What do you guys think about the .303 British?

I recently found a No.4 Mk.1 Lee-Enfield that I couldn't pass up and for $100 for a decent rifle w/ a box of Winchester ammo, I let it follow me home. I'm thinking I need a general purpose type rifle to haul around with me and this rifle shoots like a house fire! So, what is the potential of the .303 round? I'm a handloader and I already have dies galore for this caliber so ammuntion won't be a problem. Do any of you guys hunt with this caliber and if so, what is your experience with it and do you have a favorite load?

Thanks,

Jason

quote:

Originally posted by Tex21:
What do you guys think about the .303 British?

I recently found a No.4 Mk.1 Lee-Enfield that I couldn't pass up and for $100 for a decent rifle w/ a box of Winchester ammo, I let it follow me home. I'm thinking I need a general purpose type rifle to haul around with me and this rifle shoots like a house fire! So, what is the potential of the .303 round? I'm a handloader and I already have dies galore for this caliber so ammuntion won't be a problem. Do any of you guys hunt with this caliber and if so, what is your experience with it and do you have a favorite load?

Thanks,

Jason

Under 250 yards you should be good for anything down your way. Up here the .303 has probably taken more moose than any other calibre I can think of.

I bought one of those a long time ago (don't ask) and found it to work fine on deer, black bear, even elk if you picked your shot. There was a batch of them that were mixed parts assembly, those were known to split brass, even new unfired (previously) brass. Mine was like that, so I didn't reload for it. Never had an incident that caused harm due to it, either. Mine also had the trait of walking the POI upward with each shot fired, unless you let it cool down well between shots. That was due to the split stock design, the moving POI went away after some work on the forend, again don't ask, I plead youth, but think free floating from chamber forward. After this was done, I used to win bets on the 300 yard gong, doing ten for ten. It was not the most accurate rifle I have ever owned, but it was consistent. That was my "throw it in the truck" gun for a long time, then I gave it to a relative. He still has it, just doesn't use it much. Great fun gun for me, though, and good enough for my hunting for quite a while. Then, one day, Remington said "7MM RM sounds good".

Tex 21,

You have a superb rifle and I am sure that you'll enjoy hunting with it. As a former colonial who has shot the 303 and the Indian variant the 315 IOF, I just love the way the things work. And short of using a Mannlicher, the rifles have some of the smoothest operating bolts ever.

Good hunting!

you have got yourself a fine rifle please don't cut it up the 303 is a vesatile round that may not be in the bench rest class when it comes to accuracy but a properly bedded rifle will out shoot most rifleman
in Australia this round has taken everything from mice to buffalo I am currently getting 2600fps with 150gr bullets in my no1 with excellent accuracy I have some target rifles that shoot pretty close to 1" groups with there prefered loads may I suggest a load of 40gr of Varget with a 180gr bullet and 43gr of varget for the 150gr bullets I don't know why but my no4 loves 150gr hornadys
some other good powders are Win 748 H4895
I have loaded a 123gr bullet to 3000fps but discovered it was to fragile at this speed and was blowing up on the hides of goats
one final word I would bet the old 303 British has accounted for more game then any other calibre here in the Commonwealth nations and the rifles are just about bullet proof

For top accuracy and large varmint shooting (Monkeys, Baboons, KD's etc) I load Horniday 100grn .312" XTP's on top of a healthy charge of S335 for 3100fps.

This load has consistently given me the best accuracy out of wide veriety of .303's including a jungel carbine, P14 and No 1mk111 and No4 Mk2's

The other fun load is 5grns of MS200 (or bullseye) behind a .32 buckshot pelet for 800fps These shoot very well and I have used this load to teach youngsters to get used to a big rifle and also for shooting game birds when I don't have a .22 along (this alos works in a .30-30 with .30 cal buckshot) Be aware though that you need to bell the case mouth a fraction to get the pelet to seat and hold. Just push it in by thumb pressure alone. I have a lee loader for "reloading" these plinking loads when in the field or a t home. Not enough pressure to expand the case so you never have to reslise and the slight bell on the case mouth stops gass blow back into the chamber.

NB doesn't work with rimless rounds as shoulder tends to move backwards after each use and in two shots you have a headspace problem.