[chestnut ridge]

This is sold by R GUNS. Listed as assorted mfg, Winchester, UK, Canada,
174 ball. 550 rounds in ammo can 66.00.
I got some in today. There is some WRA with 41, 42 and 43 dates.
Some of the British is dated in the 20's, and 30's.
My question- I am going to shoot this old ammo tomorrow. What should
I expect?


Edit on 10/6- I shot some of the ammo. I would say buy some; it is decent
for the money. See #12 for details.

[shooter503]

Some corrosive primers on the old Brit rounds.

[LeafsFan]

Hmm... it just comes all higglety-pigglety in the cans like that? :scrutiny:

http://www.rguns.net/008_4.html

My gut tells me it's probably not as trustworthy as some of the other calibre surplus available where it's all sealed up nicely in the original packing and stuff, but then .303 doesn't seem to be as readily available in bulk these days either. [insert proverb about beggers and choosers, etc. ;) ]

Eh, you'll probably get the occasionaly delayed fire or misfire, but most of it should work okay.

Do the standard corrosive primer cleaning step after shooting and you should be fine.

Let us know how it works! I might pick me up a can if it doesn't blow you up, eh?:D

[Geronimo45]

Nothing to worry about. Surplus should be less powerful or equal to the original pressure. Some may be duds, but there's not much chance of a WWII surplus rifle round blowing up your gun.
Eastern European SMG ammo is another matter...

[g56]

As previously mentioned, it will be corrosive, careful cleaning to neutralize the corrosive salts is highly recommended.

[P95Carry]

I have many 100's of rounds of mixed .303 from WWII and soon after. Some is Radway and Green - the best IMO and I do not like stuff that may have come from India.

Greek .303 can be hot I have found.

Overall as has been mentioned - treat all as corrosive (so shoot plenty in a sitting to justify the clean-up LOL) - and yes, expect some hangfires.

I have very few duds indeed - amazing but - the hangfires tend to be small delay - the order of a few milliseconds - but noticeable.

[swingset]

The worst you'll experience is a hang-fire, which as it turns out is good flinch training.

If you hear "Click-Bang", you'll know what I mean.

If you do get a dud, wait 30 seconds before extracting the live round, just for safety's sake.

I've fired 1920's era .303 without problems. If it was stored properly, it should be fine.

[knuckles]

Is this the kind of ammo you would use in an Enfield? More specifially a #4 Mk 1? I have one of these on the way and would like to pick up some of that ammo....

[Hoppy590]

yup knuckles thats what majority of enfields use. some times you will run into .308's but the majority are .303 brit

[Cromlech]

So long as you drink some Early Grey tea before use, they will work for you. :)

[knuckles]

yup knuckles thats what majority of enfields use.

Cool. I am buying some right now, thanks!

[chestnut ridge]

Shot ten rounds today. The WRA dated 41-43 was hotter than the
UK ammo dated in the 30's. The UK ammo had a couple of quick
"click-bang" delayed ignitions. All the cases looked good after firing.
I did notice some substance in some of the primer pockets and under
the rims of several cases. It appears to be sand mixed with wax or
heavy grease. Perhaps these cartridges were tumbled? I would like to
know the origin of this shipment of 303. I am guessing some sandy
former British colony.
In summary, I give this one thumbs up; just because surplus 303 is
scarce.

[LeafsFan]

Thanks for the range report! I'm glad it worked out for you. I wonder if giving the ammo a quick clean or brushing might help too... get some of that 60 odd years of gunk out of it.

I think I'll mosey on over to the site and pick up some for myself... I don't own an Enfield, but I intend to soon.

Thanks for the tip on where to get the stuff too. :cool:

[gezzer]

The UK ammo will seem lighter than the win as it is loaded with Cordite and the Win is smokeless nitro double or single base powder.

The hang fires are the primers going bad. When y6ou get a no fire wait 30-60 seconds before ejecting as it may still go off.

I have shot thousands of WWII 303 and loved it. I used to buy 1000 rounds for 22 bucks cheapest shooting I could find in the early 70's plus the rifles sold for 15-20 bucks!!

The only cheaper shooting was the Jap 99's, buy a case of (HOT mg linked 7.7 Jap) get 5 rifles FREE!!! Lot's of miss-fires , tought you whether you flinched or not.

[seeker_two]

The worst you'll experience is a hang-fire, which as it turns out is good flinch training.

If you hear "Click-Bang", you'll know what I mean.

If you do get a dud, wait 30 seconds before extracting the live round, just for safety's sake.

I've fired 1920's era .303 without problems. If it was stored properly, it should be fine.

Also, if you have a dud, you can pull the cocking piece of a SMLE at the rear of the bolt back & try it again (keeping the barrel aimed downrange at ALL times). I've gotten more than a few duds to fire on that second strike. Those Brits knew how to design a battle rifle... :cool: