303 British; Is It Still A Viable Hunting Cartridge???
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- Опубликовано: 26 авг 2024
- Today seemed like the perfect time to take an in depth at the 303 British cartridge and see if we can answer the questions, is it still a viable hunting cartridge?
USOG Link: • ULTIMATE Hunting Rifle...
Here in Canada just about everyone grew up using a surplus .303 to hunt everything that walks. It performed just fine. Everyone has moved onto other calibers for the most part. There are still a lot of fellas packing their .303's during hunting season, but more for nostalgia than anything else. Here, you go to a local gun store and you can't find a box of .303 ammo just about anywhere. If you do, it seems to command a mighty price. My hunting buddy is one such guy that used to use a .303 and he raved about how it hit so well for him. He has long since progressed onto a .300 Winchester Magnum; but this year he finally admitted to me and said, "I probably should have never left the .303". True words for sure. Still one of the few "perfect" rounds.
Reloading the 303 is expensive too two or more years ago I paid 40 bucks for 50 pieces of hornddy brass. Now it impossible to find any ammo or reloading components. Thanx joe Biden. Let's go Brandon
Lol those old fellas love their cut down enfields
Still have a box of Speer .311 Spitzer bullets for reloading along with rounds I've reloaded 20 years ago.
Was thinking of pulling the old gal out a few weeks ago and sending some down range.
fact
Canadian Tire .
I’m an Aussie with Lee Enfield in the safe and 500 rounds in the cupboard. It’sthe history we love. The guns made the ANZAC legend.
No different to Americans having a Springfield for sentimental reasons or collector value.
It's odd but the old sentimental favorites like the Springfield and Lee Enfield are still my favorite hunting rifles and not because of sentimental reasons. Those rifles are just that good and their cartridges are just as effective as ever. I guess them being so well made is what made them the sentimental favorites they are.
Here in America we used to be able to find and buy surplus Enfields 30 years ago or so for $100.00 all day. Now they are $500.00 guns in fair shape, $1000.00 for nice ones. The springfields have always been harder to find and more expensive strangely enough.
I'm 23 and proud to be using a 303 british for every big game hunting I'm doing here in Quebec Canada, thank you for your video
I'm glad you enjoyed it Alexandre. The 303 British served me awful well for whitetail deer for many years. I eventually went to other cartridges but that was only to experiment with them because I never had any reason to quit using the 303 British. It never quit working and I have found some cartridges since then that are as good but I have never found anything better.
Soft point or FMJ??
Certainly is great hunting rifle. Been using them since I was a teenager in New Zealand, with open sights. Now 74, I use Carl Gustaf .270 but still have a beautiful old Lee Enfield .303 fully wooded.
same here, started on the old mans 1905 N01mk1 back in the late 70's been with the 303's ever since. I have that same rifle and a few others, all fully wooded & restored
I recently picked up a MK1* MLE cavalry at a gunshow in whangarei and its a nice rifle for the price i paid
But that's because you aren't allowed real guns there. Your government bent over backwards to fulfill every wish of a spree killer, which is why kiwi's still sit in prison cells for passing around a text file of his manifesto, your government didn't want that spread around because then the people would see that they literally gave him every single wish he held, and did every single thing he requested they do, to further disenfranchise the New Zealand populace.
@bashpr0mpt719 excuse me sir, your comment is a little off topic.
Nice thing about the Enfield No.4's unmodified magazine is it self-corrects for rim lock.
Seriously, if you put a round in with the rim behind the rim of the previous round, when you push it in, the mag shifts it to the correct orientation.
You should still load it correctly, because like with any mechanical system, it can fail, but it does help mitigate rim lock when loading hastily.
I love my Enfield No.4. I really lucked out and bought one from an estate sale with a nearly factory-new bore, for just $200 in late 2020.
Super smooth shooting rifle, and my reloads shrank the grouping down from 3 MOA with factory loads, to 0.92 MOA with my reloads.
I did not know that about the Lee Enfield magazines. Thanks for sharing that!
Yup. I have a mk.4 as well and a couple magazines. I had been taught to load them as you showed in your video and always did it that way but had heard it doesn't matter in an enfield. I tried it loading them wrong and it cycled perfectly!
Shot my first buck with the 303 British. My three brothers used the 303 British as well. Growing up in Pennsylvania the four of us boys each one year apart.. my father started us out with a Jungle Carbine.
When he suddenly passed in 2019.. each of us wanted that rifle. However.. I thought the youngest of us should be the one. A lot of memories with our father and that 303.
Good luck to you brother and God bless you as well!
The .303 Brit is as good -or better hunting round as it ever was. Reloading for it allows for better accuracy and better bullet choices. One of my favorites along with 7,92x57 Mauser and 7.62x51 (.308). The Brit Enfield #4mk1 still makes a good battle rifle, for a bolt action.
I have one, breaks paper at 100 yards, paid $30 for it, fixed it up and put a scope on it, I have killed everything elk size on down. The most accurate rifle I own on commercial ammo. Hand loading produces same results. I will never sell it. Great show.
