Old .303

[Buick]

Federal .303 British

Federal has some very expensive 150 grain .303 Brit hunting rounds available direct on their website currently.

 

[DWalt]

The .303 Savage is a somewhat shorter round very similar to the .30-30, but with a longer neck. So far as I know, it was used only in the earlier Savage lever action rifles. It was never a military round used by any country and is not interchangeable with the .303 British.

This is a carton of .303 British FMJ Mk VII from the early 1930s. But it is not military ammunition. It was intended mainly for use by colonists in India, Africa,and elsewhere, most of which had .303 British rifles.

Some American .303 British ammo made for the British Commonwealth during the late WWII period.

A case of Pakistani-made military .410 shotshells. The Pakis used what were basically .303 Enfield rifles but with shotgun barrels for riot control.

A case of WWII .303 ammo, Mk VII from 1944

 

[diyj98]

Cleaning up after using corrosive primers would be the least of my worries. Its the click-boom that is dangerous.

Many years ago I learned not to buy surplus .303. The ones I tried were loaded with cordite, not ball powder.

I didn't even feel comfortable reclaiming the bullets. It all got disposed of...

I’ve shot a ton of corrosive ammo in my old military rifles and it’s no problem as long as you clean your bore. I agree it’s the hang fires I’d worry about. That ammo has been known for years to be bad for hang fires. I tossed mine after one session of trying to shoot it.

 

[wyo-man]

A local store has new Winchester .303 British brass for sale. 50 to a bag.
If interested for details, email in profile.

wyo-man

 

[DWalt]

Just to throw it out, the 7.7 Jap is close to being a rimless .303 British, but not quite.

 

[alwslate]

Just to throw it out, the 7.7 Jap is very close to being a rimless .303 British, but not quite.

The 7.7 Jap is actually an 8mm Mauser necked down to the European thirty .303 diameter. 8mm brass can easily be reformed to 7.7 Japanese brass. The ballistics of the 7.7 round were down to .303 British level however, rather than 8mm. Probably because of the slight stature of the typical Japanese soldier.

 

[DWalt]

The 7.7 Jap is actually an 8mm Mauser necked down to the European thirty .303 diameter. 8mm brass can easily be reformed to 7.7 Japanese brass. The ballistics of the 7.7 round were down to .303 British level however, rather than 8mm. Probably because of the slight stature of the typical Japanese soldier.

Dimensions between the 8x57 and the 7.7 cases are close but not identical. But it would certainly be possible to form 7.7 brass from 8x57 brass. Back when I had an Arisaka Type 99, I made up a considerable number of 7.7 cases from .30-'06 cases by running '06 cases through the 7.7 FL die and then trimmed the neck to length. I also used my 7.7 dies to reload for the .303 British, but in that situation the 7.7 FL resize die was essentially just a neck sizer for the .303 case, as the .303's case body diameter is slightly smaller than the 7.7's body diameter. But it worked. That 7.7 Type 99 is one rifle I wish I had kept. It was in excellent condition and still had the mum intact.

 

[alwslate]

Among milsurp fans the 6.5 type 38 Arisaka gets more praise than the 7.7 type 99 because of the level of finish most likely. Way back in the late 50s when I was a gun hungry teen with no money type 99s were everywhere it seemed. Hate to say it but the designation “seven seven Jap” was a derisive term actually. But the practicality of the 7.7 case and .303 bore make the type 99 an unsung hero of milsurps today in my opinion. And still relatively affordable compared to completely worn out Mausers if you shop a bit.

 

[Skeet 028]

I have a box of 1000 180 gr 303 bullets for reloading Soft points too. Don't even remember where I got them...but I do know I paid around a hundred dollars for them. I was going to load for my 7.65 Argentine Mauser and the old pre war Model 70 I had. I sold the M-70 3 years ago..Kinda rare.

I saw a 7.7 jap at the gun show. It had the aircraft wire sights and mum. Most of the aircraft sights were removed. Guy didn't know what they were. Not my area of interest though

 

[2152hq]

That Pakistani 303 was crazy stuff.
The POF 'Pakistani Ordnance Factory' marking got known locally as
.....Pride Of Frankenstein ....ammo.

It was really cheap but for a reason.
All the hang fires and duds you could ask for. Poor storage in extreme heat likely. Just plain poor quality ammo maybe.

But when the niuce Greek HXP boxer primed non-corrosive stuff dried up,,this was about all that was around as far a surplus (cheap) to shoot.
A little Brit Radway Green & Canadian Dominion was still around but at high prices and it too is corrosive and not always that reliable.
POF was super cheap.

If you do use it, just clean the bore with water and a touch of dishwashing soap added.
Wet Brush,,then Wet Patch..then dry and oil.
Check the next couple days for after rust but you likely won't find any.
Wipe the other metal parts down with the water dampened patch, dry and oil as well.
Don't make a big process of it.
I've shot corrosive ammo for nearly 60yrs and never lost a bore to rust yet.

Still using corrosive 8mm Mauser and 30-06. Bores still look new.

 

[Jack Flash]

I have about 300 rounds of Iraqi 303 linked for a Browing 30 Cal. I can't read the date but was told it was mid 1970's. ... Ivan

This may help:

I had some Iraqi .303 with a headstamp that looked like "1907". Using the above, we see the year of manufacture is actually 1956.

