Enfield I've owned.
DG

The 150 gr. and 180 gr. Sierra projectiles (if you can find them) also work surprisingly well in the .303 British.

[Whole Bunches]

314299 sized .315 used successfully in 7 .303’s.

[Hick]

I have an old mold: SAECO #44, that drops a 174 grain pointed bullet very similar in shape to a standard jacketed bullet. It is a plain based mold, but with powder coat my Enfield loves it.

[Bad Ass Wallace]

I use two molds from a local manufacturers a 192gn which duplicates the Mk7 174gn boolits and a 220gn which duplicates the MK6 215gn cupro-nickel boolit. It is important to use boolits that fit the original chamberings.

For gas checks, I use 8mm ones as it is far easier to reduce them down than use 30cal ones. These are sized to 0.316".



This 100yd group fired from an 1896 vintage Martini-Enfield and 220gn boolit

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Very nice, BAW. As usual, a fine performance from a fine old firearm.

DG

[scottyp99]

I have been using the Lee CTL312-160-2R boolit for subsonic velocity of around 1080 fps out of my Savage No.4 Mk.1 2-groove. I paper patch them and seat them over 6 grains of Clays, and they seem to work just great. Full disclosure, it's the only cast boolit I have any experience with at all in any kind of rifle at all. All of my casting experience so far has been with .38 Special, .357 Magnum, .45ACP, and 00 buckshot pellets, so take this for what it's worth.

Scotty

[Bigslug]

NOE clone of #316299

It's a classic target bullet I like a lot. Between this and the 314299 version, you should be set for any .303 you come into between the extremes of "brand new" and "sewer pipe". You can take these up to about 2000 fps for a fair duplication of the pre-WWI MKI through MKVI service loads. You need a little more elevation on later sights calibrated for MKVII (like about the 300 yard setting for 100 yard shooting), but it feels like the real deal and feeds well. I have those two, plus the 311299. With those, I've got .30-06, .303, and 7.62x54R covered, plus the potential for a bunch of other mil-surps in that .30-ish caliber family. As a 200-215 grain round nose solid, you get a pretty decent poor man's dangerous game rifle in the bargain.

Since it's a bore-rider, the critical issue in choosing between the three is puzzling out shank/groove diameter and nose/bore diameter. The shank you can easily size; the nose can collide with a tighter throat.

[paul edward]

I have an old single cavity 311299 that drops linotype at .312 and has worked well in a No. 1 MkIII*, 7.65 Argentine and 7.7 Arisaka. Probably would work in 7.62x54R, (depending on groove diameter) but I have not tried this.

[Jack Stanley]

The old 311299 I came across must have been made on a Monday or a Friday because it cast at .316" . Of course the nose was undersized bit a trip to Erik to put a DD band that fit my rifle and it worked great .

Jack

[Intel6]

NOE clone of #316299

This is what I use for my .303