Tips for Beginners when Reloading .303 British 

I shot rifle and pistol n the 80'&90's and reloaded all my ammunition. I never put one round of commercial ammo through any of my guns. The only calibre I has in two different rifles was the 6.5 x 55 Swedish Mauser and I interchanged ammo in those two guns, but they both were of the same date and weapons that appeared to have only had their proof rounds through them before being greased up to go to the Swedish arsenals. The bores and chambers were mint, and I say mint because I cast both chambers and bores and measured them with a micrometer and they were well within spec from given documentation available. My 303 was a number 4 Mk 1 * if 1954 vintage from RAF storage and that had a near mint bore too. In fact the bore was a little tight, and I found it shot better using Israeli 7.62 bullets ( which were nice and cheap compared with the Sierra ones I started using. ) I used the 7.62 primer punch from my .308 Win set of dies instead of the .303" one( the primer punch on the way out re-sizes the neck band after being crimped hard on way down) and that produced a very competitive rifle in club competitions. I bought brand new Norma brass originally, it wasn't cheap by any means, but unlike this video I got around 18 or 19 reloads out of it without one case separation nor even any sign of separation before I gave up shooting when the handgun ban came in here in the UL in 1997. And also I always fully sized the brass not just neck sized. This just goes to show the quality of Norma brass compared to other makes, given what this gentleman says about only neck sizing.

Exceedingly kind of you to say. Thank you for watching!

I agree, excellent and very informative

@Majorrogerragland48 Recently I started using Berry's Plated 123 gr .311 (made for 7.62x39) over 20 grains of IMR SR4759 (now discontinued😡) as a light plinker. Unknown as to what I'll use when my supply runs out. Very accurate, kicks like a .32-20 Winchester.

@@steveh4962 My load is Missouri Bullets Co, Hi-tek .312 Diameter 167 Grain FP and 13 grains of Trailboss. sweet, mild and accrete shooting out @ 50 yards.

@Majorrogerragland48 More than one way to skin a cat: my other two are both from Accurate Molds. The 31-134D over 8 grs of Unique and the 31-180MB over 10 grs of Unique. Both molds were ordered with .314 diameter projectiles. Good cheap fun. The Maltby loves them both!

Thank you, very kind of you!

And thank you for watching! Good luck with the new rifle!

Glad to hear that you got into reloading and for one of my favourite rifles at that! And happy to hear that you're seeing improved groups as a result, though 2" at 100 with factory is nothing to sneeze at with a rifle of that age. So well done on both counts! I will admit that I am not the biggest fan of neck sizing but it does extend the life of the brass and you ostensibly do have improved accuracy, though I'm a little dubious of that later claim. The top F class shooters in the world almost universally full-length size and they seem to do okay in the accuracy department, though I will grant we're comparing apples to oranges, ha ha.

If you want accuracy from your 303 look for, accurising your 303 or 10 steps to insanity, its all in one sentence and shows how to set up your 303, I've also used 123 fmj projectiles at 700yds with great success

@@TheRedneckPreppy I only neck size and shoot to out to 1,000 yds

Thank you very much!

My thanks!

Hey I have had that day as well so don't feel bad. Good thing is that nothing bad happened and you were able to clear the brass out of the chamber.

Hearing those costs makes me want to shed a tear, ha ha. Even with inflation those prices are cheaper than today. Ah well.

You can't go wrong with a good Lee Enfield!

Quite kind of you!

You are too kind, sir.

Awesome and thank you kindly for watching sir!

Good luck!

Thank you, very kind of you!

Certainly can come in useful for handloading ammunition for both Lee Enfields and Mosin Nagant M91/30s given both are a bit "infamous" for having bores of slightly varying size, though probably a good practice for any old rifle from that era.

Can't argue that -- I think its almost a rule that if you're trying to maximize accuracy out of either the LE or MN that you slug them.