They were also used on PEOPLE originally.That tended to tame ones desires to go killing wild animals for fun .
@@mauricelevy9027 Only shoot what I eat, true hunting.
Hey Tom always good to see you I inherited my father's 303 it was the only rifle he ever owned he absolutely loved it and I believe you're right unfortunately we're never going to go back to our past normal thanks for the video
I’ve shot a lot of moose in my lengthy life…perhaps 35-40, all with a British .303. I live in Northern British Columbia and have run a large registered trapline for the better part of 60 years. I depend on my old gun for procuring food as well as discouraging the odd grizzly.
Hows .303 british do on grizzly?
Hello from Yorkton, SK🇨🇦
@@RebelSandGaming it works
@@stevebeaulieu7876 what would perform better a 215 grain .303 or the 180 .303
We Canadians haven't gone too far in making wildcat cartridges out of the .303 British case like the Australians, instead tending to rely more on just changing the bullet weight for the job: before it was discontinued, Imperial offered a 215 gr. roundnosed loading that was effective on everything with feet. There was the briefly popular .303 Epps, but about 30 years ago some intrepid Canuck came up with what he called the .311 Canadian magnum, combining the .311 diameter projectile of the .303 British with a necked down and modified .404 Jeffrey case. The result was a magnum round which outperformed the .300 RUM with significantly less recoil. but it never caught on in the U.S. and so it died with the Canadian market being too small to sustain it. I think the .303 British will remain a viable hunting round for up to ten years longer in Commonwealth countries than the U.S.
Was wildcat in Australia a lot due to laws which meant we were not allowed to use it in 303 calibre for a while as it was still the standard military round once we went to the slr rifle it became more available.
That was RCCM, Royal Canadian Cartridge Manufacturing that built the 311 magnum, they were also the only ones to load ammo for it. They had bought the old Imperial ammo loading equipment, and were based out of Kelowna B.C.
@@nathanadrian7797to
My .303 was made in 1943. I will continue to shoot it, and hunt with it, until I, like it, fade off into the past.
The wife and I moved back to the country, in the early 90's. I bought a sporterized 303 at the hardware store for $100. I have taken a deer with it every year since.
It has never given me a problem, except, for the dark bore. I clean and clean, but it is still dark, but tons of rifling left.
Love your show, and your easy going chat side delivery. You give me time to hear and listen. Well done.
Thanks Zaps
Tom, just wanted to say I’m really enjoying your channel. Keep up the great content.
Thanks Nick I do appreciate that.
in over 45years of gun collecting,reloading many,many calibers, hunting I cherish the enfield 303 British rifles. I've gave them away as gifts. I have several rifles in 303,7.62 ×52,8mmm, 6.5× 55 Swedish Mauser. I do have rifles in modern calibers but my old war horses is my heart. I've took a few 303 and 7.52× 54 rifles cut down barrels, stocks, made scope bases with with elevation and windage adjustments. special ultra reduced ammunition for kids and people with health issues who can't handle recoil. the last two enfield rifles I bought were for the government of India in 308winchester. papa wishing you well 😊
I used to use my 303 Lee Enfield as my all purpose rifle but rebarreled Enfields chambered in 6.5x55 SE. Less recoil and better performance. It's a shame too because the venerable .303 British is an excellent hunting caliber although it does have excessive recoil in lighter weight rifles.
I believe that the Lee Enfield action is the very best bolt action battle rifle ever built.
@ David Bennett - Re: "I used to use my 303 Lee Enfield as my all purpose rifle but rebarreled Enfields chambered in 6.5x55 SE. Less recoil and better performance."
The 6.5x55 "Swedish Mauser" is another one of those cartridges that punches above its weight. It sort of flew beneath the radar in North America for many many years, but finally - with 6.5 Creedmoor, et al. - the virtues of .65mm/.264-caliber projectiles and rifles for them are being more widely known. The quip is that the Swedes and Norwegians - they developed the cartridge jointly back in the 1890s - must be laughing themselves silly, saying in their languages, "What took you guys so long!?" They've been using it to take everything from bear to reindeer to moose for a long time, despite conventional wisdom saying that it is too light to do the job. High sectional density numbers are part of its secret sauce - that and tough 160-grain RN slugs placed in the right spot. The "Swede" is so good that many African guides and PHs recommend it as a plains game rifle, alongside 30-06 and other traditional choices.
I'm partial to the M1903 Springfield myself and 30-06, but even then as a Yank, I can admire the accomplishments of the Lee-Enfield and the 303. We'll be dead-and-buried long before the last one of those old rifles is done for. They certainly built them to last, didn't they? Yours Long Branch or Savage or what?
I found some bullets at Grafs a couple years back for .303. They were Hornady 150 grain boatail in. 312 diameter. They came 200 in a plastic bag, and had the ballistic tips. I loaded up a few boxes, just to have some on hand. Back then, they also had brass from PRVI. Never tried any of that. Nice video, I have a fondness for the old .303, since I used one for years to great success while deer hunting.
Just checked grafs, they still have tons of 303 British bullets and cases.
