.303! Oooh doggies. Excellent choice. Around these parts the old smellies have a particular name given by low German speaking folk. Known as a “cow foot” when directly translated but means more like a “cow leg”. Named after a four foot heavy steel bar used for prying, pounding, tamping, bashing most anything when small pry bars don’t do enough. A very common tool on the farm. The .303 no1’s and no4’s are solid battle rifles that stood the test of time and are unmatched in strength. Great cartridge.
Advancements and history are amazing when we take the time to listen and learn from those that will take the time to teach and educate us (like you and Sam constantly do). Volley fire or "the mad minute" for the Enfield shows the progression of " the task at hand" for the shooter . Thanks to you both for showing that . Just because a cartridge is older it is by no means obsolete or irrelevant. We can always improve on what has been. I love your appreciation of the quality and artistry of the barrel finish , most people do not notice the finer details. Happy new year to all and thank you for all of your efforts
Wow! I'm a huge aficionado of these old cartridges - in fact I shoot more of them than modern ones, but using military or hunting rifles usually - and watching them driven to their limits is really exciting. Very interesting project. Too man. All the best for 2025 to you and Sam and your loved ones. ❤❤
As an old Canadian my first centre fire shooting was with the old 303 British. Still have My dad’s old rifle and my wife’s grandfathers rifle. I am surprised you could get match grade bullets in .312. Great Job.
Good morning and Happy New Year, from Sparks, NV, USA! My range here has recently put up targets at 1 mile and yesterday I was able to hit in just a few shots. Thank you for all you do for the shooting community--you've provided inspiration and great technical guidance that has helped me to achieve this.
Next on the list of the oldies greatest hits: 7.62X54R and/or 8mm Mauser... both from around the same time as the 303 Brit, 7.62X54R is currently still in active combat today, holds the record for longest serving combat cartridge, and the mosin nagant(aka the moist nugget) is still in active combat today, and holds the record for the longest serving combat rifle. The 8mm mauser was Germany's answer to the French Label, and was one of the first(common and popular) rimless cartridges.
You’re on the money when you talk about the marginal improvements in rifle technology in the last century. It’s good to see what an old cartridge can do when all those small improvementsare brought together in a modern platform.
Go back a year (1888) and you’ll find the 303 was originally a black powder cartridge for the Lee Metford. Cordite arrived a year later as you correctly described. I broke the Golden Rule of Rifle Ownership and borrowed a digital borescope to check out how my cleaning regime was going. Amongst the lunar landscapes of some of my more modern rifles, my 110 year old P14 in 303 had one of the best condition bores out of the whole lot. Just a shame I can’t hit bugger all with it….
Found couple rifles in 303. Not to bad of shape. Even found a Mosin in really good shape. Would be fun to play around with. As always enjoy your channel.
My No4 which has the L42a1 stock fitted and using 174 match king projectiles will shoot an 1" group at 100 yards . Haven't tried to shoot at the range you shoot , but the old rifles are a lot of fun to use . Hopefully here in NSW we can still keep our guns.
Super nice, Mark and Sam. I know .303 is a popular cartridge in Australia. I'd love to see you do the same thing with 8mm Mauser, or 8mm Lebel. Two of the earliest fully smokeless powder cartridges. The comparison between the three would be interesting. The advantage presumably going to the Mauser due to its rimless design, but who knows?
The Mauser Patrone 88 is even older, and is the father of pretty much all modern rimless rifle cartridges. It gave birth to both the 8x57 as well as the 7.65 Argentine Mauser, followed by 6.5 Swede, 7mm Mauser, and 30.06. You can follow the trail from there I'm sure.
nice to hear all the stuff that went in to building this ! hats of for the true 303 ! i know a 303 rifle that is really 308 with just chambered to 303 case but still 308 barrel and bullet. Throat/freebore modification is a must make with many cartridges if you want to get the full potential. Good examples are 7mm rem mag and 260 remington they are spectacular cartridges if you make +4mm of space to freebore area and pull the bullet out of the case to the shoulder area 👍 ps: when talking about old cartridges, i shoot a 6.5x55 swedish as my target rifle and it is also really old, but really great cartridge, you should give it a try !
