anybody here load for accuracy in a surplus enfield??

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Detritus

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Greetings to all,

well i now have my reloading bench "mostly" together and working and will be looking to start loading for my No4Mk1* within the next few weeks. Since i am to this a point where my tools are in order but the components are not yet on hand i thought i's ask to see if any of you here have ever worked up "best accuracy" loads for one of these old warhorses and if so if there were any tips, hints, or tricks you could share that might help simplify or speed the process of getting better accuracy out of an enfield.

and for the record ANY experience in reloading .303 is welcome, plinking loads, etc, i am completely new to this cartridge. in fact the only round i have done any kind of even semi-serious work loading for is .223 and that was 6 years or more ago.

as always thank you for your time, patience, and any advice you can give me.
 
303 is tough on brass as the chambers were made large in the shoulder area to accomidate grungy ammo. If you full length resize you can expect to see case head separation. Neck size only, better yet get a Lee collet die for 303. Also keep your loads well under max.
 
I used Hornady (#3131) 174 grain FMJ/BT bullets, CCI Benchrest Primers, and 40.0 grains of IMR 4064. OAL was approx. 2.950-2.954.

My notes indicate this cartridge is apparently shorter than the military surplus fare. My records also show that this same powder charge worked well with Remington 180 grain RNSP bullets.

And as RON in PA indicated, after the first sizing and firing, I only neck sized the brass.
 
I picked up a Redding neck sizer for .303 British from Midway. I use my LEE set for everything else, full length resizing every 3 reloads. Brass is holding up good.
 
Accuracy? Why?

I'd load for biggest bullet, fastest speed, and it'll still be okay for Bambi.

because i don't hunt any more, I target/range shooter so finding out how well a rifle i own will shoot is one of the major things that i've always enjoyed doing. on surplus guns i don't exactly look for 1" or less at 100yrds but it's always nice to know if a really lousy group is me or just par for that rifle.

and to be fully honest i want to see if i can up my hit ratio on the two 18" gongs that are on the 300 yard line of my local range, since right now i'm averaging 2 hits out of 5 with open sights and comercial 174gr FMJ loads. plus there are a few other things that i'd like to try for the sheer heck of it, but first i need to know what the true potential of the rifle is.

Btw i already have a lee collet die (a deluxe rifle set to be exact) for .303, to me neck sizing is a given in any bolt gun that i want better groups out of, plus i already knew about enfields being abusive on brass

thanks for the replies so far :)
 
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