Ah! A voice of knowledge in the wilderness of trees! I fall into the ranks of both the competitors and cast bullet maniacs that start with new unprimed brass. I've found Privy Partisan best matches the case dimensions/volume of WWII Mark VII ball ammunition from Canada, Britain, and the Greek's very fine HXP ball ammunition (no longer available, sadly). The metallurgy is excellent in their brass as well. That done, we/I create a false shoulder on the neck so that the bolt closes with a light crush fit on the case. Looking at the location of the false shoulder on the case and how much further it is ahead of the factory shoulder demonstrates just how much 'extra space' there is at the front of the chamber when headspaced on the rim rather than now on the false shoulder. That's why the case stretching occurs that leads to early failure of the brass. Having done that, after firing case sizing is with the Lee Collet die you mention, and occasionally a quick shoulder bump of a few thou to maintain that light crush fit when chambering the rounds. I anneal the cases via hand held and an alcohol lamp pretty much every time, but not every time. It only takes about ten seconds or so until the case is uncomfortable to continue to hold, so it doesn't take much time to do it. I'm primarily doing this to continue case neck uniformity for accuracy when firing across the course as the range gets further out there, but of course it also helps minimize case failure. There are much spendier, more precise ways to anneal, but even with the very best WWII surplus rifles selected for competition, there is a point where the juice is not worth the squeeze. LE's are never going to be MOA capable rifles (or if they are, in 50 years of competitive shooting with them, I have never seen one that gets close to that). Bottom line is you can have a hell of a lot of fun with the LE for minimal cost reloading, whether just for tin can slaying or competition with either jacketed or cast bullets. And even hunting with either jacketed or cast, if you don't get lazy and just default to the fine factory hunting ammunition available out there.

Nice, that is indeed very impressive.

How do you "bump the shoulder back slightly" when you need too? Do you put a Full length sizing die into your press, and slowly/gently push the cartridge up into the die just enough until you feel enough resistance without pushing the ram all the way to the top and sending the brass all the way into the die?

@@willbartlett10 yes exactly, if the bolt close is too hard after a neck size, I will keep turning the full length size die down 1/8 -1/4 turn at a time untill the bolt just closes on the unloaded case with a slight resistance.

@@llkj7944 I have an 1899H (I think), 20inch lightweight barrel, breakdown... Do you know about the amount of free bore on this rifle? I need to get a OAL gauge to see how far out I can seat the bullet and still have it work in the magazine. Are you crimping your rounds?

@@willbartlett10 yes I crimp, use a Lee factory crimp die, sorry not sure about free bore on a 1899, In my Enfield I seat the bullets to magazine length, I have single loaded longer but didn't realy give me any more accracy.

Thank you very much!

Awesome stuff mate!

I got a couple more Enfields, this time an Indian No1 and a BSA No1. Both have varying chambers. I got my sizing die and wrote down how much I had to back off from all the way down to the shell holder so it was just enough to neck size and mildly resize. Hoping that doesn't eat up the brass too much. Maybe I can just neck size if they chamber fine. I had some genuine once fired PPU brass that a range master sold me so I trust him. When I tried to just use it, it was super snug to close the bolt. My BSA seems to have the snugest chamber which seems like it should have the best brass life. Does that sound right? Less working of the brass I'm thinking.@@TheRedneckPreppy

Thanks mate!

Right back at you!

Thank you, very much appreciated on both counts!

And thank you! A very informative post!

@@TheRedneckPreppy Thank YOU Sir. This allows us all to share info. I learned from WW1 and 2 Vets. Cheers!

Thank you, very kind of you!

@@TheRedneckPreppy you're welcome brother

Five isn't horrible all things considered.

Thank you sir, quite kind of you on both counts!

Thanks very much for the compliment, very much appreciated. Few hobbies better than reloading -- it teaches precision, care, patience and the end result is satisfying when you finally get it right!

Thank you sir!

Thank you!

Yeah, a lot has changed in reloading in terms of price and availability since I made this video, ha ha. Thanks for watching and best wishes going forward!

Thanks for watching!

Very kind of you, thank you!

@@TheRedneckPreppy Just loaded my first batch of 303, will be testing them tomorrow :)

@@alexxu3004 Awesome man, good luck with them!

Great stuff!

Go-No Go gauges are always an excellent idea when it comes to these sorts of things. I've been meaning to do a video on them for some time.

I might try that.

You must leave a follow-up comment on how this works. I've never worked with belted brass, at least not that I remember, but your method sounds interesting. I might give it a shot the next time I work some .303 brass to check it out for myself. Great comment!

