I'm submitting this in hopes it'll help someone down the road. Case life is not one of the
virtues of a .303. I had the headspae checked at the start of spring, and the smith said it
was right on the money. Nontheless the rifle will split cases with fair regularity. I tried
running a .323 bronze bristle brush on my cleaning rod into the barrel, then extracting it from
the .311 barrel. Voila, the case front came right out, made me a happy camper since I usually
have to learn everything the hard way. I rarely can get more than 3, 4 at best reloads from a
.303 case. Best wishes to all.

Cal - Montreal

NO-ONE gets more than two or three reloads out of .303 brass in the SMLE....

This sounds like the SMLE's were chambered with a pocket knife! That would drive me gaa-gaa.

Cal,
Are these surplus brass or new brass. I shoot a lot of 303 using Rem brass and don't have a problem with case separation. My cases have been loaded about 10-12 times.

There is readily available here in Australia a 'stuck case' removal tool ($AU10)that makes very short work of the case neck ring.

In my experience over 30yrs, split neck is a brittle or aged brass problem while head separation is excessive headspace.

Like BAW I get a lot of reloads out of my 303 brass both milsurp and commercial. Most last to 12 reloads which is about four trims, necksizing most of the time. I only FLS when they get a bit snug and also for major rapid fire competitions.

Can't you get a "spent Case Extractor". i have one in 7.62 Nato care of HM Forces, but i would have thought they made one for the .303 to?

Try neck sizing only - you may get a few more loads before the brass is unusable.

Go to www.303British.com There are two articles about case life and how to extend it in the .303 British. Main thing is to head off those dangerous case separations before they happen. I use a sharpened coat hanger wire, bent 90 degrees so it will enter the case mouth. If you slowly drag the point along the side of the case you will feel it fall into a beginning crack and then you can discard that case before it separates. HTH, curmudgeon