Getting Ready For Some Serious 303 British Reloading This Weekend

[3Sport]

Thanks to a member here, I just got a new (to me) set of Lyman 303 British reloading dies, including a neck expander die, a shell holder, and a bonus box of Sierra 303 British bullets.

I already had a set of Lee 303 British dies, but that set is more-or-less dedicated to a portable range reloading kit that I'll post at some point for interested viewers to see what I take to the range for on-site range reloading.

This happens to be my first LYMAN reloading die set. I have most of the rest of the "popular" die manufacturers sets on my bench, including RCBS, Lee, Hornady, Redding and Dillon.

As I told the seller, these dies will not become bench ornaments. They are going to get a lot of use. 303 British happens to be the only "Bottleneck" cartridge that I reload. The rest are straight wall cartridges used in lever action rifles, like 357 Mag, 44 Mag and 45 Long Colt.

So this weekend will be a 303 Reloading Festival on my bench.

 

[kujuak]

Seriously, there is a great deal of magic in loading for 303 British because of the great variablty of bore/.chamber dimensions in Lee Enfields. If you are loading for a Ruger No.1, that's a different beast with it's own isssues.PLEASE share your results! I am loading for a bunch of Lee Enfields, big fun.

 

[precision1]

Seriously, there is a great deal of magic in loading for 303 British because of the great variablty of bore/.chamber dimensions in Lee Enfields. If you are loading for a Ruger No.1, that's a different beast with it's own isssues.PLEASE share your results! I am loading for a bunch of Lee Enfields, big fun.View attachment 1678866

I'm glad you posted this before me.

 

[precision1]

Yeah between Enfield,mosin nagant, and variations in Mausers.there can be a lot to learn

 

[NZ_Fclass]

Good man! I was pottering about with a P14 at the range yesterday. 6.5 Staball works well BTW, with 174g. Pills. The Selliers and Bellot pills shoot good too - not sure that you have them in the US??

 

[bozo699]

Thanks to a member here, I just got a new (to me) set of Lyman 303 British reloading dies, including a neck expander die, a shell holder, and a bonus box of Sierra 303 British bullets.

I already had a set of Lee 303 British dies, but that set is more-or-less dedicated to a portable range reloading kit that I'll post at some point for interested viewers to see what I take to the range for on-site range reloading.

This happens to be my first LYMAN reloading die set. I have most of the rest of the "popular" die manufacturers sets on my bench, including RCBS, Lee, Hornady, Redding and Dillon.

As I told the seller, these dies will not become bench ornaments. They are going to get a lot of use. 303 British happens to be the only "Bottleneck" cartridge that I reload. The rest are straight wall cartridges used in lever action rifles, like 357 Mag, 44 Mag and 45 Long Colt.

So this weekend will be a 303 Reloading Festival on my bench.

View attachment 1678596

A lot of the old Lee Enfields as already mentioned have a large array of chamber dimensions. Check headspace right away before you start sizing your brass. If it’s excessive you can shim your bolt. Have fun and good luck
Wayne

 

[3Sport]

A lot of the old Lee Enfields as already mentioned have a large array of chamber dimensions. Check headspace right away before you start sizing your brass. If it’s excessive you can shim your bolt. Have fun and good luck
Wayne

Thank you. I am well aware, but you did not know that, so I do appreciate the heads-up in case I was unaware. I have already reloaded and put rounds through the rifle using Lee dies. These Lyman dies are (IMO) a bit of a step up. The Lee are now dedicated to my range reloading kit. Although I am not sure I would reload 303 British at the range. Perhaps.

The rifle in question visited the gunsmith last year. It was a gift from my father in the mid 1990s, and sat in my collection untouched all these years, so a trip to the gunsmith was in order. He checked headspace for me, tore it down, and went through it with a fine tooth gunsmithing comb. All good.

His comment was "It's a great old gun, headspace is within tolerance, and it's in good shape for firing. Just don't push it too much. Use minimum reloads."

That was my plan anyway. I am not hunting with the rifle. It's a "fun-at-the-range gun" at this point for me. Plus it gives me an excuse to get back into bottleneck cartridge reloading. I abandoned bottlenecks around 2004 when I sold my 222.



He did mention that it was packed with what he "thought" was cosmoline. After tearing it down and cleaning, he discovered it was NOT cosmoline. He said it was packed with mud. He guessed that the rifle may have actually seen action during battle.

 

[3Sport]

Gents, as posted above, I have been reloading for this rifle in 303 British for about a year now, with good results. The dies I posted here are new ADDITIONAL dies for me, and a bit of an upgrade. I am NOT new to 303 British reloading. I have a set of Lee dies I've been using for the last year, lincluding a neck sizer.

For passive information only, my loads have alwyas been minimum, Varget only for powder. I've used Federal, Winchester and Remington primers. 150 gr bullets.

FOR THIS TARGET;

PPU British 303 Brass, Federal Premium #210 Large Rifle Primers, 39 grs VARGET powder, Speer Hot-Cor 150 gr bullet

RESULTS at 35 yards, 25 rounds;

 

[Laurie]

Gents, as posted above, I have been reloading for this rifle in 303 British for about a year now, with good results. The dies I posted here are new ADDITIONAL dies for me, and a bit of an upgrade. I am NOT new to 303 British reloading. I have a set of Lee dies I've been using for the last year, lincluding a neck sizer.