@@TheRedneckPreppy It must be brand new brass. If not, the initial stretch has already happened. I will follow up. If I can remember. Lol

@@luvtahandload7692 You're on exactly the right track. Most use a Lyman .33 caliber M die to expand the case neck, and then do as you explained and size down the neck a tiny bit at a time until the cases chamber with a crush fit when turning the bolt handle down. That leaves you with a false shoulder on the case neck. Now your cases headspace on the shoulder of the case, they are not dependent on the rim. First firing gives you the same fireformed brass without stretching that a benchrest shooter would get. Reloading after that, most use the Lee Collet die while others use a neck sizing die. Eventually you will have to bump the shoulder back a thou or two.

Your rifle almost certainly does not have "excess headspace". Nor do the vast majority of the rest of the Lee Enfield rifles whose owners complain they have "excess headspace". Just for poops and giggles, buy an inexpensive go/no-go gauge and test your rifle's chamber. The cartridge is INTENDED to headspace on the rim - ONCE. And a rim in the 1880's when the cartridge was designed was at least as importantly intended to give the extractor systems of the day something to grab on to, similar to the existing 30-30, which nobody complains has "excess headspace" issues. You would think that Americans (and others) would ask themselves why, supposedly, the British didn't realize they had a "headspace" issue in every single manufacturing facility making these rifles for over a century, and through three wars? 1888 all the way through the 1950's and beyond. Just kept making improperly cut chambers for decade after decade, and never noticed? Equally weird that most of these "excess headspace" rifles properly pass a go/no-go military gauge test - despite supposedly having "excess headspace"? Military gun plumbers never noticed that in doing first line maintenance on these rifles for all that time You would almost start to think like maybe there is nothing 'excess' about the chambers: they are cut just as they were intended to be: for use in war, not as a source of brass for collectors decades later. In fact, almost like they intended chambers larger then reloaders desire so that ball ammunition manufactured to spec but covered in mud, corrosion, etc will reliably chamber rather than jam the rifle during a battle. Who'd a thunk it!

Lord almighty...the ammo alone...

@@TheRedneckPreppy He still had about 1/3 of that barrel left when I was a kid in the 70s. That little rifle kicked hard .

@@alancoventry4406 They have that habit :-)

Excellent rule to follow!

I've been mostly unlucky in that regard. Awesome for you though!

I do okay with the PPU -- 5-6 reloadings. I will agree with you that S&B is trash compared to other brass. Primer pockets that are *just* a little too small and brass that just seems to turn brittle by looking at it.

Thank you and good luck with the reloading!

Have fun reloading and shooting!

"At best, not pleasant". A fine understatement, ha ha.

@@TheRedneckPreppy Red, I didn't shoot that rifle, never even saw it. But I handled the results and shivered.

FTR rifles went straight back into the hands of British, Australian, Canadian, etc soldiers during the war. Hardly "guerrilla fighters". The whole point of FTR was to bring the rifle back to factory spec.

FTR rifles had a limited barrel life and the only ones i saw were issued to cadets. The ends were painted yellow. nMalay Guerillas were sent FTR rifles.@@AirborneMOC031

@@hardyakka6200 Why don't you go try selling your FTR BS over in the Milsurps forum where there are still British armourers hanging out and answering questions and providing advice to service rifle competitors from around the world? I'll go check in over there in a few days to see how you get on with trying to sell your BS over there. Ask for 'Peter Laidler' when you try to explain your imaginative version of LE history to former Lee Enfield armourers. The ENTIRE point of FTR was to bring the entire rifle back to arsenal specifications, not "just a limited barrel life rifle for guerilla and cadet use". Sometimes, rifles were FTR'd not for repair, but to UPGRADE the rifle with later improvements. Fazerkerly as one example FTR upgraded No.4 MkI to what were restamped as No.4 Mk1/2. Later, they FTR'd the No. 4 Mk I* to the improved and FTR re-stamped No. 4 Mk 1/3. Other arsenals i.e. BSA and Long Branch did the same thing. There are many FTR stamped rifles that are still in competition use around the world, and most of them will have just as many rounds still being put through them as many surplus rifles from WWI and WWII. Thus endeth today's lesson...

I've no experience with .303 from any of those countries -- I've never seen surplus for sale locally. Good to know!

The RCBS berdan primer remover works great once set up. The trick is getting berdan primers

Hydraulic depriming works for those but remember the factory primer contaminates the brass and weakens it,also the berdan primers can be hard to find.

reddevilparatrooper Whatevs, I’ve got 2 cases of Greek hxp 303 on clips that I got for a song. Some of the best surp brass I’ve come across.