PPU (Prvi Partisan) makes great ammo and reloading components. A well-kept secret in the FA sporting industry, at least in the 'States. They've been around for more than a century and know a thing or two....
I was well into my 20’s before I had any other rifle but my 303 Lee Enfield Parker Hale conversion. Here in Canada it was a mice to moose cartridge and most of us learned on those rifles. The Canadian Rangers (a northern reserve unit) still used that round in a classic Lee Enfield until just recent times when they switched to a Tikka rifle in 308 Win. Thanks for the video.
I also reload with Hodgdon Varget, and sometimes I have to make do with what I can get, but the main difficulty in SA is not the powder, it is the bullets, with that .311 or .312 caliber sometimes very hard to find. Casings are also difficult to find and extremely expensive, but fortunately used casings are still relatively easy to find, and I have been able to stock up with enough casings to keep reloading for years to come. To extend casing life, it is best to use a casing in one rifle and not in a different ones, I can necksize only, with the casings already perfectly pressure -formed for my chamber.
Hi @losonsrenoster. I recently found Guns & Bows in CPT are agents for Hornady. They have a wide range of bullets for the 303. I'm also moving over to Varget. Any information you can give on load data?
Here in New Zealand the .303 british has shot more deer in our mountain regions than any other cartridge. Deer and alpine animals have been culled for over 100 years . The government cullers were issued with ex military. 303 smle rifles and ammunition taking animals out to and passed 700 yards. I'm 43 years of age and have 6 different models of .303 rifles. Beautiful firearms and history
I think one of the biggest reasons for the decline of the 303 is a lack of rifles chambered for it. The old lee enfield's are, for whatever reason , you're only way to shoot that caliber and they ar getting very old.
I wish companies would start making replacement parts for these old rifles again. I think someone could make a lot of money doing this. They made something like 20 million of them so there's still a lot out there. And WOW! Probably the smoothest action ever! If you have never shot one you probably don't believe the hype but the British military figured out the best action 130 years ago! Smooth as butter! You would have to spend $2000 bucks today to get anything close.
It's a fine round. Old doesn't make it obsolete or less than relevant IMO. Enjoyed today's discussion. Be Blessed.
Tyler County resident. You?
It’s funny you know; ADI(French owned Australian company that makes the powder) is telling us that the powder shortage we’re having is because they’re filling the larger us orders first!
I’m right in the middle of moving from the worst Australian state(with the current authoritarian state government) to a better state. Scary times.
And how are you enjoying Queensland? ;-)
You clearly are talking about or have never been to, Tasmania.
hi Tom, thumbs up for yr reports and your friendly way you talk 😊
I recently picked up a non issued 1943 longbranch lee enfield. In absolutely mint condition. I paid a collectors price for it as a result. But I purchased it because I have never had one. and I want to shoot it to my hearts content for years to come. Absolutely fantastic video. 👏
I'm glad you enjoyed the video, and congrats on getting one fine rifle!
Grew up using 303s and 303.25s loved the 303.25 but went to other calibres like 308, 3006 eventually.
However still have a soft spot for the 303, 303.25 so much so that iv just purchased one mummy wrap no 4 mark 2 brand new in cosmoline and two 303.25s. New cases are available from 3 makers now in Australia at least plus you can purchase the loaded ammo but it's expensive so reloading is the go. I feel that the 303 Lee Enfield rifle was probably way ahead of its time. It's easy to have a whole conversation just on the 10 shot magazine let alone the the rest of the rifle and its colourful history.
You can get new wood and barrels for 303 and most gun shops in Australia I see 303s
My go to rifle used to be my 303. But with the current situation, I had to switch to the 308. I personally prefer 303, especially out of a fully stocked SMLE; some how feels there's less recoil than a full sized 8mm.
I absolute love my 1942 Enfield. As far as effective caliber you said it yourself, a some tipped arrow can take down a moose. A .22 could kill a moose. All I know is that my Lee Enfield has a 10 round magazine, accurate adjustable iron sights & one of the smoothest actions I have ever fired!
Well, I learned something, didn't know Vargas was an OZ powder..I suppose if it were me and I wanted to shoot.303 I would be stocking up on brass, etc. and if and when it got so bad I could not find it I would barrel to 30.06. It's a shame really as the .303 is a viable cartridge and an excellent hunting round. I have to agree with you, nobody but God knows the future and what's going to happen, especially in the states. I pray the midterms will fix some of the problems we have now...its a shame a few years ago the economy was viable and growing, people were working, businesses were booming and then we changed leadership and it seems every day all we hear is doom and gloom...I pray it changes back. I always remember the USA is only 244 years old...and the Roman Empire was over a thousand when it failed...a country depends on its leadership and its people and it has to have both to prosper...Good video...God Bless
.303 actually uses .311 dia bullets whereas the 30.06 is the .308 diameter.
Would have to make a custom barrel for it.....cheaper just to buy new Ruger or Mossberg Patriot....most conversions back in the day went to using the Winchester .308 because it's also a short action whereas the 30.06 is a long action and won't fit.