I was about to spool up the Internet Outrage Machine and comment about your bipod mount until I noticed -- and you explained -- that it wasn't actually touching the barrel, ha ha. At any rate, nice build. I look forward to seeing it more.
These are the videos I like best . The next level would be , use a butchered up smle sporter & extract the most out of the platform & cartridge case . I’d love to see how much case stretching there is , if the rifle & chamber are done correctly & hand loading is done properly. Thanks for another great video, cheers !
One change is the loose powder instead of the long sticks of nitrocellulose powder that was used or the blackpowder charges that were compressed in those cases
.303 British is designed to be headspaced on the rim. Chamber dimension considerably exceeds the cartridge spec and cases will usually exhibit .030” increase in length to shoulder on firing. This was very typical for late C19 British cartridge designs (almost all the rimmed big game cartridges are similarly designed) where case life was imaterial but functionality in dirty environments was a priority, and it is undoubtedly one of the qualities that explains the reliability of .303 British service weapons. There are two options for extending .303 British case life: Neck-sizing fired brass with occasional shoulder-bumping OR using new barrels with chambers cut with a custom reamer matched to f/l resized brass. Some .303 rifles, including Ruger No1, exhibit poor accuracy from barrels made with 0.314” groove diameter barrels (some confusion here but I believe that this is CIP spec). A properly sorted .303 is undoubtedly capable of great accuracy, but most legacy platforms were built with other priorities; mostly reliability in demanding service conditions and compatibily of components made with diverse or clapped out machinery.
Happy New Year guys. The only channel where a shot equal to the new year is believable. Actually, a 2025 yard shot is a walk in the park for you guys. 😂
Awesome! Love the “303 British”! Looking forward to your upcoming videos. Wish you could build, me a rifle. All the best in 2025, please keep the videos coming, Thanks!
Interesting that you mentioned the long factory throats. I recently checked four of my 303 No4s with an OAL gauge and Sierra Matchking 174gr. The rifles range from having shot 20 rounds total (near-new No4 Mk2) to probably several thousand. The COAL with the projectile touching the lands ranged from 3.109" with the fresh No4 Mk2 barrel, to 3.13" with the well-used No4 Mk1* barrel (all averaged from 10 measurements per rifle). Given that the recommended max COAL for 303 is 3.075", it was interesting to see how even a basically factory-fresh chamber was 0.034" over spec. Even if you back it off 0.02" from the lands, the round still won't fit in the magazine with that COAL. I wonder if the throats were that long to tolerate less-frequent cleaning and more fouling.
Good stuff Mark. I do wonder where accuracy lives in a cartridge... Steep shoulders...less sizing. Long neck...avoid the donut. .. Apart from that...I'd guess any straight chamber with any quality brass that fits well...with a good bullet...will shoot well...
The good old .303 🥰 Great performance from both of you and the very nice rifle. So do we realy need all the new, fancy cartridges 🤔 The old calibers not so bad 😂 If you can get this bullets .311, 180 grain, S & B, FMJ-BT, Art.-Nr.: 2909, this is good stuff. A little bit better as the PPU, 174 grain 😉 PPU, FMJ-BT 303 (.311) 182 grain, better as 174 grain for distance
Rename it the 303 Creedmore and all the cool kids will fall over themselves to get one. Fyi, i started up a partition about 6 or so years ago for Lithgow chamber the LA102 in 303. Got a shitload of signatures, but alas they didnt want to know about it.
Very nice rifle Mark, I have two Endfields of my owm and absolitely love the catridge I do hunting with mine as well as my own reloading, what is the accuracy of yor rflr when shooting at 100m
Why did you go with a 10 twist barrel? I have a P14 that has a 28 inch barrel but it is probably getting to the end of life. Previous owner used at Bisley to a 1000y with target sights a lot. So will need to replace it at some stage. I have tested both SMK 174gr and PPU 174gr and PPU 182gr and SMK gives me less that 1 MOA 3 shot group at 100y and the PPU is more than 1 MOA. Will be interesting to see what you get with the PPU.