Thank you kindly and have fun!

Very nice.

@@TheRedneckPreppy I've read of people getting around 30 reloads with just the o rings without reduced loads. Any thoughts? I call BS but.....maybe?

@@no.4mk126 I've been alive long enough to know that *nothing* is impossible but heavy proof is required for extra ordinary claims. Heck, even people who neck-size and anneal their .303 B don't claim more than 10-12 reloads on the high end.

I'm going to be honest with you and say I don't know -- certainly an interesting question.

That's a pretty sweet price -- just remember those would be almost certainly be cordite loaded rounds which cause increased erosion in the chamber throat. Also they'll be Berdan primed which are difficult to re-prime if you want to use the brass. Clean well after shooting!

"Boil out " the barrel in the old military fashion to remove all the corrosive mercuric salts from the primers or the barrel will be ruined in short order,otherwise fine.I used some POF Pakistan Ordinance Factory which had some hang-fires so was christened the "click-bang " ammo,not conducive to accurate shooting.

If it took the next larger bolt bolt head, then that rifle had an ACTUAL headspace problem, versus the MYTHICAL "excess headspace" problem so many Americans lacking the national corporate knowledge of the Lee Enfield rifle post and talk about. Who would believe that Commonwealth arsenals didn't realize they were making millions of rifles with excess headspace over a century and WWI, WWII, Korea, etc? Only now have Americans discovered their error? I say that because you don't hear Australians, Canadians, New Zealanders, etc talking and posting about "excess headspace in these rifles" as they compete in service rifle matches with these very same surplus rifles. The deliberately large cut chambers are not an issue for the vast majority of Lee Enfield owners who head out with commercial ammunition to whack a moose, elk, deer, etc. Canada for one is full of them, and they aren't going to bother reloading for the number of rounds they fire out of their rifle every year. The fired brass will be left laying on the ground. For handloaders... if they want best brass life and the best results, success demands learning how to properly prepare the cases prior to reloading them.

Thank you!

Funny you mention that, I have been mulling over doing something about reduced power loads. Unfortunately with ranges closed where I am I haven't had a chance to start working on it.

I use Adi equivalent to H 4895 for reduced 303 Brit loads with gas checked 195gn cast bullets .

How common -- particularly for Lee Enfields -- is up for debate but it certainly is a known issue. I know on both my rifles that it is a consideration I have to take into account. Regardless of the surplus rifle it's always a good idea to measure headspace when reloading -- it only aids in accuracy and brass longevity.

Steve M Outdoors , just acquired one have not fired it yet, will check head space first, thanks

Without being there it's hard for me to diagnose exactly what's going on but my initial guess would be that the problem isn't the bullet you used but that the brass is having problems being chambered. How did you size the brass -- full size or neck size? Also, is the brass brand new or have you used it a bunch? It could also be that you bumped the shoulder back a bit too far which caused a small ring to form there and make it difficult to chamber the round.

The video was four years ago, ha ha. I hear you, though.

My current cost, assuming brass doesn't count, is 78-cents Canadian using BL-C(2), Hornady #3130 bullets and Winchester WLR primers.

My first thought is why not stick with the 125gn bullets? Getting 1.5 inches out of a Lee Enfield at 100 yards is pretty good -- unless you're developing the 150gn for hunting (which I would go to 174gn). That said, what and how much powder did you go with 150gn?

@@TheRedneckPreppy still waiting on some new brass but I was thinking imr 4895 at about 38-40gr with the 150gr hornady .it is for hunting fallow deer . I also have 8208 . I spent a lot of time getting the stock fitting correctly and bedding 150mm of barrel , it's an H barrel . It's been sporterized before I got it . I have never owned a rifle that is that erratic with projectiles. Especially one designed for heavier pills.

@@Dylan-on2gh Keep me in the loop -- I'd like to see how well this combination works. I'm always interested in new loads.

I don't get fancy with that to be honest with you. I usually go by the recommendations from the bullet manufacturer. My results are fine enough -- they're old rifles, I'm not going to fine tune a load to less than their capable of by manipulating every variable I can so I rarely mess around with seating depth. At least I have no recollection of doing so with .303 British.