@@keithlucas6260
Enfields have a wide bore range. My POF No4Mk2 has a .308 groove Diameter. Just like a 30-06 or 30-30. I have mostly been plinking with a TL314-90 SWC sized to .309 and 5 or 10 grains of Bullseye. Fun plinked and fine for ground squirrels. I have yet to slug the No4 Mk1* I picked up recently. I may not need to size the bullets and just shoot as cast.
The .309 sized bullet just about falls into the case.
Learn to cast, learn to reload I knew I had to. My favorite rifle is in 25-20. I am much more likely to shoot a reproduction in 38spcl/357M though.
@@gotsloco1810 .....the only bullet casting dies I've had since the 60's are for .38 special.
I'm a master toolmaker so making dies for lead casting is a walk in the park....
Simple two plate aluminum and cut on a lathe with a four jaw chuck.
Once offset and running back to back in a triple plate series you can cast as many bullets as you've bored holes for.
A simple die grinder will cut the runners to each hole, and once the bullet is cut, any scale can weigh them.
You are very interesting man, thank you for posting video's. I love the content.
Thanks Tom. Great insights and valid opinion. You may be right, the barrels arent getting any younger and fashion is moving in other directions. I have a barely used model 4 mk2 with all of its furniture and original battle sights.
Anyone and I mean anyone who picks that firearm up immediately synchs up with it. It is iconic and has a line to it that just doesn't quit appealing.
Thay may not be enough.
There are many modern powders that work but it seems you need a few varieties if you want an all purpose rifle out of it. As you pointed out the 180g bullet is good for anything.
It was designed to kill or wound a very specific creature.
Using a single powder I can load 175g or 180g as well as a 130g well enough. But really, if I want to shoot a lighter bullet regularly there is my Swedish 6.5.
The 303 was the go to gun for the average Joe who wanted to moose or deer hunt up north. Under 100 bucks at Canadian Tire and a box of ammo and off you went. There are tens of thousands if not millions of them in closets all over the world in varying states. Many if not most still quite serviceable.
There are still many people using them to great effect in conflict zones.
As these theatres become calmer maybe the foriegn manufactured ammo will become available? Much like 7.62 is.
Take care and I really enjoy your presentations .
I forgot to mention, they are very, very rugged and work in the most appalling conditions.
Hi Tom , really liked your video on the 303 British and the up coming rifle ammo view . I am a collector of guns and reloading presses and over the years have found some very good things . What I have found out over time that several countries have developed cartridges that have the energy to take on deer for the table . The 303 , 7.7 , 8mm , 7.62R and our 30/06 has the energy ( with the right bullet ) to hunt deer at the right yardage . And dont get me wrong I love new ideas for new cartridges but its a shame some of these older shells are going away !!!!
Thanks for the video .
Dave Cook
Tom, I had a 303 Enfield years ago and it was a terrific round as I remember. Unfortunately though, I'd have to agree with your assessment of the old 303's future... Unless the ghost of Christmas Future helps it make a comeback.
Your advice about buying local was spot on also; all the cargo ships waiting to unload goods shows what can happen if the supply chain goes off the rails, maybe your powder is on one of the ships. Anyways, I'd advise anyone who's looking for a new rifle to stay with the most popular calibers here in the US (223Rem, 243Win, 6.5Cr, 270Win, 7RM, 30-30, 308Win, 30-06, and 300Win caliber). Those rounds will be the easiest to find in general but if I had to pick only one, it'd be the 30-06 because it can loaded for so many situations and it has a stellar performance history. Maybe not the "best" every application but the most versatile overall, especially if someone handloads.
As far as the prices go, I've resigned myself to never seeing Winchester Super X 30-06 for less than $20/box again, 😢. I guess it makes my collection of 22's more valuable since shooting CF rifles is off the menu for the foreseeable future.
Great video, sadly I have to agree with you about some of the dire points you brought up. Take care!
Great video! Still shooting the 303 in both my old enfields and my Winchester 1895s.
I haven't tried Varget for reloading .303 British (for my Enfield P14). Over the years I've used IMR 3031, IMR 4350 and IMR 4064, all with good results. One of the 'old boys' at the range suggested I try BL-C2. He swore by the stuff.
As for the cartridge going the way of the Dodo bird, I doubt it'll happen any time soon. There are so many rifles out there chambered in the cartridge, especially the vast numbers of Lee-Enfields that there will be demand for many years to come. But if by some demonic curse, all the .303 British ammo manufacturers stopped producing the stuff today, I have a healthy supply of good old Canadian made CIL Imperial in 180 Gr. KKSP (the bane of many a Canadian moose). Imperial brass is good stuff and with a supply of Sierra .311 180 Gr. Spitzer Pro-Hunter bullets, I'm set for life.
2023 and I’m still filling the freezer with the mighty 303 SMLE, PPU ammo on the deer and surplus for the range, much cheaper than trying to feed a 308 or 6.5 etc with ammo costs now, love from New Zealand
I make a reduced load 210gr cast lead round for my No4 mk1* a great plinking and medium sized game round and cheap shooting.
