.303 British Ready For The Range

[bullet]

I am finished with my initial loads using 180gr SPT, Rem Brass, 210 Fed primers, IMR4895, A-XMR2495 (AA2495BR). Will go Monday are Tuesday if all goes well with the weather.

 

[DrMike]

Great photography, as usual, Mike. Trust you are satisfied with the shooting. The .303 is a fun cartridge, if for no other reason than its history.

 

[bullet]

Great photography, as usual, Mike. Trust you are satisfied with the shooting. The .303 is a fun cartridge, if for no other reason than its history.

Thanks, I like taking pictures and I know I will have fun with the No. 1 MK III

 

[FOTIS]

Good luck Mike. Hope it shoots well.

 

[Antelope_Sniper]

Should be great.
Especially since it's probably the nicest .303 I've ever seen.

 

[bullet]

Thanks POP, and it is really a clean and in good shape No. 1 Mk III and I hope you are right about it doing great Antelope Sniper :grin:

 

[bullet]

Well it truly was a good day.

Anytime you have a rifle that is 90 years old and is a military rifle with open sights and you can shoot it under 2" at 100yds with your initial reloads and have velocities above average without pressure signs or being over max - I CALL THAT A GOOD DAY!!!!!

This .303 No.1 MKIII made at the Lithgow factory is really one fine shooting military rifle. I did not touch the sights because I was firing for accuracy of groups and desired velocity without going over max.

I know why the a soldier could put a lot of rounds on a target fast with the 303 Enfield, because you want to talk about a smooth shooting rifle!! I does not beat you to death with sharp recoil nor violent push. It is a piece of cake to shoot. Really nice indeed. It has a two stage trigger and once I got use to it the second stage broke clean and with out much effort.


Here are pictures of my chrony, targets and brass using A-XMR2495 which is known by many as AA-2495BR. It gave the best accuracy and above average velocities without pressure signs or being over max.

CHRONY READINGS:

40grs of 2495BR at 2392FPS

41grs of 2495BR at 2447FPS

42grs of 2495BR at 2523FPS

43grs of 2495BR at 2591FPS

44grs if 2495BR at 2614FPS

TARGETS:

Largest group

Smallest group with 42grs of 2495 at 2523FPS and group was 1.446"

BRASS:

Here is a piece of brass using 44grs of 2495 at 2614fps

Here are all the brass shot with 2495

 

[Antelope_Sniper]

Very Nice Bullet.
Nice group
Nice velocity
Now you just need to find a Whitetail.

 

[bullet]

44grs of 2495BR really shot well today and a little tweaking of the OAL and I think it will be my load at 2614fps.

Adjust my sights to 3" at 100yds and good to go.

Ballistic Chart
.303 British180gr Sierra SPT
2614fps



Sight in at 3.0" high at 100yds

1000 foot pounds energy as minimum on deer size game

Yards--------Velocity-----Energy-----(above/below line of sight)

0--------------2614------2731-------------(-1.5")

100-----------2405------2312-------------(+2.7")

225-----------2159------1862-------------(Zero)

281-----------2053------1684-------------(-5”)

320-----------1980------1568--------(-10” P/B-hold top of shoulder)

380-----------1873------1402--------(-10” from top of shoulder)

400-----------1838------1350--------(-14” from top of shoulder)

 

[Antelope_Sniper]

Whitetail's beware now!!

 

[russ808]

Great shooting Bullet. Go getum now.
Russ

 

[bullet]

Here are four rounds of 44grs AA2495BR at 100yds and also their chrony readings. The military open sights are holding me back. I waited three minutes between shots because it was 84 degrees with 95% humidity this morning. In waiting three minutes between shoots my lighting changed back and forth due to cloud cover and the the sun braking through now and then.

Four rounds at 100yds

My handloads are showing very good consistency as seen by the chrony readings. The following is the order in which I fired the four rounds.

 

[DrMike]

Great loading technique, Mike; the consistency in velocity is excellent. Thanks for the pictures.

 

[bullet]

When finding the max for a given rifle, bullet, brass, powder and primer, many people including Waters like to measure the expanded base of fired brass and if it expanded .0005" that was considered max and anything more is over max. (I know some think that this is not a good indicator or method, but I think they are wrong and Waters had it close, because the few times I was able to test pressure with the right equipment most max or over max pressure loads measured .0005" and above).

Now that said, I like to limit my expanded base to .0004" as limit and if I reach this I consider it my max load. Anything over that for me is over max just to be safe. Also, I do not take new .303 British brass and full size it. I only neck size it because of the sloppy chambers in the majority of Enfields and this minimizes how much the brass expands. Some post war models like my No. 1 MKIII made at the Ligthgow factory has a tighter chamber than most.

I measure the new brass (which I do not full size) .258" up the brass from the bottom of the cartridge. This is where the .303 brass expands the most due to the it being a rimmed cartridge.

My new Remington .303 brass measures at this expanding point on the brass .450". After firing 44grs of AA2495BR using Fed 210 primers the brass at this expanding point is .454". So 44grs is the max load as far as I am concerned with this Ligthgow No. 1 MKIII.

 

[DrMike]

Mike,

0.005 inches is indicative of a lot of pressure, is it not? Did you leave out a zero? Are you certain that Ken Waters allowed for that much expansion? More recent studies have indicated that many "pet loads" were dangerously over pressure. Just my $0.02.

 

[bullet]

Mike,

0.005 inches is indicative of a lot of pressure, is it not? Did you leave out a zero? Are you certain that Ken Waters allowed for that much expansion? More recent studies have indicated that many "pet loads" were dangerously over pressure. Just my $0.02.

Left out a 0, I am not using Waters pet load for this .303, I am using a published load by Lee.

 

[DrMike]

Good show, Mike.

 

[bullet]

Thanks Doc.

 

[JD338]

bullet,

Nicely done! You have yourself one sweet load there.

JD338

 

[bullet]

bullet,

Nicely done! You have yourself one sweet load there.

JD338

Thanks JD338