.303 British Reloading Data

[Doyled96]

Well, due to a gun auction yesterday I am now the proud owner of a sporterized No4 Mk1. Which is perfect I had an all original Mil-Surp that I sold because I never took it out. Now with this one I am going to refinish it and make it a new deer rifle. Can anyone share their reloading charts with me for the .303 British? I did a quick search and did not find any threads mentioning it directly. If their is please share them I would appreciate it greatly! Thank you in advance.

 

[HWL]

You can find reloading data in EVERY reloading manual,.... even in a russian!

HWL

 

[Doyled96]

You can find reloading data in EVERY reloading manual,.... even in a russian!

HWL

Correct! But rather than throwing a dart. I'd rather hear what guys have loaded that they like and work.

 

[HWL]

Have you had checked headspace with gauches by a competent gunsmith?
There is no reloading fun to gain with a headspace problem.
Btw. ....my favourit load is the 215 gr Woodleigh RNSP.

...from a Ruger No.1

HWL

 

[Hunter4752001]

Check through the data supplied by the various powder and projectile companies FIRST. Basing your loads on data from some unknown 'internet expert' is a good way to win a Darwin award. Also don't push your loads to the extreme, the No 4 action isn't forgiving of hot loads.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Well, due to a gun auction yesterday I am now the proud owner of a sporterized No4 Mk1. Which is perfect I had an all original Mil-Surp that I sold because I never took it out. Now with this one I am going to refinish it and make it a new deer rifle. Can anyone share their reloading charts with me for the .303 British? I did a quick search and did not find any threads mentioning it directly. If their is please share them I would appreciate it greatly! Thank you in advance.

@Doyled96
A few things first.
Get the headspace checked. If it's not correct it can be simply done by changing the bolt head. They are numbered from 1 to 4, each increase in number decreases the head space by .003 inches

Mike the bore. They can vary from . .311-.315. some projectiles will just rattle down the bore
After shooting NECK SIZE cases only until the get hard to chamber then fls. Helps with accuracy.
If it's already sporterised Bisley bedding will shrink groups and Huber concepts make a great easy to install single stage trigger.

Any good .311, .312 bullet should work well in the 150-180gn range, the Woodleigh 215gn is a great bullet that can be driven to 2,300fos in a good No4 action. Varget or H4350 will help reduce bolt back thrust.
I have shit a lot of game from pigs to sambar deer with the old 303 and never found it wanting .
Bob

 

[rookhawk]

Well, due to a gun auction yesterday I am now the proud owner of a sporterized No4 Mk1. Which is perfect I had an all original Mil-Surp that I sold because I never took it out. Now with this one I am going to refinish it and make it a new deer rifle. Can anyone share their reloading charts with me for the .303 British? I did a quick search and did not find any threads mentioning it directly. If their is please share them I would appreciate it greatly! Thank you in advance.

Look for loads that use IMR3031. The rifle was made for extinct stranded cordite. 3031 reproduces pressures and velocities to that effect better than any other powder. Recipes can be found on the IMR website.

 

[hoytcanon]

These are some loads that I worked up in my Ruger No.1... they proved to be excellent on deer and bears... but note, this was in a No.1, so you should drop down and work your way back up. The best load was with CFE-223, and the best accuracy came at 48.0 grains with a 150 SP, so that is pretty much what I stuck with.

.303 British (Max COL = 3.075”);
---------------------------------------------------
- Full; Hornady 150 SP, 46.0-50.0/CFE-223, W-W/Fed 210, 3.000” (48.0*)
- Full; Hornady 150 SP, 42.0/H4895, W-W/Fed 210, 3.000”
- Full; Hornady 174 RN, 48.0C/H4350, W-W/Fed 210, 3.050” (*)
- Full; Hornady 174 RN, 49.0/W760, W-W/Fed 210, 3.050”

 

[Rule 303]

I have a sportorized No4. and working up loads for it. AR2208 and 2209 (as Bob said Varget and H4350) give the best performance so far for me. Down tuning the loads I have for the Ruger No1. I will be sticking with 174 to 180 grain projectiles. So until I have a load I would stay with the Reloading Manuals advice. Max listed load for the 180 grain with AR2209 is 48grains.

 

[F. Vaccaro]

I would always check data from any forum (including my data) against a reputable loading manual.

 

[Rule 303]

I would always check data from any forum (including my data) against a reputable loading manual.

Very wise words.

 

[hoytcanon]

.303 British No.1-A and .45/70 No.1-S... as I said above the CFE-223 load I posted above is excellent in this rifle.

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

I’ve got a few Imr/h 4198 cast loads and some imr 4195 loads neither powder is ideal but in these times one has to make do with what you have. If you need loads for either powder send me a pm.

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

If any 3031 still exists in the world the Sasquatches are hoarding it at Area 51 where they filmed the moon landing…