Reason us commonwealth nations love the 303 is because our fathers and grandfathers generation used little else because when game was plentiful the rifles and ammo were very cheap. Add to that is it was that generations battle rifle and training rifle for cadets etc so I have a few examples as history pieces, in the same way an American collector would have a few garrands M1 carbines etc.
I do not think there is any doubt it is a great cartridge. The one I am interested in is the 7 x 57 Mauser. This one is pretty darn impressive to me.
The 303 is nothing to sneeze at. As you know, I like the 30-06 and the 270 a lot. Both of these are cousins to the 303 but the grand daddy is the 7 x 57 Mauser. Thanks for the video and the subject.
I was searching for a rifle that is in 7x57 mauser. I think Ruger No. 1 is still available in this round. Older Ruger 77's are out there too.
Thx, excellent!
Here in Bavaria, the .303 is still readily available from "S&B". Thx also for the link to "USOG" and the wunderful new gun in .303 British! God bless!
Finding projectiles has been the hard part for me. But I inherited a heap of surplus brass and a mk3 from my great uncle. Its a pain to de-prime but it's beautiful stuff. It's my dog and fox gun for when I'm checking fence lines and the occasional military rifle competition
.311 is not that hard to find as a rule. If all else fails 7.62x39 and 7.62x54r bullets can be pulled..
Feels like the title of the video should have ended with "in America". 😊
But point taken on how it is slowing down. I still love my old Lee Enfield jungle carbine I got from Dad who got it from my uncle.
Can't fault the cartridge but history does march on.
It's OK but it's probably waning. The commercial success stories for hunting cartridges are 6.5 Creedmoor, 308 win, 30-06, 270win, and 300win, and in the America's the 30-30. These are the solutions for game you'll find world wide except for the largest of species. Nearly everything else has really slipped in popularity and at times availability. I'm a big fan of the 338's, 348, 35 cal, 9.3, and 375 cals, but the reality is your seeing fewer and fewer of them as time goes on. I prefer hunting elk with anything 338 cal or my 348 winchester levergun but honestly it's far more cost effective to just keep a 30-30 and 30-06 around and fed than the more exotic and not so popular cartridges.
Your 100% correct that we won't be going back to the life and times we were living in a few years ago. Rough seas are ahead.
I think most hunters have traded short to medium range effectiveness in favor of long range accuracy? And I say that because there is such a big difference in the terminal ballistics of those larger bore cartridges you prefer vs what has become so popular. None of that matters to much on deer but for elk in rough country I'm guessing it would make a big difference.
And as for everything else, it's probably going to get real interesting real soon?
@@TomRiverSimpleLiving You should come and bring one of them Winchester 70's out west. I admit the animal numbers are in a sharp decline, but there's still opportunity. At least go and see some of those wild areas and trout fish, bear hunt, maybe wolf too.
Heaps of hunters still use it in nz. Still the cheapest way to hunt in the bush where the shots are usually, 30m maybe up to 150m once in a while, even a shot out old ww1 Enfield will still do the damage at that range. Pick up an old sporter Enfield for $150 box of PPU ammo and way you go. .303 has good power too. It will be around in use for a long while yet in nz that's for!
That's heartwarming to read. Here in Canada, plenty of people still hunt with good old .303 British, because it's equally adept at dropping large game as it is at taking medium-sized game, and has done so ever since it's been shot here. Everything from coyotes and deer, to moose, elk and bears.
Lee Enfield rifles were also used right through to 2018(!!!) as the standard issue firearm for the Canadian Rangers, who are a sub-component of the Canadian Army that patrols the Arctic. It easily withstood the rigours of the Canadian Arctic and performed flawlessly in the extreme conditions there, which is a testament to its fantastic design and reliability, and is also why it saw such a long length of service for such extreme duty. There was just no reason to use anything else. I'm sure if they were still making Lee Enfields that they'd still be issuing them to the rangers there.
Ultimately, .303 just works and is a highly effective hunting cartridge, and it will continue to be for decades more, centuries even, if people are smart enough to keep it alive. It's as viable now as it has always been.
Cheers from Canada. 🇨🇦
Wow I have never seen it a new rifle in 303 good information thanks for letting me know that was another issue I had with the 303 I wanted better site or a scope scope mounts really hard to find the Mark 3 Enfield
When my dad discharged from the Canadain army he bought a BSA rifle in 303 British around 1947, he used it for 25 years and harvested elk, moose and deer, I started useing the same rifle in the early 70s and over a 10 year period I harvested elk, moose and deer with it also, mostly useing 180 gr CIL or Imperial factory loads. I am 60 now and still have some 303 Brits, I regularly shoot a WW1 Enfield no1 mkIII with hand loaded cast bullets. Hopefully the 303 will be around as long as the 30-30, 30-06, 8mm mauser and 7.62x54r last, they have all been around well over 100 years so far! Buy and Lee loader kit and a mould in .311, put it in your possibles bug out bag for hard times, I have loaded the 303 with many different powders, from light cast bullet loads in pistol powders, shotgun powder, black powder, trail boss to full on high fps loads useing many rifle powders.
