.303 Brit ammo...

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Owen

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Where can I find surplus .303 Brit (7.7 x 56R for our metric friends)?

I would like at least 2000 rounds.
 
I have had no luck with the usual suspects.

Ammoman, Cole Distributing, AIM, SARCO, etc, etc.

Heck, I don't even care if it's corrosive...hot soapy water is cheap.

Is the PMC 174gr at 2400 fps going to duplicate the MkVII round?
 
Surplus is getting hard to find let alone GOOD surplus. Most everything I've seen in the last several months has been POF or old 50's British/Canadian click.......bang junk.

Commercially PMC and S&B are ok. The Olympic (Greek?) stuff is quite spectacular if you're into 15 ft of muzzle flash :what:

I have noticed that the commercial bullets are a bit undersized and keyhole in some rifles so might try a few boxes before buying a case.

Beware of some of the "silver" bullet stuff. I got a couple bags (MJ '41) and the case necks floowed the bullet down range :scrutiny:
 
reminds me i need to check if Century has gotten a new shipment of PMP yet, it's been long enough (they said in Nov to check after the new year but i haven't had a chance to / remembered to call since). and i just don't see the reason to shoot true surplus when a former supplier of Mk VII ammo is producing it still .
 
That FNM is heck of a hard to find. I have held on to a coupla hundred rounds and normally just use ''hang-fire specials'' :p

I got two batches a year or more ago of the ''usual'' old stuff POF (SOG or AIM I think) - 2 x 760 or so IIRC - the boxes of 32 in case. There are some hangfires but for fun plinking they do fine - and seeing as just one round will mean a post-corrosive clean - seems like ''might as well shoot a hundred or more". :)
 
After exhausting my supply of excellent South African and Greek surplus .303 I;ve taken to handloading exclusively that caliber.

I have a No4 mk1/3 that got a new barrel during FTR and it is now shooting 1.5 inch groups at 100 yards with my relaods (using the Greek boxer brass).

Surplus never shot as well.

But to keep this post on topic, look at gunbroker.com. I think there's someone selling South African cheap at the moment.
 
Dang! Pointman! What a set of pics! I've got some even older silver bullet stuff. 'Bout half of it was dead primers (had been wet by appearance), and I pulled a handful of others to save the 'silvers'. Haven't pulled the other boxes of it (mostly R(broadhead)L '28 VII and some Turkish of similar vintage headstamps) as these are stick cordite rounds,a nd the cordite's still active :what: . I burned it off in-cartridge after pulling the bullets. I need to get a .303 collet puller for my press, rather than continue to use my impact puller!
 
I still have 100 rounds of linked Greek stuff - it remains even now ''decorative'' :p

I had heard long ago tho - it was somewhat high pressure . Any thoughts on that? I am tempted if this is boxer primed to go shoot the darned stuff and so get some much needed brass for reloading. It's so - well - pretty tho!


greek-linked-642-s.jpg
 
That's awful pretty P95Carry... I think if it were mine I'd pull a few and replace it with some unshootable British stuff and see if a No4 liked it and whether it click------bang'd or not.

Still as surplus goes it's probably about $10-15 worth of ammo and it's getting so as nick-nacks at the gas station cost that.

I was fortunate to find 6 boxes of SA in December but now I can't bring myself to actually shoot it :(
 
Thanks vic303, I cannot even imagine trying to pull .303 bullets with a hammer! :what: They really crimp those puppies!

I'm using an RCBS collet puller in my Rock Chucker, works pretty good though I can usually see marks.

I got 8 bags of that "surplus" from FAC last fall and 2 of them were the silver bullet stuff. Dates were mostly early and mid 40's, MJ & DA headstamps. They still have it listed on their website catalog but I wouldn't buy it again.
 
Never seen the SA - maybe never looked!!

I think perhaps - hassle aside - I may well do as you suggest - pull some of those and shoot 'em!! Probably if I can find the patience - reassemble the links on old hangfire stuff and still have a pretty item to drape over my book shelves!''

So - checking - high pressure? Boxer primed??
 
P95, I would be greatly surprised if it were boxer primed... pressure wise I don't know.. those links were for the Vickers weren't they? If it's Mk7 it should be the same stuff.... "should" being the operative word there...

And the SA stuff is metric marked... 7,7 x 56 I've noticed some people selling it don't know what it is. It's reputed as being about the best .303 but I wouldn't know because I'm HORDING mine :D
 
You know... there is a way to find out really quickly... think your neighbors would mind the noice at this hour? :D Seriously though I hope it is as it'll make the links worth messing with. Hopefully the links haven't scored the brass.

The Olympic ammo is boxer and I'm pretty sure Greek so that's where my mind went when I read Berg's comments. But now I'm going to check my SA stash this weekend because if it's boxer it's going to get shot! Unfortunately the SA .308 I have is all berdan primed (but the FAL's don't seem to mind)
 
The ammo I had was South African and Berdan primed...head stamped A80
 
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Yeah unfortunately South African is berdan but if you had a powerful enough intention, you could reload those. Graff & Sons sells what you need to make it happen.

The Greek surplus I shoot (not the new Olympic) is all from the late 60's early 70's and is excellent brass.

Here is a pretty good deal on some right now: http://www.auctionarms.com/Search/DisplayItem.cfm?ItemNum=6647943
 
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It isn't "Mil-Surp" ammo, but South African made ammo is still available...

PMP (Pretoria Metal Pressings) is/was the SA Military ammo maker. They still load .303 Brit in their "Sporting Ammo" line.

Saw it recently in my local Dunham's Sporting Goods for $8/20. You might see it in either the blue box "Pro-Amm" labeling, or in the brown PMP marked boxes.

Bought a bunch of PMP .30-06 recently for again, $8/20 from my local Dunham's. They also had .243, .270, .308, and 7x57 Mauser for the same $8/20.

Probably a bit pricier than you had in mind, but if you need a small amount of ammo, worth looking at your local stores.
 
I got Greek surplus in stripper clip bandolier from Ammoman a few years back. It has Boxer primer pocket, for sure. I shot a couple of strippers and it worked very well. I decided to keep them in that form and shots my reload.

They probably are somewhere in my storage. I need to look for them. As I recall, the stripper alone almost worth the ammo price. I wish we get some more of that.

BTW P95Carry. The ammo link picture looks very nice. I need to try to take some like that.

-Pat
 
Saw it recently in my local Dunham's Sporting Goods for $8/20. You might see it in either the blue box "Pro-Amm" labeling, or in the brown PMP marked boxes.
Click to expand...

You can find it on sale every now and then for $5-6 a box. It isn't too bad.
 
As somebody has said, it's "Hangfire Central"!

Decades ago, I got some British Army surplus made in mid-50's. Every fourth round was a hangfire.

No thanks, I like the eyeballs I got.
 
I've had darned good results with the Sellier & Bellot

Their 174gr FMJ stuff is wunnerful in both my NoIMkIII*, and my No5Mk1 Jungle Carbine. Plus, I get to reload it on the Dillon!
 
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