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Reloading .303 British : Light bullets in the .303 British.

September 10, 2013, 12:24 pm
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Author: LE Owner
Subject: Light bullets in the .303 British.
Posted: 10 September 2013 at 7:24pm

Probably the best ultra lightweight bullet for full bore Military rifle cartridges would be a swaged bronze bullet, a deep hollow nose cavity would encourage tumbling for wounding effect. Pre sectioned noses would allow expansion.
The lighter bronze alloy would allow greater bearing surface and be strong enough to avoid skidding or stripping in a fast twist bore at very high velocities.
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Reloading .303 British : anealing

September 13, 2013, 2:38 am
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Author: Tony
Subject: anealing
Posted: 13 September 2013 at 9:38am

( filching from the Mrs works here they have "roasting pans" which are darn near perfect.)

 There speaks a brave man!
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Reloading .303 British : Magnum 150gr Factory Amunition

September 13, 2013, 6:02 am
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Author: Zed
Subject: Magnum 150gr Factory Amunition
Posted: 13 September 2013 at 1:02pm

303Guy, you say "pressure is about medium" with your 194gr bullets; but how do you know what the pressure is? How do you measure it? 
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Reloading .303 British : anealing

September 13, 2013, 6:29 am
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Author: Shamu
Subject: anealing
Posted: 13 September 2013 at 1:29pm

Or a foolish one.
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Reloading .303 British : Blank loads

September 13, 2013, 6:31 am
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Author: Shamu
Subject: Blank loads
Posted: 13 September 2013 at 1:31pm

I ain't never, ever heard of "hot beeswaxy water" for cleaning B/P foulingClown
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Reloading .303 British : Magnum 150gr Factory Amunition

September 13, 2013, 6:44 am
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Author: LE Owner
Subject: Magnum 150gr Factory Amunition
Posted: 13 September 2013 at 1:44pm

The Light Magnum cartridges required specialized machinery to charge the case and seat the bullet on a compressed blended charge. Not something you can expect to do safely at home.
 
IMR 4007 Powder is a "Super Short Cut" extruded single base that was formulated for good velocity at low pressures. Hodgdon load data for this powder duplicates the MkVII loads with pressures of less than 40,000 CUP.
Have yet to find this powder locally, and have heard little of it since it first came out.
 
Kanamco, sucessors to Kynoch , use blended powders to duplicate Cordite loads for older British African big game cartridges and the .303. Pressures are low for velocity achieved.
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Reloading .303 British : Magnum 150gr Factory Amunition

September 13, 2013, 1:59 pm
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Author: 303Guy
Subject: Magnum 150gr Factory Amunition
Posted: 13 September 2013 at 8:59pm

Originally posted by Zed Zed wrote:

303Guy, you say "pressure is about medium" with your 194gr bullets; but how do you know what the pressure is? How do you measure it? 

Primer flattening.  Comparing to other loads, the main one being a medium, jacketed loading table load.  This load shows less flattening.  I create these blown up images so I can measure them and work out the percentage flattening.  It only works with primers that are well rounded to start with.  My new ones are too flat to show any changes.  This one shows 78% flattening while a the same powder charge under a heavier bullet shows 82% flattening.  That's 5% more flattening with a 6% heavier bullet.  It's a comparison indicator and no more.  I've done this for loads right down to hardly noticeable difference with a plain primer.  

The comparison load produces around 39500 CUP and shows 86% flattening against the one below with 82% flattening.




These are the mid range loads I compared against - 46gr AR2208/H4350 under 180gr bullets.




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Reloading .303 British : anealing

September 13, 2013, 3:54 pm
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Author: sells101
Subject: anealing
Posted: 13 September 2013 at 10:54pm

Thanks for the info, went ahead and tried 10 cases, could tell a world of difference in F/L sizing die, let you know how it goes when I test fire. Will try light load with them, read if you get them to soft they they will split and blow in the chamber.
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Reloading .303 British : anealing

September 13, 2013, 10:33 pm
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Author: Shamu
Subject: anealing
Posted: 14 September 2013 at 5:33am

Its a combination of 2 things that cause the splitting.
First the depth of the water. By immersing most of the case in water it will not anneal because the water conducts the heat away 25 times faster than air.
Secondly the amount of heat applied. If you go to the old "cherry red" heat its probably a bit too much.
 