I definitely notice a difference from when I'm using brass from companies like Lapua or Norma compared to when I'm using stuff from Winchester, PPU, S&B, etc. I have some Norma brass I've been using for years. Having said that, if you are using premium brass like Lapua, you're almost obligated to neck-size and anneal that brass to stretch out the life of it as long as possible. So that extra expense of the brass is added onto. All that said, I tend to use cheaper brass because I can't be bothered enough to anneal or neck-size.

I'll be honest with you, I haven't. By odd coincidence I was just reading the development history of that rifle -- no mention of that kind of information.

@@TheRedneckPreppy Thanks for coming back to me. One of the nerds in our group has argued the original pressure was tonnes but was never clarified as short tonne or long tonne (ye olde english measurements). We seem to think it's low to mid 30k psi. It's worth noting as only number 4s can handle big pressure such as HPX (HXP?) machine gun ammo. Don;t blow up your collectors piece!

@@smudgepost I think that your estimation of probably fair. If I ever come across something like that I'll certainly come back to this comment and provide the information.

The cordite .303 round of the Lee/Medford day was 19.07 TSI (equal to 42,720 PSI, depending on the arsenal who manufactured and proof tested your rifle). This was later increased for later Mk.VII rounds to 20.71 TSI, equal to roughly 46,390 PSI (again, depending on what the arsenal who manufactured and proof tested the rifle stamped it as). That would be Imperial long tonnes, BTW - it is England, not the USA of that period. You will get very slightly different TSI numbers, depending on what source arsenal/country you get them from. Many surplus LE's had a different proof test (and accompanying stamp) prior to sold to export. Now throw in different countries i.e. the Aussies being the obstinate offspring of British criminals went their own way when proof testing the rifles they made of British pattern, versus British proof testing of British rifles. And throw in various arsenals doing slightly different testing than the next arsenal in the same country - or another country using the British testing method. The British testing system was completely different from the American/SAAMI method. Are you REALLY sure you want to go down the "what loading pressure..." rabbit hole? Collectors of the Lee Enfield variants regularly visit each other down that rabbit hole discussing that subject? I've followed them down that rabbit hole a few times; interesting, but didn't offer any useful information to my LE world. For those not so inflicted as the collectors, two things to keep in mind: 1. At various times in various places, No. 4 Mk1 rifles were rechambered to 7.62 NATO for use with 7.62 ball for both service rifle competition and alternately as sniper rifles for use in war. The ones you are most likely to see on the surplus market are the Canadian DCRA conversions for competition. Obviously not a Medford, but when the No. 4 rifle can pass 7.62 proof for such use, you're not likely to have a pressure problem unless you do something that was clearly stupid, even in the Medford prior to it's No.4 Mk1 offspring. 2. There is no commercial ammunition nor published reloading data out there that will exceed the pressure limitations of even the earliest of Lee rifles out there, including the Metford. I doubt there are many LE affectionados out there attempting to create Rhino Roller loads for hunting or whatever - and those guys are probably going to start by rechambering to one of Elwood Epps' wildcat chamberings.

I can honestly say not only have I never used it, I've unfortunately never even seen it for sale in my neck of the woods.

@@TheRedneckPreppy It amazing that some type of Ammunition aren't available in parts of the country. I always wanted to try Gorilla 🦍🦍🦍 brand Ammo can't be found locally. Maybe online..

It truly is amazing how much a Lee Enfield can hammer brass...I used to marvel at the job my SVT-40 did on brass but Lee Enfield's can be much worse.