For passive information only, my loads have alwyas been minimum, Varget only for powder. I've used Federal, Winchester and Remington primers. 150 gr bullets.

FOR THIS TARGET;

PPU British 303 Brass, Federal Premium #210 Large Rifle Primers, 39 grs VARGET powder, Speer Hot-Cor 150 gr bullet

RESULTS at 35 yards, 25 rounds;

With such mild loads and low pressure, you can almost certainly neck-size without problems and forget about over-sizing / shoulder bump etc. I so loaded 303 for over 20 years for a variety of rifles from a BSA Long-Lee to an Eddystone P'14 via a few SMLEs, always keeping loads and pressures modest and never full-length sizing unless the brass was to be used in a new rifle. Out of hundreds of cases and thousands of shots, I never had a case separate, the few eventual failures being neck splits after many firings. (Acquiring a well-used early 7.62 No.4 'Target Rifle' conversion by G E Fulton & Sons changed this - Winchester 308 cases lasted four to seven firings only before an incipient separation showed despite also neck-sizing. I couldn't understand this until I twigged mild 308 pressures are at or above maximum 303 equivalents.)

When people say 303 chambers 'vary', they're not kidding. The most extreme I had was a pre WW2 BSA factory SMLE match rifle for the old British Service Rifle (b) class that allowed considerable modification to the military spec. (Most people pre-1968 shot SR(a) which required the rifle to be used as issued bar some limited bedding improvements and smoothing out the trigger surfaces.) It had a heavy barrel with two bearing blocks and coil springs above it underneath the handguard, no leaf rearsight and matching that a handguard without the rearsight aperture. A double-zero rear aperture was provided in lieu.

Despite the rifle's match spec, the chamber was so slack that fired cases looked as if they had been fired in an 'improved' chamber with the upper case body blown out and the lower half of the neck turned into the blown-forward shoulder. I neck-sized them as usual with a Lee Collet Die, but the body was so expanded the case wouldn't fit the seater die cavity requiring a partial FL size. As I said, this was extreme and I never saw any other fired cases as bad. IME looking at fired brass from many shooters' military rifles, the 'best' chambers (as in least visible expansion) were made by the Canadian Long Branch arsenal.

 

[3Sport]

Excellent write-up and information, @Laurie . Thank you.

Agreed on neck sizing, especially with minimal loads. That is why I invested in a neck sizing die from the get-go. I do have a full length sizing die should I ever need it. But I doubt I'd ever start working up hunting loads, and if I ever did, it certainly would not be at or near maximum load pressures.

What's interesting, I never thought I'd ever be firing this rifle, let alone reloading for it. But on another shooting forum 18 months ago, I floated the idea of putting this vintage rifle back in service at the range, and then waited for what I thought was going to be a lot of "NO, STOP! DANGER!" replies. But instead, I got nothing but, "ABSOLUTELY! DO IT!" and similar replies. So I took the rifle to a trusted gunsmith for a thorough examination, evaluation and strip down cleaning, and the rest is history.

I'm sure glad I did. It's been fun to reload and shoot this classic.

 

[Laurie]

There are huge numbers of all the 303 models still in use in the UK in Historic Arms shooting, though the basic No.1 MKIII*, (SMLE Mk. III as it's usually called), and No.4s like yours are the most common by far. When I was a boy (a long time ago), gunshop racks always contained a selection of basic SMLE and No.4 conversions for sporting use too. They've almost all gone now - you're probably more likely to find 303 deer rifles still being used in Canada nowadays than the UK. We also still have a fair few later 7.62 conversions around for range use as well as the collectibles such as the sniper models in both 303 and 7.62mm, and the scoped 7.62 Enfield Enforcer made in the 60s for UK police forces. (I owned one of those 30 or so years ago - a very pleasant rifle to shoot. I should have hung onto it as they've since turned into good investments.)

As with all such rifles, they have their personalities and cover a large range of precision in use. As a rule though they offer adequate rather than outstanding accuracy, witnessed by the numbers of really serious Historic Arms competition shooters who prefer 6.5X55 Swedish Mausers, some of the Swiss 7.5mm Schmidts, and in the past the Canadian .303 Ross. Having said that, IME they'll outshoot their main WW2 opposition, the 7.92X57mm short Mauser. Barrel dimensions vary as noted, but usually not as much as Russian/Soviet Nagants. The oddest one I had was a 1941 dated Indian (Ishapore arsenal) SMLE MkIII* whose bore was tight enough to shoot 0.308 bullets well. That was a very nice rifle indeed, unlike the later Indian SMLEs, its sole fault being stocked with some light colour Asian boxwood that leaked oil copiously over my hands after a few shots and the barrel heating up. Having a rag to regularly wipe my hands down was an essential shooting aid with this rifle.

So enjoy your old Lee. But beware ownership / shooting these things is addictive, and before you know where you are, you'll find you must have an SMLE, then a P'14, then a Ross ......................!