Done correctly there will be a visual change to the brass color just below the case shoulder. In a botttleneck case its supposed to be softer at the front & more rigid at the back.
As long as you're no further back than this you should be fine.
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Reloading .303 British : anealing

September 14, 2013, 12:27 am
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Author: Zed
Subject: anealing
Posted: 14 September 2013 at 7:27am

My technique for annealing is very simple, and ensures even heating of the neck circumference. I use an old hand drill with a piece of square tube adapted to fit in the drill chuck. I set up the blow torch on a table and have a bucket of water at my feet. Put the case in the drill and spin it and slowly with the neck in the flame. This ensures even treatment around the circumference of the neck. When the heat ring creeps down to about 1/8" to 1/4"  below the neck I flick it into the bucket and start the next one. It is quick and easy; and wont get you in trouble with the missus Thumbs Up
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Reloading .303 British : anealing

September 14, 2013, 7:00 am
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Author: 303Guy
Subject: anealing
Posted: 14 September 2013 at 2:00pm

Red heat is way too much.  That makes the brass dead soft and while it may be consistent, it doesn't hold the bullet firmly enough to prevent primer pressure from moving the bullet.  I haven't seen any change in accuracy doing it that way.

I've done the standing in water trick only I didn't tip them over.  The quenching doesn't do anything to the brass but it does get them out the way so they don't get overheated.  A moot point if they've been heated to red heat.

I like the oven idea but I can't see how enough heat can be applied that way without boiling the water away.  I do know that long low heat in the oven will anneal brass completely.  They don't discolour like flame annealing but they do lose their 'gloss'.  They also expand at the head on firing!  Probably not so much on a Lee Enfield since the case is fully supported but I wouldn't try it anyway.  Obviously, an oven is a bad place to dry cases - one can forget them and anneal them!
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Reloading .303 British : anealing

September 15, 2013, 2:54 pm
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Author: 303carbine
Subject: anealing
Posted: 15 September 2013 at 9:54pm

I tried the Ellwood Epps method, start your torch, hold the brass in hand and turn the brass till it's too hot to handle. Drop onto a damp rag to air dry, done.
I guess Ellwood knows more than I do about the subject, so I tried it and it works fine.
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Reloading .303 British : Cast Bullet loads

September 18, 2013, 2:33 pm
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Author: 303carbine
Subject: Cast Bullet loads
Posted: 18 September 2013 at 9:33pm

Originally posted by Rastis Rastis wrote:

G'Day,
          Anyone have a load for a 180 grain gas checked cast bullet using H4198.
 
Rastis.
I am assuming you are looking for data for the 303 British, if so here is the cast data from the Hodgdon manual.
 
180 grain gas checked bullet.
24.0 grains of H4198 for 1842 fps velocity.
This is NOT my data, it is from the Hodgdon manual for cast bullet loads,  consult the manual to double check.
Of course, I have to put the obligatory disclaimer on the bottom line, and be sure to drive the speed limit on the correct side of the road and wear your seatbelt or helmet on the way to the range. Don't pick up any hitchhikers, especially those with wooden nickels.
 
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Reloading .303 British : Cast Bullet loads

September 18, 2013, 3:05 pm
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Author: 303Guy
Subject: Cast Bullet loads
Posted: 18 September 2013 at 10:05pm

I have loaded AR2208/Varget as low as the 60% rule stated in reloading manuals and the powder burned clean i.e. completely.  AR2209 apparently is not one of the powders prone to S.E.E. according to Hodgdon (double check that) but actually, there is no need to go lower than 6O% case volume as the presure is low enough not to over speed the bullets and importantly, it produces a reasonably slow launch into the throat and has a slow pressure build up.  It does have more muzzle blast as a result though.