In 99% of the LE's out there, the mythical "headspace" issue does not exist. What you have is the large chamber the Commonwealth arsenals DELIBERATELY cut to deal with less than pristine ammunition in muddy trenches, fetid colonial jungles, etc. Oddly enough, it is mostly Americans who bring up the "excess headspace" issue - probably because they're one-offs who don't have the benefit of 130 years of national corporate knowledge with the rifle both inside and outside their armed forces. You won't hear Australians, Canadians, New Zealanders, South Africans, etc at a service rifle or similar match talking about "excess headspace". Almost every single surplus LE decomissioned for release to the civilian market had a final inspection by the gun plumbers while on it's way out the door. It was the good ol' days, but that didn't mean they didn't take some measures to ensure a potentially dangerous rifle didn't get out the door. Unless your bolt head is numbered as a "3", then you're almost certainly good. A "3" is a rifle barrel on it's last legs: the bolt head sizes go from "0" to "3". Once a "3" fails the headspace test, there are no bigger bolt heads to replace it with. There are several methods used to get more life out of a barrel failing with a "3" bolt head i.e. shimming the bolt face, but very few owners will find themselves in this situation. BTW, rifles didn't leave the arsenals brand new, all with "0" bolt heads installed; many left with a "1" and I have seen a few that left with a "2" in place. The arsenals knew that there would be gun plumbers where the rifles went, and those gun plumbers would be doing first line inspections of the rifles at least once a year along with the rest of the weapons. When the gun plumbers decided a rifle was out of spec, it went back to an arsenal for FTR before being returned/re-issued. To find out if you do indeed have excess headspace, lay your hands on a go/no-go gauge, preferably a Field version of the gauge, but any will do. If it fails the no-go test, install the next size of bolt head: i.e. if your rifle currently has a bolt head marked "1", then buy and install a "2" and confirm with the gauge. The VAST majority of "excess headspace" issues (with accompanying early brass failure) are dealt with by properly preparing new brass before first firing. And alternately, properly resizing brass after it has been fire formed by being fired in your rifle's chamber. He makes some references to some ways of doing that. Best of the LE world: Buy new unprimed brass, Privy Partisan measures up as being closest to WWII Mark VII ball ammunition cases by dimension and the brass itself is of excellent quality. Graf's regularly has it for sale in bags of 50. Having done that, use a Lyman Lee M die (.33 caliber) to slightly increase the caliber of the case necks. Then gradually run those prepared cases into a full length resizing die in small increments, until the bolt will close on the case with a slight crush fit. As you do this, you will see a small 'false shoulder' forming and moving down the neck as you increase the amount the case is pushed into the full length die. When the bolt will finally close, the case is no longer depending on the rim for headspacing, with the brass free to go in whatever direction it wants on firing - usually stretching forward into the space betweeen the case shoulder and the shoulder portion of the cut chamber. The case is now firmly held between the case head in contact with the bolt face at the rear and the false shoulder in contact with the shoulder portion of the chamber. The case can now no longer stretch/flow forward, it can only expand out radially to contact the chamber. Even if your rifle DOES have real excess headspace, at the very least this addresses it by fitting the brass to the chamber, rather than using a larger bolt head to shorten an overly long chamber. Not the ideal way of dealing with needing a larger bolt head, but it addresses it.

That could be, but I have to say that I've never heard that before. Then again, I don't have access to the armour's manuals that they used back then :-)

The Lee Enfield have 12 different bolt heads which are interchangeable to correct the head space which is measured on the case rim not the case shoulder.

@@johnutting9615 O.K. thanks John.

@@johnutting9615 TWELVE DIFFERENT BOLT HEADS? Try four.

@@AirborneMOC031 thats ok I do not mind being corrected I always understood that there were about 12 but i stsndccorrected ,i only shot them.

It *should* be safe to reload them though that low end of 2.203 is pretty darned low. You didn't mention it so I assume you didn't trim them to that length -- what did they start out at? Hard to answer normal is in this specific case without knowing that. What brand are they? They would have to have *grown* to that length. Anyway, I've occasionally gotten a little too enthusiastic with trimming (particularly with .223 for some reason), and never experienced an issue with a case 0.009" too short.

Thank you for your prompt response I use brand new casing from PPU aol 2.215 .fired once , didn’t trimmed them , just neck sizing

@@alainwelonek5972 I'm puzzled. I use PPU brass for .303B myself. Granted, I don't fire form and neck size them (I only full-size and I've been considering a video on why I don't care for neck sizing), but I find it odd that you'd see that variation in length after doing so. Well, the good news is that I've gone wackadoo with the trimmer in the past and probably gone down to 2.203 accidentally, loaded and fired those rounds and lived to tell the tale. You should be fine. Does mean, though, that if you seat the bullet in slightly deeper to compensate for the shorter neck, you will create slightly higher pressures when shooting. I doubt enough to matter, but something you may want to model in Gordon's Reloading Tool if you're curious.

