I've got a No.1 MkIII* SMLE, all military and in good condition that I'd like to hunt with as is. Does anyone know of a load using a SP jacketed bullet that will closely duplicate the military ball round that the sights were calibrated for? This gun was made in 1942, so I'm not sure what cartridge Mk was used.

Hornady makes a 174 gr. FMJ-BT bullet for the .303 British, and I guess any load that puts is out about 2400 fps. should get you in the ball park.

Youper,
Thanks for the info. I take it the WWII military ball round was about 174 gr?. I recall a several years ago carefully pulling apart a round of that ammo. That's when I found out why cordite is called cordite.

If I use a Lee Loader and only neck resize would it be OK if I always use the reloads in the same gun? I've heard the SMLE chambers may be oversized a bit and that repeated full length resizing may overwork the brass and shorten its life.

goto www.303british.com Steve has all the information you need plus he posted an article on neck sizing 303.

RR

Welcome to the wonderful world of Lee Enfield

Here in the UK the economics of reloadinf in .303 are, at best, marginal and I would have thought that in your country, ex-mil ammo would be more available and cheaper still?

Anyway, do you want a FMJ round or an expanding round for hunting.

Though I haven't yet put them over the chrono, I'm getting good results with 180gn BTFMJs over 40gr of H335. I have several loads made up with different powder weights and also with H380 and will chrono them when the opportunity arises.

In terms of a hunting load Sierra make at least one bullet, #2310, .311 dia 180gr spitzer.

Neck sizing shouldn't be a problem as long as you use .311 dia bullets and not .310. I neck size and load using stripper clips and (here goes!) haven't yet had a problem.

Brass life is reputedly shorter in .303 Lee Enfields than you'd normally expect. The quarter inch of case above the rim is (I'm told) unsupported and you should watch out for bulging and cracking in this area.

------------------

Thanks to all for the info.

Pete,
Yes, I do want to use soft point bullets since I want to hunt deer or boar with this gun. It sounds like you are happy with the results from only neck resizing. I'll try that way too, keeping my loads a little light.