Bullet size for .303 British

[ShawnM]

OK, wikipedia has the .303 British as a .311" bullet and the only .30 caliber bullets I've seen have been .308".

Is the .303 British just a very uncommon size to find or is wikipedia full of s**t and I should use the .308" diameter bullets when loading?

[wwbirds]

Is available from many manufacturers.

[303carbine]

Originally Posted by ShawnM

OK, wikipedia has the .303 British as a .311" bullet and the only .30 caliber bullets I've seen have been .308".

Is the .303 British just a very uncommon size to find or is wikipedia full of s**t and I should use the .308" diameter bullets when loading?

You can get 311 or 312 diameter bullets anywhere, 308 size are for 308 or 30-06 etc.

[sikwhiskey]

Originally Posted by ShawnM

OK, wikipedia has the .303 British as a .311" bullet and the only .30 caliber bullets I've seen have been .308".

Is the .303 British just a very uncommon size to find or is wikipedia full of s**t and I should use the .308" diameter bullets when loading?

.311" is the correct size bullet for the 303 British, I Have used Speer or Hornady.
I have heard that you can use a .308 bullet, but have never attempted it. Maybe someone else with some more experience will ring in.

[duffy4]

Bullet dia. is .311.

Of the 4 loading manuals I have, only two of them list the .303 British and data for reloading it.

[PJT]

.311 or .312

[6.5x47 lapua]

you can use .308 bullets in them but the accuracy is going to suck.

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by custom gunworx

you can use .308 bullets in them but the accuracy is going to suck.

You are right. It does. I tried it.

311 or 312 is what I use and it is what my manuals recommend.

[ShawnM]

Thanks for the info guys. My ole' man has a .303 Enfield that he's dead set on using this season and I would like to give him some choices in ammo. If you can find ammunition for .303 in a store it's usually just 180gr SP from Winchester.

Anybody ever order bullets online? Did you get hasseled?

[303carbine]

Originally Posted by ShawnM

Thanks for the info guys. My ole' man has a .303 Enfield that he's dead set on using this season and I would like to give him some choices in ammo. If you can find ammunition for .303 in a store it's usually just 180gr SP from Winchester.

Anybody ever order bullets online? Did you get hasseled?

The Winchester Power Point ammo is very good stuff, I have a few boxes of it when I need good ammo to start with and good brass to reload after.

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by ShawnM

Thanks for the info guys. My ole' man has a .303 Enfield that he's dead set on using this season and I would like to give him some choices in ammo. If you can find ammunition for .303 in a store it's usually just 180gr SP from Winchester.

Anybody ever order bullets online? Did you get hasseled?

I order all my bullets, for reloading, online. In fact I am waiting on an order I placed last week for some .22 bullets. Second order for this calibre this year.
Last order took ten days from placement to arrival.

No hassles. Keep in mind, bullets are hard to come by these days.
I'm told it is due to the war in Afghanistan taking up most of the manufactures production.

[Leeper]

The most accurate load I ever used in my 303 consisted of 125 grain .308" Sierra bullets ahead of Blc2. In fact, the only 308 bullets which shot poorly were Sierra boattails. 147 grain fmjbt bullets, pulled from 7.62 ammo, also shot very well. Nonetheless, I would use .311 bullets as a matter of preference. Leeper

[Grizzly Adams]

Just to confuse the issue, 7.62x39, nominally a .308, also uses .311 bullets. Then there's the .30 Mini 14;

http://www.perfectunion.com/vb/ruger...er-change.html

Grizz

[wolf308]

i use .308 bullets in my russian 7.62x 54 mm its a .310 inch bore, accuracy is not a concern, bush gun with 220 gr round noses for justin. but ya theres a seperate 311 size for the enfield just have to phone around

[gitrdun]

Originally Posted by custom gunworx

you can use .308 bullets in them but the accuracy is going to suck.

Not only that, but the bullets may enter target sideways.

[Tracker34]

Originally Posted by wolf308

i use .308 bullets in my russian 7.62x 54 mm its a .310 inch bore, accuracy is not a concern, bush gun with 220 gr round noses for justin. but ya theres a seperate 311 size for the enfield just have to phone around

I bought one of these old rifles about a year ago and was wondering the proper size bulllet for it. Was thinking of using 180gr. Wasn't sure if .308 bullets would work decent or not.

[trooper]

I just picked up some .311 dia hornady bullets for my Mosin Nagant 7.62 X 54R. now I'm just waiting for a correct size expander ball for the die..... ordered from Lee about three weeks ago.

[222rem]

Don't confuse .303 British with .303 Savage
.303 British uses .311 or .312 dia.bullets and .303 Savage uses .308 dia. bullets

[Rem - P14]

My P - 14 really performs well with the Winchester PP 180s I have also loaded 125s, 150s, and 174 Match Sierras. I had an off-day with the 125s (only tried them once so I have to give the bullet the benefit of the doubt) but the 150s shot very well. I have yet to try Sierras 174 Match but I am entertaining some high hopes.
I do not know anything about loading .308 diameter bullets in the .303. It is my understanding that the British measured the muzzle diameter differently for this shell so maybe they are compatible. i will never know as I do not intend to possibly jeapardize the quality of the rifling in my P-14.
I am careful when offering advice due to my own inexperience but after applying a little logic I find myself thinking the .303 might be a prime candidate for premium bullets. If you stay within the recommended loading guides in the manuals I find the .303 generating a little less in the way of ft. lbs energy. It only follows that a more solidly constructed bullet will serve better when it comes to penetration on big game animals. I once loaded some Barnes Triple shock 150s (when I could not find any others) and I will have to give them a try one of these days to see how they are for accuracy.
If you father is hunting moose he might wish to give this thought some consideration.
By todays standards there are many who consider the .303 light for moose and this remains true even though that very shell kept many eating wild meat for a very long time. Long before the magnums came along and rendered all else obsolete in some people's minds the .303 served very well.
I suppose it is possible that we are looking at longer ranges these days due to more skittish game and that would be throwing yet another factor into the argument. One more case for the premium bullet too.