Unfortunately Tom, I believe you're right. The 303 is a great cartridge but rifles are becoming rarer than ammo. My first rifle was a SMLE Mk4 #1 bought in 1970 for $22.50 with a bright bore and the ladder type rear sight. I harvested my first deer with it in the Adirondack mountains. A downhill 130yd shot, aimed center mass above the front leg that 180gr, round nose Remington Core Lokt found it's mark, battle sights and all, and took both lungs and the far shoulder. I never reloaded for it because you could buy crates of Mil-Surp ammo for next to nothing, I believe they were 1248 rounds and cheap enough that I could afford it on a lawn mowing budget, just had problems carrying it. That was the draw, cheap ammo and rifles, quality rifles that shot darn well even with cheap ammo. I don't believe you'll ever see that again. For the life of me I can't remember what happened to that rifle, might have loaned it to a buddy but after I started working it was replaced by a Remington 700 in 30/06. The 303 will kill anything that needs to be on the table and if you have a rifle that will hit the mark you're all set but then, that's the problem.
I think you're right about that, that is the problem isn't it. LOL
I have a Long Branch Enfield from 1950 and it goes hunting wildboars to Sweden in December 2022😎
Tom, we need you to run for a public office. Your demeanor is great.
That is a really beautiful Parker-Hale ! Sadly though everyone in Britain (those that can get a firearms certificate, that is) seems to have moved to .243/.308. My dear old father served throughout 1939-45 and carried a .303 til he was made an officer (Webley revolver !); he said it was a lovely soft shooting weapon. Unfortunately I have never had the chance to fire one and at 68- maybe never !! Thanks anyway-love your talks-keep safe and keep hunting. Tom
I haven’t heard anyone mention the Wobbly Webley in a lot of years. Brings back fond memories. ❤
Canadian here I used the .303 on just about everything and almost every gun owner I know owns one. I switch between the .303 & .270win during rifle season.
Here in Canada the ammo is rare and very expensive. I'm trying to get bullets and cases to reload for mine. Not easy. 30 06 is so much easier to get and cheaper.
That’s strange to me because it was , at one time , a surplus round and everyone I knew from up that way had an old 303.
I would’ve never guessed it would be that hard to find, unless…politics maybe? We have tons in the states.
Wow. I never would have thought that .303 would be hard to come by in Canada!
During the last ammo shortage about 10? years ago, I could not find projectiles for the 303. I decided to start swaging my own 303 hunting projectiles. I now make jacketed, .312” bullets in weights varying from 150 to 215 grains. There is no loaded 303 ammo in the stores in Canada. I think we went through stocks in Canada first in Canada due to increased demand. Here, when available, loaded 303 ammo will set you back $40-$80 at the register for a box of 20.
I think the 303 is always a good hunting cartridge regardless of the year
Love my mk4 no1, as a Yank, gotta give it up to the Brits on this one
Tom , The 303 British is popular in Maine, Michigan Wisconsin North Dakota Montana Idaho and Oregon. Basically the border states of Canada. I wonder why?
very informative, ive been looking for info on 303 british as i have two..thanks..
I'm a Brit about to buy my first .303, likely a number 4. Unfortunately we can't get Varget here anymore so I'll rely on Vihtavuori N140 or similar.
I have 5 Enfields in .303 from a martini to a No 5. The No 1s have really loose chambers, the No4 has an OK chamber, but the Martini and the No 5 have super tight chambers, and if i only neck size the brass fired from those two, i can interchange the reloads between the Martini and the No 5. I have Winchester casings with 6 to 7 reloads and they do not look close to separation. Lots of cracked necks but never a head separation with those two rifles.
The best bet to find a 303 British is the old military surplus rifles and hopefully the barrel is in good shape
One of the most popular cartridges today, the 6.5 Creedmore, is nothing more then a modernized (slightly faster twist) 6.5 Mannlicher, another 120+ year old round :)
Isn't the only difference between a 6.5 Swede and a 6.5 Creed is that one is a long action and the other is a short action round?
I'm glad you got your power back in my day Lee and God 77x57 is that if you hit a lot of other normal No1 to 8
I'm glad you got it it would fire the range of the road from you get Scarlett Johansson Johansson 7the to the range and even hunting but it was just fitting in with the channel but that is going on on this morning for me is just a great general purpose reference to the range and
I'm glad you got your power back
I'm glad you got your power back
Loading properly is important but not really hard to do. It kind of happens automatically with the way the mag sits.
But it does suck when you get a rim jam.
For deer, the 150 grain is fine. For elk I would go heavier. I'm doing about the same with the same bullets out of 7.62x54R.
Love and still use my old no 4
Reload new cases depending on intended use.
Thanks
From Australia 🇦🇺 👍👍👍👍👍
Most of the guys i hunt with here in NZ shoot .308win, 7mm08 or 6.5CM (i personally use a .308win) but there are some old hunters or old souls who still love the .303 British.
and I'm one of the "old souls' even at 60 started on a No1mk1, still have it + other models of the .303 and apart from an Arisaka type99 that's all I use
The good old days when I was a kid in northern Ontario Canada . You could walk into the local surplus store and take you pick from a rack of Enfield rifles . That would cost you $16.00 , with ammo you were on your way moose hunting for a 20 dollar bill .
