1943 winchester produced 303 ammo

[tom hargrove]

I have my first 303 enfield coming in tomorrow. It's a No4 Mk 1. Several years ago I acquired some 303 ammo. I'm wondering what it is and if it might be corrosive. Can I use it? Thanks for any info.
Two boxes are marked : 48 cartridges
.303 inch Mk V11z
WINCHESTER

made in U.S.A.
They are headstamped WRA 1943 303
One box is marked : 32 cartridges
303 inch
Mk 7
an arrow
I.S.A.A.
The box is still taped shut, and stamped over the tape is " RG 11 8 53 C "
There is a plastic ammo box with 20 rounds of ammo marked "RG 53 7"

[John Sukey]

The RG is Radway Green (British) most likely repackaged
I will guarentee ALL your ammo is corrosive primed. Yes, you can use it, but clean the rifle the SAME day you shoot it.
I,S.A.A Is inspectorate of small arms ammunition.
There are lots of folks here who will tell you how to clean your rifle. I prefer hot water and a funnel in the arse end just like the Brits used with the usual bore cleaner and patches after that
The difference between MkVIIz and MkVII is the the first uses flake powder and the second uses cordite.

[tom hargrove]

Thanks John. I don't really like corrosive in my rifles. I have no experience with it. If I clean as you say, will it be anymore harmful than non cor.? What if I pulled the bullets and dumped the powder, then killed the primer and deprimed it. I assume it takes standard large rifle primers. Are these boxer or berdan primed? I'm really looking forward to getting this rifle and shooting it. I'm used to 1903 springfields, I have seven of them. How does the enfield stack up with the springfield?

[John Kepler]

The WRA 43 is Lend-Lease ammo. Not only is it corrosively primed, it uses mercuric primers. Boxer primed, but the primers ruin the brass. The Radway Green should be Berdan-primed and considered by all but the tediously challenged to be unloadable.

[BigMo]

Tom:
my 2%............. as others have said:

Save yourself the trouble. Just shoot the thing. Have fun! Boil some water, run it down from chamber to muzzle and Clean it! Done and done.
Dont make this harder than it needs to be.

[John Sukey]

Just a small comment. There is no shortage of new brass. There is no shortage of .303 bullets. All you need is a reloading press and the other bits which also will load many other calibers.

Or you can find a friend who has the reloading set up and just buy the dies.

As BigMO has said just shoot the ammo you have. (Make sure you use hot water to clean the bore. It expands the metal allowing the primer salts to be washed out. It obviously worked when the rifles were in service.

Piotted or rusty bores are the result of people buying the rifle as surplus, shooting corrosive primed ammo and not cleaning the rifle the same day they shot it, since they have NO experience with corrosive primed ammo.

[Tuna]

Mercuric primers? Not used by Winchester for WW2 small arms ammo. Corrosive primed yes so if one wants to use this ammo and not have to clean for the corrosive salts then you can pull
the bullets, save the powder as the powder is not corrosive, deprime the case and use a new primer. Then put the powder back into the case and reinstall the bullet and your ready to go with the Winchester ammo.

[tom hargrove]

I have been reloading for 40 years, and have everything but 303 dies. The berdan primed I won't fool with. If in fact the brass won't be harmed, then I will probably just shoot it all up and reload the Winch. brass. Pouring boiling hot water down the breech sounds like a lot of fun. Do I need to use soap with it, or just the water?

[Parashooter]

WRA 43 .303 wasn't mercuric primed and is OK for reloading unless poorly stored. I have a few of these cases left - originally purchased as loaded ammo in 1958, reloaded many times and still in good shape.

Don't let all the talk about boiling hot water mislead you into thinking it's really necessary. The key to washing away the potassium chloride residue of "corrosive" priming is the water, not the heat. Cold water works OK, warm water is faster, and boiling water is largely a waste of the energy to heat it up. Pouring water through the barrel isn't as effective as swabbing it out with several wet patches on a good rod, since the scrubbing action helps loosen and dissolve the chloride - but it became standard procedure in British trenches where cleaning rods were scarce and the relatively inefficient "pull-through" all that was available - besides the ever-present steaming teapot. Whatever watery method is used, a bit of detergent or soap helps and it's prudent to follow up with the normal cleaning routine to remove any remaining water, clear out powder and jacket fouling, and protect the bore.

[drweiler]

I've shot a couple hundred rounds of WRA 43 with good result, and reloaded same brass 3 times to date. Only chore was cutting away those three crimps used to hold the original primer in, to allow new primers to seat. Hot, soapy water works for me. Cheers, Don

[tom hargrove]

Thanks for all the good information. I picked up the rifle today, and being my first enfield, I am quite unfamiliar with it. It's a neat rifle, and I look forward to lugging it out with my springfield to the range.
One more question. What about a good handload for it. I shoot out to 400 yards, and want accuracy, not hunting loads. What do you all use?

[JB White]

The boiling water helps to loosen the crud a little better and it flash dries the barrel so rust doesn't start, or so goes what 'they' say. Others claim Windex straight from the bottle while the barrel is still hot/very warm from shooting works wonders. Haven't heard of any complaints or bad reports so it must do the trick.

I'm a transmission funnel and hot water type. Same way I clean my black powder guns. Then swab it dry before I follow up with Hoppes and Break Free. Give it a few days and run another few solvent and oiled patches through just to be sure. I haven't complained nor given a bad report. Whatever does the trick and whatever you have confidence in is all that matters. You do need water to disolve and flush the salts so don't skip that step.

[John Sukey]

AGAIN!, the microscopic cracks in EVERY barrel are where the salt is, The hot water expands those cracks and washes out the salt.

The ammonia in Windex does NOTHING

[JB White]

Not just the craze cracks but the surface in general also retains corrosive/hygroscopic elements. The Windex guys, (who some think the ammonia does the trick) aren't that far off.
The ammonia/water mix is a cleaning solvent so it helps remove the soft fouling. It's the water carrier in Windex that does what we need it to do. For those who wish to do an initial cleaning at the range before heading home, Windex makes a convenient spray bottle to take along. I think that's the real reason for its popularity. That's why it works "better" on a still-warm barrel.

[tom hargrove]

After looking at that ammo for a while, I decided not to shoot it. Not because of the primers, but because it had made it 70 years in it's original box. I just couldn't blow it down range. I put it in my gun case where I can look at it and think, man, that's older than I am. (not by much, and in better shape.) I ordered 100 new brass and am looking for bullets. That will do.