Hello , Out of curiosity , do you establish a level of accuracy at 100 meters/yards before you go out to distance ? I know 100 yard groups are not everything.
Thank you. There is a school of thought that believes that the body taper and relatively small and gradual necks of these older cartridges combined with their relatively longer powder columns have significant disadvantage in tems of accuracy when compared to the currently-popular shorter, larger-diameter and more steeply-shouldered cartridges, but I'm not seeing that in your work. Do you have any thoughts or opinions on this? My personal thought is that it probably has more to do with the quality of the compinets and thus the tolerances of the system. From the point of view that some modern calibers have significantly tighter tolerances in some areas, but also from the point of view that if you buy ammo in a brand new caliber then the cases, reloading tools and even the rifle's chamber are all made on brand new tooling, whereas the same items in an old and now relatively unpopular caliber are likely to have been made on equipment with a fair amount of wear and tear? With regard to the cases stretching, I have sectioned .303 cases and compared them to more modern rimless ones. The case construction is effectively identical. Thus I believe if you set up your dies in the same way as you would set them up for a rimless case (and thus not pushing the shoulder back more than is necessary) then I see no reason why the cases should continue stretching when used in a sufficiently-strong modern front-locking action like the one you are using. It will be interesting to know what happens as you shoot them more times.
Hi Peter. I use Lee's collet die for my .303 brass. It just re-sizes the necks without any need for case lube and therefore, you don't get case stretch. I shoot numerous rifles in .303, so I segregate the brass for each rifle.
I reload for a friends No4 Lee Enfield for a Service rifle target match .The military chamber is oversized and cases blow out on first firing and produce a fired case that has significantly less taper and more interestingly the shoulder rolls over to almost a 90 degree angle .I only squeeze the necks in die to clamp the new bullet and dont/cant touch the shoulder at all . I have found the cases are not growing in length and I would think I have been through at least 7 reloading cycles .Powder charges are mid range of ADI recommendations though,From this I feel that the abrupt shoulder in the chamber acts as a stop as well as the decreased body taper slows the forward flow of brass in this rifle.I shoot a P14 and for "hot"loads I used 30-40 Krag cases as they were reportedly thicker in the base area. To further this experiment I would like to improve the chamber (LESS TAPER ,SHARPER SHOULDER) with a Epps reamer but at a standstill in finding reamer . All good fun !
@@chrisquinlan3012interesting. I have a similar issue with the chamber of a no 1 mk3. I thought maybe the chmaber was badly worn..... but maybe the British erred on the side of making sure it chambered and fired above all else? The bore is also oversized at .315..... so i have to size down and gas cap 32 cal lead bullets to get her ro shoot remotely accurately..... but that may be another story. Lol😅
Interesting … would love to see if you think it’s practical to bring the 30-06 up to 300wm loadings with modern powder loads … Anyway I wish you and Sam ( and Western Australia) the best of what 2025 and beyond has to offer and may no more tyranny overcome you and your countrymen! HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Awesome to see the 303 dragged into the modern platform also a big fan of the howa action 😊👍
Cheers Man
.303! Oooh doggies. Excellent choice. Around these parts the old smellies have a particular name given by low German speaking folk. Known as a “cow foot” when directly translated but means more like a “cow leg”. Named after a four foot heavy steel bar used for prying, pounding, tamping, bashing most anything when small pry bars don’t do enough. A very common tool on the farm.
The .303 no1’s and no4’s are solid battle rifles that stood the test of time and are unmatched in strength. Great cartridge.