Robert, my Dad bought the Lee Enfield in 303 that I hunted with for years for $45. Best $45 he ever spent!
Tom, most modern .308win barrels are 1/10 twist not 1/12. I've got 3 .308win rifles and all are standard 1/10 twist and I shoot 175gr & 220gr SMK handloads through them all just fine. Great video sir!
The cartridge with external ballistics most similar to the 303 British is the 300 Savage. They are nearly identical with 150 gr. and 180 gr. bullets. Unfortunately most viewers are no more familiar with the 300 than the are the 303, so the 308 is an apt comparison.
Most cartridges I don't notice much difference in case brands, but with the 303 British W-W Super cases have always worked the best and lasted longest. My go to loads for my P14 has been the 180 gr. Sierra with IMR4895.
I plan on getting an old SMLE No. 1 Mk. 3 sometime soon since I like WW1 history and was hoping the round would still be pretty decent, and it sounds like it works just fine if I can get ammo for cheap.
The ammo certainly isn't as cheap as used to be but there is still some surplus ammo out there if you do some digging. As far as performance though it is a great cartridge even compared to more modern cartridges. It's only about 100 fps slower than a .308 Win which percentage wise is almost nothing. Definitely a rifle and cartridge worth having.
Hi Tom, shot the .303 in the Irish Reserves back in the day, 16 years old, best week of my youth! Now, how about a range report,.love to see that in action..one group will do, save that ammo!
Here in Iran, almost all hunters use 720 and Iranian Moser, but the few who use 303 like me have problems with ammunition. It means that this cartridge is found more often in India, but the ammunition is of poor quality
There maybe newer options for cartridges that are flatter shooting and more bullet options with newer guns that have easier optic mounting but if you have a good lee enfield rifle and do your part 303 will drop anything on north america. 303 is to canada and australia what 3006 is the US.
Here in Australia 2022 ADI 2208 aka Varget is one of the few readily available rifle powders . Pistol & shotgun powders production has apparently ceased in Australia for the foreseeable future.
Ironically the restrictions to ownership of automatic firearms in all states here will most certainly mean the reloading components that are still available will last for a bit longer . My Martini Enfield 303 Brit will last me quite a while.😉
.303 is very much still being used for hunting in New Zealand my Dad uses it I used it when I lived there. Its a very popular round to use and there are a heap of rifles available to use the ammunition in. so short answer Yes it very much is. this is a round that during ww2 could still drop a man sized target at 1 Kilometer.
Agree good luck finding ammo. Also it may only reload once or twice before case head separation even when only neck sizing due to generous chambers meant for operating in dirty conditions. I’d argue most .308’s have 1-10 twist. I have 4 .303’s including full wood Lee Metford, No1 MkIII, No4 MkI*, No4 MkI with scope and modern stock….it shoots 1 “ groups. 🇨🇦
In Canada if it has fur and 4 legs it's been taken by a 303.
Still popular here in Ontario Canada /,in fact just bought another one !
Now that there isn’t a military use for the .303 cartridge, I wonder if someone had the ambition to make the caliber that was originally supposed to replace the .303…the .276 or something like that and see how well that would perform on the market
YES is the answer. I hunt frequently with all of my Lee Enfields.
It's funny but so many people don't realize that the .303 British never quit being a great cartridge. It's every bit as effective today as it was 100 years ago.
🇦🇺😎👍Most things in Australia are up 40 / 50 %. over the last 2 years. Primers are up to $650 / $1000 per 5000 if you can get them. No pistol powder for 2 years. ADI is hard to get as the powder is being exported overseas $395 /4 kg .Even our own ADI ammo is as expensive as imported ammo. Figure that one out …even though the prices are through the roof and their profit margins are low , the customers are buying up as much as they can get. One dealer said their shop was swamped with about 80 customers one day and they struggled to cope… I get the feeling people down here are concerned. Great video🏁
Since 2020 most of us in the US are buying our powder and primers online at much higher prices and with extra shipping charges. Before 2020 I bought everything in local shops but the local shops haven't been able to get those supplies in the last 3 years.
@@TomRiverSimpleLiving 🇦🇺😎👍In Australia we can’t buy anything like ammo , powder and particularly not primers on line. Everything has to be purchased at the shopfront and certain things are recorded to our licences. In my 150 mile radius we only have a handful of dealers to work with as most of Australia’s dealers were shut down in 1997 due to the new rules and restrictions. Dealers license were purchased from the government and businesses dissolved
Thales / ADI are still making powder for us shooters, as well as the military. Varget is still being made, we have been advised that Trailboss, Shotgun and pistol powders will be a couple of years. But, I can still buy 2208 )Varget) locally. Crazy times here is Aus, but we'll see how it goes. If you are looking for inexpensive and good quality brass, look at the offerings from PPU
Thanks for the info Simon! Brass seems to be easy to find for the less common cartridges here in the U.S. and I'm finding a few bullets and even primers from time to time. But it seems like powder is getting harder and harder to find? I could check Midway USA on line daily and they would get in some powder. It might not be what I used but I could see they were getting powder in, but now I'm not seeing that. So I'm not sure what's going on with powder?