PPU is in my opinion the best brass to use at least as far as the .303 British round is concerned. In pursuit of service rifle match accuracy for competition, I have measured the hell out of WWII Mk VII ball ammo and the very fine (and sadly no longer available) Greek HXP ball ammunition. And used those measurements in comparison to the .303 brass available from today's manufacturers. PPU is closest in rim/head dimensions, internal volume, and case weight. Most competitors I shoot with agree on that, although they didn't go down the measurement rabbit hole as I did. Did you trim or at least measure your new case lengths before loading and first firing? The last 200 cases I bought from Grafs I didn't bother; I always trim new brass to length and then chamfer the mouths before creating the false shoulder for first firing. I don't worry about what the book says ANY caliber length should be, within the variations of chambers. 2.212" is the MAXIMUM length for the round. Unless radically shorter, all that you have is less neck supporting the seated bullet. And losing a hundredth of an inch isn't going to do a single thing either way in a military surplus or common hunting rifle. Generally speaking, I would find the shortest case lengths after collet (or neck) resizing, then set up my trimmer to just clean up the shortest cases' mouths to being square, then trim all the cases back to that length, chamfer, reload, rinse and repeat. If I started seeing wild variations in case length after doing this trimming operation once... then yes, as Winnie The Poo would say 'It's a puzzlement', and I would be curious.

To be honest with you I haven't heard anything negative about those particular rifles. About the only thing I would state is to see if the bolt is original to the rifle. If it's not original then you *could* have head spacing issues but if you don't reload that isn't much to worry about. If you do the standard tricks will help mitigate that issue. Only way to be sure is, if you are concerned, to headspace it to see where it's at.

thanks @@TheRedneckPreppy

And thank you for stopping by@@robswoodworking4380 !

@@TheRedneckPreppy thats ok i have my pops Lithgow 303 from ww2 and have you herd of people barrelling the 303 to 270 calibre as there is a site in Australia that I've barrelled 303 to 270.

First I heard of rebarrelling the LE. Not sure the purist in me likes that :-)@@robswoodworking4380

Well, it's not *impossible* to convert Berdan primer brass, but I don't really see the point to it. Seems like more trouble than it's worth -- at least these days, ha ha

I can't even begin to imagine how. I think the holes a different size entirely. @@TheRedneckPreppy

Yes I agree. The process is quite involved.@@TheRedneckPreppy

Only company recently that I'm aware of that sold a conversion kit for Lee Enfields was Numrich but it doesn't appear that they carry them or have them in stock. I'd reach out to them to see if they have any. Outside of that, I'm not aware of anything outside of an old Parker Hale kit that was released in the early 20th century (Forgotten Weapons did a thing on them if I recall).

@@TheRedneckPreppy I Found that article in forgotten weapons., problem is there is different names for these things; adapter , reducer, etc Thanks I will try Numrich

Nice! It's getting harder all the time to find that stuff.

Without being there to look for myself it seems like you have more of a magazine issue than anything else. I assume you were able to load 10 rounds in the magazine without issue when you were shooting factory fresh S&B? Brass does expand somewhat depending on your chamber but it would be implausible that it would cause magazine feed issues even if only neck sizing.

Even now I can load 10 new rounds no problem, the neck sized ones just don't want to strip off the top of the mag and load, its like their binding in the mag, oal

Shortened oal to make sure they weren't too long, it just seams like their to fat...

@@larrymuffett7127 I have to say that is weird, I can't say that I've bumped into that issue. And you have no problem going with 10 rounds of factory in your magazine?

That's correct, factory ppu cycle perfect. But on the neck sized s&b the bolt doesn't want to strip especially the rounds on the right side, the bolt rides just over the top and doesn't feed. If I smack it they almost always feed the second try. I must also mention this is just dry cycling, not firing. The jolt from firing may make them feed. But certainly can't do the short stroke unloading. I really think it's the fire forming making the rounds fatter. I must have a big chamber, the gun shots very good. It's a no4mark1* long branch

Fair enough. I think in most rifles it's not an issue -- I just find that Lee Enfields often have those head spacing issues and I've heard too many stories of people using brass from one LE to another and having premature failures. Of course, they could also be using tired brass and a failure was going to happen regardless.

Whoa there! That is bad advice. The Mosin-Nagant cartridge is NOT the same as the .303 British cartridge. I just checked my Lee and my Lyman reloading manuals. The M-N uses a .310 OR a .308 caliber bullet. The .303 British cartridge uses a .311, or .312 bullet. Some bores on the Lee-Enfield rifles have been as small as .308 to .317 !!! Be careful people! According to my 48th Edition Lyman manual, .303 British cartridge starting powder grains of IMR-4895 for the 174 grain jacketed bullet is 37.0 grains. The 7.62x54R Russian cartridge with a 174 grain bullet, using IMR-4895 powder is 41.0 grains. Do NOT think that you can interchange components! Buy a printed Reloading manual people! Lyman & Lee are very good. Only load what the tested and printed manuals say is safe! Save yourself from a trip to the Emergency Room or the morgue!