Cheers Man
Advancements and history are amazing when we take the time to listen and learn from those that will take the time to teach and educate us (like you and Sam constantly do). Volley fire or "the mad minute" for the Enfield shows the progression of " the task at hand" for the shooter . Thanks to you both for showing that . Just because a cartridge is older it is by no means obsolete or irrelevant. We can always improve on what has been. I love your appreciation of the quality and artistry of the barrel finish , most people do not notice the finer details. Happy new year to all and thank you for all of your efforts
Happy New Year to you Will, Cheers
Wow! I'm a huge aficionado of these old cartridges - in fact I shoot more of them than modern ones, but using military or hunting rifles usually - and watching them driven to their limits is really exciting. Very interesting project. Too man. All the best for 2025 to you and Sam and your loved ones. ❤❤
Thanks Man, all the best for 2025, Cheers
As an old Canadian my first centre fire shooting was with the old 303 British. Still have My dad’s old rifle and my wife’s grandfathers rifle. I am surprised you could get match grade bullets in .312. Great Job.
Cheers Ron, thank Man
7.62x54r is still in military use today, so I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise ballistics wise the results you and Sam achieved.
Cheers man
Shares .311" bullet diameter with .303, used in PKM LMG and SVD sniper rifle. Soviet/Russian doctrine: "If it works perfectly, why change it?"
Love the 303 British! My 3 No4s are some of my favorite platforms
Awesome, Cheers
Great project guys, really enjoyed the initial firing and looking forward to the ELR. Happy New Year to you all
Happy New Year to you too John, Cheers
Good morning and Happy New Year, from Sparks, NV, USA! My range here has recently put up targets at 1 mile and yesterday I was able to hit in just a few shots. Thank you for all you do for the shooting community--you've provided inspiration and great technical guidance that has helped me to achieve this.
Happy New Year to you too! Awesome to hear, Cheers
LOVE the 303! Especially in the older platforms.
Cheers Man
I love the 303 British!!!
Cheers Rob
The volley fire bit...popping off and waiting!
Cheers
Next on the list of the oldies greatest hits: 7.62X54R and/or 8mm Mauser... both from around the same time as the 303 Brit, 7.62X54R is currently still in active combat today, holds the record for longest serving combat cartridge, and the mosin nagant(aka the moist nugget) is still in active combat today, and holds the record for the longest serving combat rifle. The 8mm mauser was Germany's answer to the French Label, and was one of the first(common and popular) rimless cartridges.
Have 2 guns in 8mm mauser. Love em. Both. Hot ammo from Egypt and a few other places.
Thanks Joe, Cheers
You’re on the money when you talk about the marginal improvements in rifle technology in the last century. It’s good to see what an old cartridge can do when all those small improvementsare brought together in a modern platform.
Thanks Man, Cheers
Good to see the old 303 Brit being brought up again.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you both!!!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you too Dino, Cheers
Go back a year (1888) and you’ll find the 303 was originally a black powder cartridge for the Lee Metford.
Cordite arrived a year later as you correctly described.
I broke the Golden Rule of Rifle Ownership and borrowed a digital borescope to check out how my cleaning regime was going.
Amongst the lunar landscapes of some of my more modern rifles, my 110 year old P14 in 303 had one of the best condition bores out of the whole lot.
Just a shame I can’t hit bugger all with it….
Thanks Robin, Cheers
@ Happy New Year to you and yours Mark & Sam.
Looking forward to another year of interesting content (hopefully politics free….).
Found couple rifles in 303. Not to bad of shape. Even found a Mosin in really good shape. Would be fun to play around with. As always enjoy your channel.
Thanks Gerald
My No4 which has the L42a1 stock fitted and using 174 match king projectiles will shoot an 1" group at 100 yards . Haven't tried to shoot at the range you shoot , but the old rifles are a lot of fun to use . Hopefully here in NSW we can still keep our guns.
Cheers Man
Super nice, Mark and Sam. I know .303 is a popular cartridge in Australia. I'd love to see you do the same thing with 8mm Mauser, or 8mm Lebel. Two of the earliest fully smokeless powder cartridges. The comparison between the three would be interesting. The advantage presumably going to the Mauser due to its rimless design, but who knows?
Cheers
Great to see what the old .303 is capable of. The old cartodges are just as capable.
Cheers Man, thanks
303 ruled Canada bush for 100 years. Still my favorite hunting caliber but with stalking ,250 yard peep sights .
