Reason for .303 ammo scarceness

Canadian Rangers. Pic is from a few years ago, so I am told.



Long Branch rifles.

All I can say is it a shame because the British Lee Enfield rifles were IMHO the absolute best bolt rifle of WWI.

I studied the .303 and found generally speaking it falls between the popular 30-30 and the .308.
My wife has a No.4 carbine. Her No.1 go-to bolt rifle. Nice well built rifle and the Prvi has been easy to get. Then again, our shipping address is not a cave in the middle east.

Does the Privi Partizan .303 use boattail or flatbase bullets? My No 4 refurbed Faz is accurate with it. I m sure my barrel is 4 grooves but just curious of the Privi.

To answer your question:

No major superpower has used it in 50+ years, and Britain wasn't really a superpower at that point either.

7.62x54r is everywhere because the Sovs made billions if not trillions of rounds to stash away for WWII and WWIII, when they would have to distribute them to 50 million soldiers. The same is true for 5.45, .308 and to a lesser extent 30-06. Uncle sugar is currently using all the 5.56 in the sandbox, but it will flood out too in a couple of years hopefully. .303 just wasn't made in the same quantities because the brits, even with their colonies, didn't match the manpower of the Soviet Union - especially after they lost India.
.303 was phased out in favor of .308, half a century ago, so whatever was in the storehouses was disposed of one way or another years ago.

After WW 2 , UK was in shambles and nowhere near its glorious past. The former colonies all clamored for independence. UK cannot sustain its foothold in those lands and the best way were to give them up . India for example who contributed a lot of its men to fight for the Brit Crown were subsequently given a new lease in life, independence as a reward.

Nathan, the Privi uses a boattail bullet in all .303 loadings and their brass is the best I've ever used.

351 WIN:
On the "Ammo seek" website, of all the Prvi ammo boxes that have clear photos, and not all do, I only saw one (about .80-90/rd.?) in the lower price range which said SP without the BT, but could be wrong.

Some of the verbal descriptions seem vague.
It's too bad that manufacturers seem to assume that BTs are always best, and that they don't seem to be aware of some rifles' limitations.
One of my 2-groove bores was produced in England and the other is a LB.

The 303 is the longest lived military rifle round in the world. Started in the 1890s using black powder and still being used by some units today. It is the fastest firing bolt. An armorer sargent fired at a 300 yd one foot square target and hit it 39 times in ONE MINUTE. That is some shooting. Have one box of milsurp ammo but my using ammo is boxer and loaded with 150 gn HP. Probably have a couple hundred rds of boxers.

It's pretty interesting that such a small country can produce so many arms and ammo compared to the USSR.

Lee En-field SMLE rifles were built in many countries,
yes the Canadian Rocky Mountain Rangers( a CF funded Militia volunteer group/ search and rescue etc)still train and shoot the No4 SMLE .303's
yes we have "ample"amounts of IVI FMJ ammo, lol, our politically correct politicians missed out on "wholesale-ling" the lot of it to the CIA, lol

and Yes, a SMLE .303 Brit with SP-EXP bullets will kill moose. big elk and big bears with authority!, with in moderate ranges, done it many times with a .303 180 grn bullet!


on a side note. Ruger Firearms recently produced a LTD Ruger No 1 in .303 British,,,

"Superior" ballistics is completely relative.

Not everyone wants MORE velocity.

Not every application benefits from MORE velocity.

95% of hunters wouldn't be any worse off if they traded their 30-06 in for a 30-30.

a 150/180 grn 30 caliber bullet at anywhere around 1500 to 2000 FPS is certainly adequate for deer, moose,elk or black bear, it really doesn't matter what brand of rifle the bullet originated from,,,

the key is "bullet placement"

a deer can be wounded and lost and suffer from a 30-378 Wby shot, if the bullet is not placed well!
or deer can drop, like a rock, from a 55grn .223 Rem !

the 30-30 Win has probably killed more big game in NA , than any other caliber,,,

and very humanly in hands of capable marksmen,,

Jeff56 Nobody pulled your chain, I was refering to a specific post, not yours, besides that was yesterday, I think the fact I'm a midget really shouldnt enter into what you think of my opinions, little people have rights too. If you have a something to contribute , maybe something useful, please post it.

I admit I'm a smart a__, I'll give you that one.

Mr Trooper, I think was dead nuts correct on his first 3 statements, I think what he's saying, in the last statement, is the vast majority of deer are shot at something like 50-75 yards. In which case ,the difference between the two cartridges, is kind of a moot point. If thats what your saying, I agree completely.

Ditto, elkdomBC

Sunray, I went back and read my post# 23 and found it plum full of jack___,
I'm going to have to learn, to read a post, not get pissed, and then respond while I still am. Anyway pretty much out of line, sorry. except maybe the CIA comment still stewing on that one. At the time I was frustrated from trying to communicate with someone I never should have read. Not saying its his fault,
just had a crappy mindset, from butting heads. I'll let you guess who it was.

I didnt read all the posts but here in Aust, the .303 is still a popular gun, most large farms have them and its not uncommon to see them at the gun range because they make such good target rifles even just as they came out the factory. Not sure what the going rate for ammo is here i should imagine it would be about $20 -$30 for a box of 20, we have a company here called "highland" different rounds for different purposes. Ive seen a lot of pictures here of people using them as buffalo guns. Bu if you can pick up tins of .303 surplus its usually alright if its been kept properly, my mate was a target shooter and in the cadets here for a while and he used to buy 32 rounds ( dont ask why 32 lol i dunno either ) but 32 rounds in a tin for $12 that was something like 40 years ago though.

Hope this helps and i have just dribbled crap lol

Regards Lindsay

I love the 303 round and have a blast shooting it in my old Enfield No 4. Can't wait to get a No 1 as well. I wouldn't hesitate to use it for hunting. I really wish I was a collector when the Greek HXP hit the market but I have been very happy with the PRVI ammo I order in bulk.