[catnthehat]

We actually shoot the 303 a lot up here, there are about 7 of us that have a great time with it.
There are some lousy shooting Enfields out there , for sure , one I remember through bullets sideways into the target at 50 yards!!
That particular No.1 rifle had the Royal Newfoundland regiment cartouche in it, and i suspect it was corroded inside from corrosive ammo and salt water!
The is a fella in our group however that owns a No.1 Lithgow Enfield, and it has always been particularly accurate, especially with 174 Match kings!
The first time he went "long" with it, the first shot was quite a bit short, hitting the water some distance in front of the target.
Oldbadger took the rifle , ran the sight up a bit more, and AO's blackman lay down pron and dropped one in the 2" bull with the open sights.
Not that big a deal except for the fact that the rifle is so old, and the target is
1,000 meters away!!!
here's a pic of the shot, and he did it more than a few times that day!
Note: we needed to build a little ramp so we could see over the weeds!
Cat

[Korzy]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

Oldbadger took the rifle , ran the sight up a bit more, and AO's blackman lay down pron and dropped one in the 2" bull with the open sights.
Not that big a deal except for the fact that the rifle is so old, and the target is
1,000 meters away

This is impressive. I don't think I could hit a barn at 1000m with open sights.

[KegRiver]

That is impressive cat.

I've been wondering cat, do you have a relative in High Level that works for transportation? Or who did work for transportation back in 2000 through 2005?

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by KegRiver

That is impressive cat.

I've been wondering cat, do you have a relative in High Level that works for transportation? Or who did work for transportation back in 2000 through 2005?

Nope, no relations up there that Ii know of at all.
My brother and i have always been in construction in the Ft. mac area.
Cat

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

We actually shoot the 303 a lot up here, there are about 7 of us that have a great time with it.
There are some lousy shooting Enfields out there , for sure , one I remember through bullets sideways into the target at 50 yards!!
That particular No.1 rifle had the Royal Newfoundland regiment cartouche in it, and i suspect it was corroded inside from corrosive ammo and salt water!
The is a fella in our group however that owns a No.1 Lithgow Enfield, and it has always been particularly accurate, especially with 174 Match kings!
The first time he went "long" with it, the first shot was quite a bit short, hitting the water some distance in front of the target.
Oldbadger took the rifle , ran the sight up a bit more, and AO's blackman lay down pron and dropped one in the 20" bull with the open sights.
Not that big a deal except for the fact that the rifle is so old, and the target is
1,000 meters away!!!
here's a pic of the shot, and he did it more than a few times that day!
Note: we needed to build a little ramp so we could see over the weeds!
Cat

WHOA!! I made a mistake in my post - it should be TWENTY INCH BULL!!
He3k, I think the best TR shooters in the WORLD would be impressed with Clint hitting a 2" bull at 1,000!
Cat

[KegRiver]

Just wondering, you do remind me of a fellow I used to know up there in HL.
Very cool fellow. Been wondering what he's up too.
Who knows, maybe some day I'll bump into him again.

[KegRiver]

Even a 20 inch target is awful small at that range.

When I was guiding we used to try to hit a rock about that size at a measured distance of 660 yards. Try is the appropriate term.

We did hit it, some of the guys even hit it quiet often. But I'm sure that was more luck then ability.

[ndttech]

Originally Posted by ShawnM

Thanks for the info guys. My ole' man has a .303 Enfield that he's dead set on using this season and I would like to give him some choices in ammo. If you can find ammunition for .303 in a store it's usually just 180gr SP from Winchester.

Anybody ever order bullets online? Did you get hasseled?

I picked up a couple of boxes of Serbian prvi partizan .303 British FMJ 174gr the other day from Williams Arms in Port Perry, ON for my old No1 Lithgow...

We'll see how this shoots shortly.....

...and I think they will sell over the phone....1-877-833-2634

Brian

[ShawnM]

Originally Posted by ndttech

I picked up a couple of boxes of Serbian prvi partizan .303 British FMJ 174gr the other day from Williams Arms in Port Perry, ON for my old No1 Lithgow...

We'll see how this shoots shortly.....

...and I think they will sell over the phone....1-877-833-2634

Brian

Thanks for the tip, my dad is going to use it for hunting so FMJ doesn't help him. I'll have to buy online and have the bullets shipped here. No big deal, as long as I can find a couple decent bullets.

[jungleboy]

I think this is one of the best sites on the net regarding the 303 british.Loads of info and some very good books he has available as well .

http://303british.com/

[ShawnM]

Finally managed to dig the .303 out of storage and it doesn't have a sight mount anyway! Hopefully this puts his plan to rest of hunting with it... Too bad I just bought a bunch of brass and bullets!