 

[vinn]

The ammo in the OP’s post is .303 British. Pretty sure it is Pakistani manufactured surplus Berdan primed and corrosive.

Yes, Pakistani .303 British FMJ, corrosive. Not the best choice for hunting ammo. Target shooting yes. It is not the best .303 British ammo out there, but not the worst either.

you can pull out the bullets and replace it with modern. the corosion is in the primer or the powder.

 

[vinn]

when i was young;

Among milsurp fans the 6.5 type 38 Arisaka gets more praise than the 7.7 type 99 because of the level of finish most likely. Way back in the late 50s when I was a gun hungry teen with no money type 99s were everywhere it seemed. Hate to say it but the designation “seven seven Jap” was a derisive term actually. But the practicality of the 7.7 case and .303 bore make the type 99 an unsung hero of milsurps today in my opinion. And still relatively affordable compared to completely worn out Mausers if you shop a bit.

the N R A magazine sold those " J. " for $ 8 plus shipping. no questions asked.

 

[Charlie Foxtrott]

I have some as well, pretty much my experience as well.

I purchased several boxes of this stuff a decade or so ago. Lots of hang fires. Pull the trigger, keep the gun pointed in a safe direction and there is a good chance it will go off in time for your daughter's wedding.

It is garbage. Surprisingly enough Wolf was making some steel cased .303 British A few years ago that SGammo.com was selling for a really good price. I bought some of it and it runs great in my Enfield jungle carbine so I stocked up on a bunch of it. I am glad that I did.

 

[old tanker]

One other complaint about the POF surplus is much of it has bullets with cupro-nickel jackets. That often leaves some nasty and pernicious fouling behind. A very strong ammonia solutions popularly known as “ammonia dope” that could be used for nickel fouling, but improper use would result in the solution attacking the barrel steel.


Standard Ordnance Department Metal Fouling Solution (aka Ammonia Dope)
4 oz water
1 oz ammonium persulfate
200 g ammonium carbonate
60 oz ammonia {28%)

This solution was long used by the U.S. Army. The qun barrel was stoppered and the bore soaked in this solution for no more than ten minutes. The cleaner had to be prepared fresh because old solutions are very corrosive to steel. Even fresh solution will attack the steel and etch it badly enough to ruin the surface if left too long.

 

[Jack Flash]

I never bought or shot any POF because when it was available and cheap, shooters on the Culver's Shooting Pages Enfield forum universally condemned it. That was enough for me.

I believe the primers are the corrosive element, not the powder. So dumping the powder and bullet and reusing the case/primer with your own powder and soft point bullet means you still have corrosive ammo.

By the way, has anyone pulled a POF cartridge apart to see if the propellent is cordite? Someone on the Enfield Forum claimed it was cut up pieces of old movie film!

 

[smoothshooter]

Be sure ro clean the bore and chamber with mild soap and water mix THE SAME DAY IT IS FIRED before putting it up. There are old military bore solvents out there made to clean out the corrosive residue with, ut the main thing is to use water or something water-based to get the corrosive salts out. Not necessary to use boiling water as some are sure to recommend. Clean it like you would a muzzleloader after shooting black powder; remove the water out of the bore with dry 100% cotton patches, run several oily patches down the bore and chamber to prevent rusting, and you are done. No need to spend more than 15 minutes doing this.
Go back in a couple of days and check the bore for rust just to be sure.

 

[Exmilcop]

I cut my teeth on the venerable .303's when I first started shooting big bore rifles, and that's some 55 yrs. ago. Up here (Canada), Lee Enfields and milsurp ammo were plentiful and dirt cheap. I've fired lots of British and Canadian milsurp ammo over the years though as we all know, good milspec ball ammo has pretty much dried up. I never tried the Greek stuff but I heard good things about it as well as the South African ammo. I fired a lot of commonwealth ball and my experience is that the British brass didn't hold up over the years like the Canadian stuff. The DI ammo is Berdan primed but the DI Z is Boxer primed and good for reloading. I also have some IVI brass from a service buddy who was part of the training group for the Canadian Rangers. Very nice stuff for reloading also. With iffy ball ammo like the POF, I just yank the projectiles, burn off the propellant, pop the primers and throw the brass into my scrap bin. I'll load the projectiles into good brass with commercial primers and powder and use 'em for plinking ammo.

 

[teletech]

By the way, has anyone pulled a POF cartridge apart to see if the propellent is cordite? Someone on the Enfield Forum claimed it was cut up pieces of old movie film!

Yep, it's cordite.
No, it's not old movie film but an extrusion like very fine angel-hair pasta.
The smell of burnt cordite might well be my favourite burnt powder smell.
I've been tempted to reuse the cordite from the dud rounds, though getting it back into a case would be challenging as it's packed in there pretty tightly

 

[damienph]

An old box of Remington UMC .303 British that was given to me years ago.
I am guessing that the box is from around 1900+/- since it says for Remington Lee, Winchester Model 1895 and Lee Enfield rifles.

It was filled with questionable quality Berdan primed FMJ reloads - not UMC cases. So I pulled the bullets and reloaded them in Boxer primed cases. Probably 30 or so years ago.