Lee enfield No.1 Mk 3

[Akkar]

My new Lee enfield !

 

[Akkar]

I was trying to buy a cleaning kit the other day but I'm not a big gun genius, I know a 30-06 is a 30. but what is a 303.?

 

[Cort]

The 303 is a WWI/II round used by the British. It uses a bullet that is .303 in diameter where the 30-06 uses a bullet that is .308 in diameter. A rifle chambered in either caliber would use the same 30 caliber cleaning rod.

Cort

 

[Akkar]

Ok thanks bud you really just saved me alot of time Im gonna trust you on this. I want you to try to google that crap it pulls up all kind of funky stuff!

 

[Bindi2]

The 303 is a WWI/II round used by the British. It uses a bullet that is .303 in diameter where the 30-06 uses a bullet that is .308 in diameter. A rifle chambered in either caliber would use the same 30 caliber cleaning rod.

Cort

It is 303 calibre which is .311/.312 and yes you can use 30 calibre cleaning rods

 

[Akkar]

Thanks guys This is the fastest Ive ever gotten help on any firearm site before!

 

[GarethMarijt]

There is some interesting information in here

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee-Enfield

 

[Laurie]

The 303 is a WWI/II round used by the British. It uses a bullet that is .303 in diameter where the 30-06 uses a bullet that is .308 in diameter. A rifle chambered in either caliber would use the same 30 caliber cleaning rod.

Cort

It is 303 calibre which is .311/.312 and yes you can use 30 calibre cleaning rods

Just to add to that, it stems from us Brits quoting the bore (ie lands) diameter in most cartridge descriptions. So, .303" bore / 0.311-312 groove / bullet diameter v .30 (.300 bore / .308 bullet / groove for 30-06 and 308 Win). What US companies would call a 264 (6.5mm) would be called a .257 as in 257 Rigby; .318 as in .318 Nitro Express which in US guise would have been a .33 ........ and so on, and so forth.

The last time I looked, one or two US ammo companies still loaded PSP deer cartridges for the old 303 Brit and the Serbian PPU outfit loads FMJ rounds. It's only rarely used as a deer cartridge here in the UK nowadays, the majority of shooters using it in historic arms - Long Lees, SMLE, Number 4 and 5 rifles, P'14s (the US Enfield) and a variety of old sporting rifles mostly based on Lee magazine or Martini single-shot military actions. It's still popular in Canada too.

In looks, performance and handload recipes, it's extremely close to the US .30-40 Krag and you can use .30-40 brass in a 303, simply resizing and trimming it. Ken Waters recommended this years back in his 'Pet Loads' in 'Handloader' magazine as the 30-40 case fits slack military 303 chambers better than most proper 303 brass and lasts longer.

 

[hogpatrol]

The kids of the Great Depression and subsequently warriors in the Big One bought them after the war and sporterized them for big game hunting here in the U.S. One of my uncles used one in Pennsy back in the 50s & 60s. Us kids used to laugh at him but he brought down a few deer with it. Meanwhile, we stared at our shiny new 700s and 760s. ;D

 

[matthias]

Remington still loads 180 hunting ammo. I bought some from my shop when I got my no1 mk4. Not further than a month back

 

[jonbearman]

Prvi-partisan still loads for it and Winchester I believe. Norma does but the price is crazy. Do a search for surplus ammo as it is still out there. The surplus requires immediate cleaning as it uses corrosive primers. I think tula and maybe brown bear does too.