.303 British bullets

[Merc]

I thought the reload bullet shortage would have improved by now. Yet, I looked around at all the usual places for .303 British 150 or 174 gr FMJ bullets and see nothing but “out of stock” or “back ordered.”

Has anyone had any luck finding them?

[one shot]

just bought a bunch from Grafs

[Merc]

Thanks.

[Phloating Phlasher]

The .311 caliber is getting rarer & rarer in use so many manufacturers are doing one big batch a year, then resetting the equipment for bigger money spinners.
Sad, but there it is.
I watch for the sudden arrival of the annual batches keeping my "boolitt money" slowly accumulating.
Then I strike while the iron is hot & I'm set for the next year!

[lyman]

got lucky,

when I bought out a small gunshop last fall, there were 2 boxes of 303 174gr Sierra's, the big 500 round box,

they got stuck to the side for personal use

[Phloating Phlasher]

SWEET!
I've been snagging them as they appear. With the 2 SMLEs liking 174 & 180 gr ones & the No4 Mk2 preferring the 150 grainers I just grab both!
489 174/180 Gr plus 190 150 Gr loaded & 165 150 Gr & 1033 174/180s I'm GTG for a while.

[Art]

Midway USA has Hornaday suitable bullets for .303 British in 150 and 174 gr. weights available now. If you don't mind going light .310 123 gr. bullets manufactured with 7.62x39mm in mind are readily available.

A saving grace for all the obsolete cartridges that use the same .310 - .312 diameter bullets as .303 British like 7.7 Japanese, and 7.65 Mauser, is one currently in use cartridge that uses these bullets and is still being produced in vast numbers - 7.62x54mmr Russian.

Cruddy old .303 Brit. military ammo can be a good source for bullets. I bought some early WWII .303 Brit Mk VII ball on the cheap several years ago, pulled the bullets and loaded my own Mk VIIz Ball equivalent with them.

[Phloating Phlasher]

.310 123 gr. bullets manufactured with 7.62x39mm

I tried that a while back. A friend gave me a handfull of them in each of about 5 variations.
They make for a VERY short round at best & none of them flew well or grouped.

[androck14]

Well gents, I was browsing the forum and saw this thread so I looked at Midway and they've got Hornaday .312s in 150 and 174. On sale and free shipping!
I ordered three boxes of 150s for $108

[Merc]

Looking for advice. How many times do you reload your 303 British cases before you scrap them?

[lyman]

depends,

neck sizing for one rifle, or FL for a couple?

[Phloating Phlasher]

I'm up to 6 & still going.
I do "partial full length resize" and I have good headspace.
I use nothing but "PPU" or "HXP" brass. Most of the RemChester is minimum or less dimensioned & doesn't last.

[Merc]

I only have one No 4. It headspaces ok to military specs but just barely. I started out resizing the necks only and went FL because the cases I was using became harder to chamber and eject after they’ve been reloaded. I’m going to try to go back to neck sizing only because I have a lot of HXP Greek cases that I’ll be using exclusively until they have been reloaded a few times. I was favoring PPU brass because of the weight, but I discovered that the HXP brass is even heavier (hence going back to neck sizing).

Another question - Is crimping reloads necessary? I use the minimum amount of IMR 4064. Is it possible that crimping creates dangerous pressure at minimum powder loads? The only factory loaded ammo I have is HXP ammo and it’s definitely crimped.

[Phloating Phlasher]

I'm not sure what you mean by "It headspaces ok to military specs but just barely." its a Pass/Fail system there's no "close"?
If its under 0.074" you're GTG, if not it fails gauge & you need to remedy the situation.

The problem, as you've discovered with neck sizing is the need to periodically full length resize.
Try partial full length resizing as it solves that problem without creating undue brass wear.
I have a .PDF explaining in detail how to with many illustrations but the forum wont let me upload. If you want tp PM me your e-mail I'll send it there for you.

I don't crimp. Instead I did a one time minute reduction in dia & polish on the expander ball.
Pull the stem, chuck it in a power drill & spin the heck out of it using a green ScotchBrite pad.

[Merc]

The bolt won’t fully close on a .074 headspace gauge.

I asked the crimping question here several years ago and nearly all responders said they don’t crimp the necks of reloaded cases. The danger is a blown primer.

I’m considering using new 303 brass with each load and skip resizing the old 303 brass altogether. My No. 4 Mk 1* is definitely hard on brass cases. Graf sells new PPU 303 brass for $.78 each which avoids excessively working the old brass and makes all the time consuming prep work unnecessary.

The only other caliber I shoot is 30-06 in three rifles (M1917 Winchester, M1903 Springfield and 03A3 Remington). I have FL sized the brass cases for these rifles multiple times and they seem handle them well. The rifles are in like-new condition which probably helps the cases survive so many reloads.