And I keep hearing things are crazy in Australia right now. I pray everything works out for y'all. I can say things are pretty normal in my state but that isn't the case for a lot if other states here in the U.S.
The .303 Enfield was an excellent deer rifle 50 years ago. Neither deer or the rifle has changed in that time so there can be no reason for it not still to be an excellent deer rifle. If the hunter is a true marksman they understand ballistics, know their rifle, and how to make proper use of the sights or scope and therefore capable of making effective kill shots out to 300-400 yards, although the rifle is capable of longer ranges in the right hands using the right ammunition. The .303 packs the same or a bit more punch than a 30.06.
I've always been a big fan of the 3o3 .
It is safe to say the enfield probably killed more Canadian moose than all other calbers combined. This includes the world revord alaska moose taken in Yukon about 10 years ago. They sold them wrapped in wax paper at Woolco for about 8 bucks in the 70s. These were already sportorized.
They go well with plad shirts and rubber boots.
Subsribed
If you are hand loader the 303 brit makes a nice wild cat in the 303 Epps it put it on par with the 30/06. As for brass rvi Partizan Brass is the best
This is great news. The deer don't know the difference. Plus you can put a 180 grain core lock in the 08 with great results.
No new rifles in South Africa, but lots of old Lee Enfield here though.
There is little options for hand loading either.
Don't need a video to answer the question. The answer is an emphatic yes. The Commonwealth's .30-'06 is a very capable round.
Does it still do the job? Then it's still just as viable and effective as when it was first introduced.
IMR Enduron powder 4166 is a good option if you can’t find Varget. Seems to be more commonly available in this time of shortage.
I would make a point of buying up premium bullets in .311 (Sierra, Speer) or .312 (Hornady).
G’day Tom, there’s not too much to worry about over here in Australia mate, yeah the state governments have been pricks with locking each state out and kinda dividing the nation over the last 2 years, but that’s all about to come to an end in December, ive been living in the lucky state of Qld, and we have had nearly no coronavirus here at all due to locking everyone one out, and Qld is a massive state, so it’s not been a big drama really.
As far as Varget and ADI is concerned they have recently been sending new product out into the marketplace, so supply should be good on that soon hopefully, I know there’s tonnes of there ammo on gun shop shelves here, I could go out and buy 10,000 rounds today if I wanted too…
I have owned several enfields and regret selling every one of them . They work great and if ya get a good one they shoot de ent as well. Will knock the snot out of a moose no problem . The last one I had was own by a man who bought it back in the 50's and had it since. Came right out of the packing grease. It shot amazing. Man do I regret selling it . Have never found one like it here in Canada. Likely never will.
Just shoot it for fun in a No.4 MkI, had to start reloading years ago as ammunition was scarce and expensive. Work up 174g loads as close to MkVII as possible and still hits on the sights. Only error is my much older eyes. Never recall a rim lock, shot some Mad Minutes in the past-only smoother bolt I’ve fired is CMP .30-40 Krag. But the trigger/bolt handle configuration and cock on close still makes the Enfield much faster.
In your opinion how many times can you reload 303 cases. I understand that the cases expand a lot under fireing do to the loose chambers.
David, 303 brass can expand a lot and reloading is tough on the brass but only if you full length size it, and even then only if the head space is a little off. If you neck size or just bump the shoulder like so many are doing now 303 brass will last just as long as any other brass. You will get however much stretch on the first firing but after that it will be fire formed to your rifle's chamber.
The amount of pigs and deer that this calibre has taken in Australia is immense. Still one of the classics.
7.62 x 39 is .303 shortened you can cut down the barrel from the breech of an Enfield and it will chamber and fire.
A box of .308 is going for $24 bucks for one of my rifles and my son-in-law who just had to have that 6.5 Creedmore is finding out his boxes are $44 bucks.
I've got the same boxes of .303 like yours for the same price 25 years ago, and even have custom handloads that old too.
When we moved from California to Arizona, using the long barrel rifles wasn't an issue, but moving to East Texas and the dense woods is a different story and I started using my AK-47 for hogs and then most get away with using a .243 for deer.
I've got two of them...one is moa jacketed, and the other is cast 3". BLC2 and Accurate 2520 are "the" powders for the 303. I do believe the old No 4 mk 1's could be around for a long long time, if the young ones can recognize just how durable they are, should the Lord tarry!
If you have a No.4 you can load your cases up to 61,000 psi as the No.4 was rechambered to take the 7.62 x 51 and that really out-performs the .308 with the heavier weight projectile. I load 125gn to 203gn and can shoot at anything. I also have a couple of wildcats - .270/303 and 25/303. Both the 270 and 25 are excellent rounds. Absolutely nothing wrong with the .303 - it just looses out to slick marketing trying to sell people new calibres that they don't really need.
I always used 180 gr ammo in the old 303 .