.303 British Ready For The Range

[bullet]

Once again I had a good day at the range. I have through the years noted in all my work and notes that when I got near max with certain cartridges that if I made sure my OAL was above the Minimum length and a did not give the bullet a lot of jump that my veocities went up some and pressure down just a little.

Well, decided to take my max load I developed and lengthen the OAL just a tad longer than the book recommend which was 3.075" I had been loading this load at 3.065", 3.070" or 3.73". I was getting base expansion of .0004" so that is why I stop at 44grs of AA2495BR.

I still loaded 44grs AA2495BR and set my OAL at 3.0755". I fired the first round and got this reading and I was shocked.

I immediately took the fired round before I would dare fire another one and measured the base and it had expanded only .0003". Just like so many times I had tried lengthening my OAL in the past.

So I tried another one and got this reading with only .00035" of expansion which was the highest expansion reading I got out of the ten rounds fired.

My average velocity reading for the ten rounds was 2656fps

Here is a picture of the ten brass I fired today with this load.

Now I got higher velocities and less pressure due to less expansion of the brass base and accuracy was good. Here is the largest group and then the smallest group today.

Largest group 2.351"

Smallest group 1.723"

Here is a picture of what 9 rounds did to the back stop

I then ajusted my sights and took a shot at a 16 oz pop bottle at 107yds and here is what is left of the bottle. You can see a piece of the bottom and I don't know where the top part went to.

I believe it is ready to hunt with.

 

[JD338]

bullet,

I just saw a UFO here in MI, looked like a part of a Pepsi bottle. :lol:

Nice job on your load development for the 303 British.

JD338

 

[bullet]

Thanks JD338, it was a lot of fun. Here is the ballistics for my final round.

Ballistic Chart
.303 British
180gr Sierra SPT
2656fps



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--------------2656------2819-------------(-1.5")

100-----------2445------2389-------------(+2.7")

230-----------2187------1911-------------(Zero)

287-----------2078------1785-------------(-5”)

326-----------2005------1607--------(-10” P/B-hold top of shoulder)

385-----------1898------1440--------(-10” from top of shoulder)

405-----------1863------1387--------(-14” from top of shoulder)

 

[Lars]

Great post!

I'm currently working up in a similar way for 30-40 Krag so this is very interesting.

0.0004" expansion make no sense to me, thats nothing. I have a sloppy chamber and undersize remingtonbrass and get 0,007" expansion on loads I think is moderate. I reload for modern pressures (new solid gun) and my loads are hot 308 win loads, so they shouldnt be dangerously high in a slightly bigger case with the bullet further out of the case. No obvious pressuresigns.

I get 2500 - 2550 fps with 180 gn bullets with ten times the expansion in a similar case (20" barrel). That make me wonder how safe your method is. Maybe the numbers should be different from gun to gun.

 

[Lars]

Ok, I figured it out. Case head vs. pressurering- expansion. :?

Still learning.

 

[DrMike]

Lars,

If you ever stop learning, you'll have to quit hand loading.

 

[bullet]

Well, I thought I was ready to hunt. I decided to break down my 303 No1 MkIII and coat the steel with Tri-Flow (by the way I was amazed at the fact there was no rust anywhere on this rifle). Also, took the wooden stock parts and used Johnson paste wax and gave it a couple of coats inside and out to help it in bad weather. I have done this all my life with my wooden stocks and it has really worked well against moisture, humidity and bad weather. Plus it will not hurt the metal it gets on but actually protects it from rust.

I call my 358Win "Mississippi Thumper", my 300Wby "Thor's Hammer", my 30-06 "Whelen's Right Hand", my back up and carry Ruger SuperBlackhawk 44mag revolver "Last Prayer". So it is time to name my 1919 Lithgow .303 No1 MkIII and I have decided to call it "Sonny" after my friend who had his family give me the rifle.

 

[SJB358]

Bullet, seems like that rifle is in very good shape for your hunting trip. 2656 is very good for a 180. That is darn near 30/06 performance. I bet the fellers that have used a 303 for all those years in Canada wished they had that load. It is a very flat shooting, hard hitting combo. Congrats on another great load development. Scotty