Surplus Mk 7 .303in - Is this the Pakistani junk?

[threeseven]

I purchased a box of 32 .303 cartridges today at the local gun store and was wondering if you blokes could tell me a little about what I have on my hands here. The rounds are packaged in a brown cardboard box, 8x4 rows of cartridges, with a tape seal marked 32 Cartridges .303 Inch Mk 7 C.I.A. (P) P.O.F. and the rounds themselves have a headstamp of POF 66 7. I was quite wary of this, as I seemed to remember the Mk 7 being the Paki junk with the frequent hangfires and the like. The rounds themselves seem to be in reasonable condition, all of the projectiles are solid in the case and don't wobble. The primers all look to be in uniformly good nick also.

The rounds are mainly for a bit of testing and I hope to get a reloading operation set up reasonable quickly, but what have I got here? The cartridges weren't especially cheap ($25/32) but the store is local and very convenient. Any tips on which surplus .303 to seek out/avoid? Any good Australian distributors and their details would be appreciated also. Thanks.

 

[SMLE]

Yup, that's the Paki stuff. If you want to master your follow through and learn not to flinch, it's good stuff. Just be sure to boil the heck out of your bore ASAP after you fire it.

The MkVII is the standard loading for the .303, it has nothing to do with the country of origin. You can find WWII Canadian MkVII that is still perfect and scary accurate. Some of the Paki I've had was fine. Other batches were hang-fire city. Look for the South African stuff if you can find it. It will be marked 7.7x56R. The Greek is good too, look for the headstamp HXP.

I can ask an online mate of mine in Queensland about Aussie sources. Will have to get back to you.

 

[Bill Hook]

Just go to gunboards.com and ask Vulch, et al. Half the Aussies who own Enfields must frequent the board.

 

[Roadkill]

I've shot a few hundred rounds of it, except for a noticeable increase in the recoil and a couple of delayed ignitions its worked fine. (its not boxer primed so as far as reloading?)

rk

 

[Dave Markowitz]

This stuff is loaded with Cordite, so if you shoot a lot of it (thousands of rounds), you may see throat erosion faster than if you stick with stuff like Sellier & Bellot or the Greek milsurp.

 

[thumbtack]

I have a couple boxes of this stuff, and I did notice a increase in recoil. Other then the recoil increase in recoil all have functioned correctly and grouped fairly well.