Cheers Winston, thanks
Amazing to think the .303 cartridge is 130 years old, very interested to see how it performs, Happy New Year to Sam and yourself
Happy New Year to you too, Cheers Nick
The Mauser Patrone 88 is even older, and is the father of pretty much all modern rimless rifle cartridges. It gave birth to both the 8x57 as well as the 7.65 Argentine Mauser, followed by 6.5 Swede, 7mm Mauser, and 30.06. You can follow the trail from there I'm sure.
Great content thanks for sharing
Thanks John
G Day Mark. Thanks for taking the time to show what you R about with the 303. And sure, looks like V nice work by Swan gunsmithing.
Cheers Tony, Thanks
Intersting project! Thanks for going through the details!!!
Cheers
Beautiful build. Can't wait to see the results.
Happy 2025!
I watched on tv the fireworks in Sydney ...... Majestic! Nothing better than that.
Cheers Man, Happy New Year
Great stuff really enjoy the older cartridges. Cheers.
Thanks Man
Love these old cartridges...
Cheers
Happy New Year to you both.
Happy New Year to you too John, Cheers
Have a blessed New Year. Another Year of Happy Shoe 👞 Ting
Thanks for another year of great content. 👍
Cheers 🍻 from Komiforina
Happy New Year to you too man, Cheers
nice to hear all the stuff that went in to building this ! hats of for the true 303 ! i know a 303 rifle that is really 308 with just chambered to 303 case but still 308 barrel and bullet.
Throat/freebore modification is a must make with many cartridges if you want to get the full potential.
Good examples are 7mm rem mag and 260 remington they are spectacular cartridges if you make +4mm of space to freebore area and pull the bullet out of the case to the shoulder area 👍
ps: when talking about old cartridges, i shoot a 6.5x55 swedish as my target rifle and it is also really old, but really great cartridge, you should give it a try !
Cheers Man, thanks
Happy new Year!!!!
Happy new year Rob, Cheers
Thanks for this video , it does explain a lot .
Iam a 303 target shooter & hunter from QLD .
Thanks Paul, Cheers
Happy new year 🎉 ✨️
Happy New Year to you Lex, Cheers
Awesome project. That's a legendary cartridge. Merry Christmass and Happy New Year ✨🌠🎉
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you too Man, Cheers
Happy New Year to you both 🍻
Love what you are doing with this cartridge, latest and greatest sometimes isn't 👍
Happy New Year to you too Dave, Cheers
Always enjoy your videos
Thanks Ian, Cheers
One of the local farmers had a 303/22. Interesting wildcat from the 1930s.
Thanks Man
Happy New Year !
Happy New Year
Well done, great video 👍🏻👍🏻
Thanks Man
Cool man! Thanks! Happy new year
Cheers Bill
I was about to spool up the Internet Outrage Machine and comment about your bipod mount until I noticed -- and you explained -- that it wasn't actually touching the barrel, ha ha.
At any rate, nice build. I look forward to seeing it more.
Cheers Man, thanks
These are the videos I like best .
The next level would be , use a butchered up smle sporter & extract the most out of the platform & cartridge case .
I’d love to see how much case stretching there is , if the rifle & chamber are done correctly & hand loading is done properly.
Thanks for another great video, cheers !
Cheers Man, thanks
Awesome Project Rifle Mark Can’t Wait to See More 😀😇😊😊
Thanks Chris, Cheers
Excellent watch and information. Next project suggestion : 6.5x55 Swedish. They still have a little fight left in them.
Cheers
Outstanding! TY
Thanks Bob
One change is the loose powder instead of the long sticks of nitrocellulose powder that was used or the blackpowder charges that were compressed in those cases
Cheers
.303 British is designed to be headspaced on the rim. Chamber dimension considerably exceeds the cartridge spec and cases will usually exhibit .030” increase in length to shoulder on firing. This was very typical for late C19 British cartridge designs (almost all the rimmed big game cartridges are similarly designed) where case life was imaterial but functionality in dirty environments was a priority, and it is undoubtedly one of the qualities that explains the reliability of .303 British service weapons.