@@gusloader123 All the 7.62 X 54r ammo that I use, both Russian and Chinese have 147 grain bullets. The Russian Mosin bullets mic at .310 and the Chinese Mosin bullets mic at . 311. Both shoot very well in my three Lee Enfield's I also shoot 7.62X39 bullets which mic at .311 with Polish and Chinese ammo. I don't use the powder in 303 ammo. These are also good to shoot in 7.62X54r ammo, they shoot very flat, and make huge orange fireballs. Try it before you die of boredom.😁

Commercial produced .303 British, such as PPU, generally runs about $30 for a box of 20 around where I live in northern Ontario which is just under $1.50.

I could only be so lucky.

@@TheRedneckPreppy - Lol...& great vid by the way...

@@dennis8309 Thanks man, much appreciated.

WTF??? Where did you get the "poorly supported chambers" conspiracy theory from? Same place that generated the "excess headspace" conspiracy theory? Weird how people from the countries that actually used these rifles in wars and then hunting between the wars have not discovered the "poorly supported chambers" of their rifles. Seems to always be the Americans who lack the national corporate knowledge of these rifles that those from Commonwealth nations who grew up using them have.

There is a considerable difference in size between the differently numbered bolt heads. And more importantly, large amounts of variation within bolt head sizes. A selection of #1 bolt heads when measured up varied from 0.626" to 0.367" between them. That's a lot of distance to assume two different chambers are identical because they have the same fit to boltheads.

Wrong. It's the BORE that the '.303' refers to - just as it does with the 30-06 service caliber... it's not called the .308-06. Arsenal standards were a .303" pin gauge was an 'accept' for a barrel; when a barrel would accept a .305" pin gauge, that barrel was binned instead of installed. Field standards were that a barrel that would accept a .307" pin gauge was deemed acceptable if otherwise passing the annual gun plumber inspection. If other shortcomings were noted at first line maintenance, the rifle was then sent back for FTR, which in this case would include installing a new barrel that met the

@@AirborneMOC031 If that were the case then 7.62 Russian would also be known as .303.

@@pistooli1 I think you might have intended to say "then the 7.62 Russian would also be known as the .300 Russian". 7.62 Rusky mm bore diameter converts to .300" Imperial as the bore diameter. Following your bore/groove diameter theory and naming, the 7.62 NATO/308 Winchester, would then have the exact same bore size as the 7.62 Russian. And thus, bullets intended for use in the 7.62 Russkie calibers would also be the right diameter for the 7.62 NATO, right? Oh... and the 30/06 as well... the parent caliber and case of the 7.62 NATO. Except they don't and they aren't. The Russians don't use Imperial measurement for the 7.62 Russian, do they now? They use metric (as do we now i.e. 7.62 NATO and it's bore diameter). And they didn't want to call it the "7.6962 Russian" - the metric equivalent for .303" Imperial measurement. Not even close to 7.62 Russian bullet diameter that you mention. BTW, the metric equivalent for your '.311' theory is 7.8994. Oddly, looks very different than a .303's bore diameter - but looks like it sure might fit grooves cut to be about .008" wider than the bore diameter. Much like the 7.62 NATO, aka 308 Winchester, might have a .30 caliber bore and .308" grooves measurement! It's like a pattern is forming or something! Meanwhile 7.62 Rusky mm bore diameter converts to .300" bore diameter - if it actually IS the bore diameter as .303" is for the Lee Enfield. Sort of like the bore diameter for the 30/06, 308 Winchester, and 30/06 - ever notice that? So is the best choice for bullets to load in your 7.62 Russkie the same bullets that work in the 7.62 NATO? See a pattern here yet where cartridge names are concerned versus their lands and grooves measurements?

@@AirborneMOC031The point is that regardless of the nomenclature the bullets can safely be used in either rifle. Got It ?😁

@@pistooli1 The point is, you tried the ol' "I'm going to pose and flex and claim the .303 is a .311", but your 'Baffle 'em with BS' routine went up on the rocks. Got it.

To be honest we've never even heard of the .303 British.