For Auzzies, AR2208 or AR2209 is not a bad choice of powders due to their temperature stability.  I found Hodgdon's report and the change in velocity over a wide temperature range is small.  That can be important when you are running at an accuracy node.

I shoot plain based bullets and that can be a problem with stick powders because they peen the bullet base and base edge so I got some W748 and found that powder to be quite amicable to lower velocity loads as well as higher velocity.  I did find the max charge with no base peening and that's high enough not to be a limiting factor.  But W748 is nowhere near as temp insensitive as Varget and H4350 (AR2208 and AR2209).  I didn't go with 2208 simply because it's indistinguishable from 2209 and I would not like to mix them up!

I read somewhere about one of the powders being good for lower pressure loads because it burned well even at reduced pressure.  I think it may have been H4895 (ADI2206H).  Don't take my word for it - double check.

For those who don't know, ADI of Australia makes quite a few of the Hodgdon powders (and Hodgon market good powders in my opinion).  I think they make most if not all Hodgdon stick powders as well as some of their pistol and shotgun powders.
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Reloading .303 British : PRODUCT RECALL (Remington .22RF)

September 20, 2013, 3:05 am
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Author: BrassMagnet
Subject: PRODUCT RECALL (Remington .22RF)
Posted: 20 September 2013 at 10:05am

They moved or renamed the link. I was amazed at how much they are recalling! Here is a link to their recall page:

http://www.remington.com/pages/news-and-resources/safety-center.aspx

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Reloading .303 British : Lee Neck Sizing Dies

November 16, 2013, 10:13 pm
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Author: petes
Subject: Lee Neck Sizing Dies
Posted: 17 November 2013 at 6:13am

lee dies need to be a bit tighter than they say.   I spent a lot of time on the phone from the UK to Lee direct and after setting up tighter than they say all was good
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Reloading .303 British : Brass life expectancy ?

November 17, 2013, 6:09 am
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Author: Zed
Subject: Brass life expectancy ?
Posted: 17 November 2013 at 2:09pm

Annealing the necks of the cases will help extend the life of the case. I tend to do it every third load, but I'm sure others have different ideas regarding how often it should be done. I have Remington brass, which is ok; but not as good as PPU apparently. 
To Anneal the empty cases; I have a bucket of water, a blowtorch and hand drill with an adapter (like a socket) that the case sits in, I spin this lowly in the flame of the torch, then when the  bluish heat ring creeps down to just below the shoulder I drop it into the bucket. It is a quick and simple method.
SAFETY NOTE: do not do this at your reloading bench or close to anything flammable!
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Reloading .303 British : Brass life expectancy ?

November 17, 2013, 6:17 am
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Author: Shamu
Subject: Brass life expectancy ?
Posted: 17 November 2013 at 2:17pm

Yep that's the ticket.
I got 6 reloads out of some old nickle-plated Rem brass recently & I expect to get a good 10 out of the PPU brass as its much nicer.

A couple of things will extend brass life a lot. Annealing every 3~4 loads. Neck or partial full length resizing, drop charge weights a bit.  You don't need "mousepharts", but backing off 100 FPS can be a great improvement.
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Reloading .303 British : Brass life expectancy ?

November 17, 2013, 10:06 am
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Author: SW28fan
Subject: Brass life expectancy ?
Posted: 17 November 2013 at 6:06pm

I typically get 10 loads out of neck sized PPU. 
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Reloading .303 British : Brass life expectancy ?

November 17, 2013, 1:16 pm
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Author: LE Owner
Subject: Brass life expectancy ?
Posted: 17 November 2013 at 9:16pm

30+ with Remington, but I have very good headspace. Switched out both bolt bodies and bolt heads to obtain less than .068 headspace.
I load using new unfired bulk cases for first firing, not reloaded factory load cases. I also mark rims and rotate 180 degrees on second firing. This insures equal expansion all around.
 
Neck sized 2/3 the length of the neck to center the bullet to origin of rifling.
 
My favorite load is listed at near maximum pressure, but appears to generate far lower pressure than the data indicates. Expansion is smooth with no annular ringing of the case body. Annular rings from first firing are what cause short case life. 
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