There are two options for extending .303 British case life: Neck-sizing fired brass with occasional shoulder-bumping OR using new barrels with chambers cut with a custom reamer matched to f/l resized brass.
Some .303 rifles, including Ruger No1, exhibit poor accuracy from barrels made with 0.314” groove diameter barrels (some confusion here but I believe that this is CIP spec).
A properly sorted .303 is undoubtedly capable of great accuracy, but most legacy platforms were built with other priorities; mostly reliability in demanding service conditions and compatibily of components made with diverse or clapped out machinery.
Cheers
Happy New Year guys. The only channel where a shot equal to the new year is believable. Actually, a 2025 yard shot is a walk in the park for you guys. 😂
Lol, Happy New Year to you too Duggy, Cheers
The 7x64 would be a Nice old long range cartridge. Long throat for seating the bullet further out and "fast" twist 1:8,66
Cheers
Awesome! Love the “303 British”! Looking forward to your upcoming videos. Wish you could build, me a rifle. All the best in 2025, please keep the videos coming, Thanks!
Thanks Man, and Happy New Year
Good shout out to Swan who make some of the best barrels in Australia . love my .204 , foxes hate it .
Awesome, Cheers Adam
Interesting that you mentioned the long factory throats. I recently checked four of my 303 No4s with an OAL gauge and Sierra Matchking 174gr. The rifles range from having shot 20 rounds total (near-new No4 Mk2) to probably several thousand.
The COAL with the projectile touching the lands ranged from 3.109" with the fresh No4 Mk2 barrel, to 3.13" with the well-used No4 Mk1* barrel (all averaged from 10 measurements per rifle). Given that the recommended max COAL for 303 is 3.075", it was interesting to see how even a basically factory-fresh chamber was 0.034" over spec. Even if you back it off 0.02" from the lands, the round still won't fit in the magazine with that COAL. I wonder if the throats were that long to tolerate less-frequent cleaning and more fouling.
Thanks Man, and yes all sort of extra clearances in older military stuff, Cheers
Good stuff Mark.
I do wonder where accuracy lives in a cartridge...
Steep shoulders...less sizing.
Long neck...avoid the donut.
..
Apart from that...I'd guess any straight chamber with any quality brass that fits well...with a good bullet...will shoot well...
Cheers Man
The good old .303 🥰 Great performance from both of you and the very nice rifle. So do we realy need all the new, fancy cartridges 🤔 The old calibers not so bad 😂
If you can get this bullets .311, 180 grain, S & B, FMJ-BT, Art.-Nr.: 2909, this is good stuff. A little bit better as the PPU, 174 grain 😉
PPU, FMJ-BT 303 (.311) 182 grain, better as 174 grain for distance
Thanks Man, Cheers
That’s some skill to shoulder a rimmed case and be that accurate, but yeah annealing would be a good idea, especially with your gal behind it.
Cheers Man
Rename it the 303 Creedmore and all the cool kids will fall over themselves to get one.
Fyi, i started up a partition about 6 or so years ago for Lithgow chamber the LA102 in 303. Got a shitload of signatures, but alas they didnt want to know about it.
Lol, cheers Man
🇦🇺😎👍Hey Mark interesting rifle 🏁. Happy 2025 🏁
Thanks Trev, Happy New Year
The major progression in cartridge technology was from BP to cordite and granular nitro propellant.
Yep, thanks Paul, Cheers
Very nice rifle Mark, I have two Endfields of my owm and absolitely love the catridge I do hunting with mine as well as my own reloading, what is the accuracy of yor rflr when shooting at 100m
Awesome, Cheers Harold
I'd be curious how good you could get a scope mount modified Lee Enfield to shoot with a modernized round.
Cheers Man
That's good for using iron sights at 3000 yards. over 100 yards most iron sights cover up an average size target.
Thanks Man, Cheers
Why did you go with a 10 twist barrel? I have a P14 that has a 28 inch barrel but it is probably getting to the end of life. Previous owner used at Bisley to a 1000y with target sights a lot. So will need to replace it at some stage.
I have tested both SMK 174gr and PPU 174gr and PPU 182gr and SMK gives me less that 1 MOA 3 shot group at 100y and the PPU is more than 1 MOA. Will be interesting to see what you get with the PPU.
Suited bullet weight and speed that was planned, Cheers
Hello ,
Out of curiosity , do you establish a level of accuracy at 100 meters/yards before you go out to distance ?
I know 100 yard groups are not everything.
No we do not, Cheers
Thank you.
There is a school of thought that believes that the body taper and relatively small and gradual necks of these older cartridges combined with their relatively longer powder columns have significant disadvantage in tems of accuracy when compared to the currently-popular shorter, larger-diameter and more steeply-shouldered cartridges, but I'm not seeing that in your work.
Do you have any thoughts or opinions on this?
My personal thought is that it probably has more to do with the quality of the compinets and thus the tolerances of the system. From the point of view that some modern calibers have significantly tighter tolerances in some areas, but also from the point of view that if you buy ammo in a brand new caliber then the cases, reloading tools and even the rifle's chamber are all made on brand new tooling, whereas the same items in an old and now relatively unpopular caliber are likely to have been made on equipment with a fair amount of wear and tear?
With regard to the cases stretching, I have sectioned .303 cases and compared them to more modern rimless ones. The case construction is effectively identical. Thus I believe if you set up your dies in the same way as you would set them up for a rimless case (and thus not pushing the shoulder back more than is necessary) then I see no reason why the cases should continue stretching when used in a sufficiently-strong modern front-locking action like the one you are using. It will be interesting to know what happens as you shoot them more times.
Cheers Peter
Hi Peter. I use Lee's collet die for my .303 brass. It just re-sizes the necks without any need for case lube and therefore, you don't get case stretch. I shoot numerous rifles in .303, so I segregate the brass for each rifle.
@@kris308100 i have been accused of being an ignorant dynosaur for expressing my liking for those collet dies!
I reload for a friends No4 Lee Enfield for a Service rifle target match .The military chamber is oversized and cases blow out on first firing and produce a fired case that has significantly less taper and more interestingly the shoulder rolls over to almost a 90 degree angle .I only squeeze the necks in die to clamp the new bullet and dont/cant touch the shoulder at all . I have found the cases are not growing in length and I would think I have been through at least 7 reloading cycles .Powder charges are mid range of ADI recommendations though,From this I feel that the abrupt shoulder in the chamber acts as a stop as well as the decreased body taper slows the forward flow of brass in this rifle.I shoot a P14 and for "hot"loads I used 30-40 Krag cases as they were reportedly thicker in the base area. To further this experiment I would like to improve the chamber (LESS TAPER ,SHARPER SHOULDER) with a Epps reamer but at a standstill in finding reamer . All good fun !
@@chrisquinlan3012interesting. I have a similar issue with the chamber of a no 1 mk3. I thought maybe the chmaber was badly worn..... but maybe the British erred on the side of making sure it chambered and fired above all else? The bore is also oversized at .315..... so i have to size down and gas cap 32 cal lead bullets to get her ro shoot remotely accurately..... but that may be another story. Lol😅
Hi Mark, what did you change on the howa bolt to feed and extract the rimmed cartridge? Nice shooting and thanks for a great channel.
All explained, extracts as factory, Cheers
@markandsamafterwork thanks for answering. I was trying to get my head around that thinking that you had to do some work on that.
👍
Cheers
So if I want to build a303 are the actions tikka and are they calibre persific
That's for you and your gunsmith to discuss, Cheers
@markandsamafterwork thanks mate
Interesting … would love to see if you think it’s practical to bring the 30-06 up to 300wm loadings with modern powder loads …
Anyway I wish you and Sam ( and Western Australia) the best of what 2025 and beyond has to offer and may no more tyranny overcome you and your countrymen! HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Happy New Year Taren, Cheers