Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Anyone hunt with a .303 british?

I have an old enfield lying around ive decided to put to use. Anybody hunt with one? If so what bullet do you use? How does it compare to another more common cartridge ie 30-30 or .308?

have hauled around a cutdown No4Mk1* around but have not killed anything with it.....just used over the counter Winchester soft points....it will hold minute of milk jug out to 150-200 yards....i really would like a Lee Speed or similar commercial SMLE....

What does SMLE stand for? According to the chart i found I have a no1 mk3.

Short Magazine Lee Enfield.......covers the No1's onward.....

Ok so does that make mine an SMLE? I have little or no knowledge of these guns.

podunkkennels;
Some of my family still hunt with the .303 British and my late father used one for moose. I guess I've owned and played with more than a dozen of them over the years and have been there when 2 deer died and did post mortem on 1 moose shot with a .303 British.

The bullet used in one that has killed several moose and a few more deer is the Sierra 180gr. Game King. Backed by a book load of WW760 I think it was good for something like � 2300fps. I recall tissue damage and bullet penetration similar to what I'd expect out of a short barreled .308 using a C&C bullet of similar weight.

I also loaded some Hornady 150gr. Spires for a fellow and we ended up over 2500fps if memory serves. For the life of me I can't recall if he shot anything with that bullet, but it grouped well for a rifle that had seen a couple world wars.

From the velocities we've chronographed over the years it appears that the .303 British would be a twin to a .300 Savage, but I've never owned or shot a .300 Savage, so that's a guess.

The velocities we've seen put the .303 British a little closer to an 18�" barreled .308 Carbine than a 20" barreled .30-30.

Hopefully that was some use to you. Good luck getting your .303 back into service.

Regards,
Dwayne

podunkkennels;
If yours has a two piece stock with a metal socket at the wrist where the stock and fore end fit into, as well as a removeable magazine, it is an SMLE.

If it is more or less a large cock on closing Mauser, it is a Pattern 14 Enfield.

That is the very, very short version, but hopefully some use to you.

Regards,
Dwayne

Thanks BC30cal youve been very helpful, mine has apparently spent sometime in canada as it has a canadian quarter embedded in the stock. I hate that its just sitting in the cabinet doing nothing so im gonna fix it up and teach one of the young men i know to shoot it and probly let him have it. So it at least is of to use for someone.

podunkkennels;
You are quite welcome sir. Oh, one last thing on the .303 British we�ve learned.

If you shoot factory ammo they often show signs of insipient case separation on the first firing as the chambers on many were generous to say the least. I suppose an oversized chamber with a tapered cartridge was the ideal situation for muddy ammo and chambers, but not great for reloaders.

I�ve pretty much settled on opening up the neck of virgin brass to .338 or even .35 diameter and then necking it back down to create a 2ndary shoulder, just enough so it fits into the chamber with some pressure on the bolt. A snug, semi-crush fit is the goal here.

Doing that then means cases don�t stretch on initial firing and afterward I either neck size only or size with a full length die set to not touch the shoulder. Some cases are up to 5 firings now in a rifle that used to absolutely devour cases before.

I�ll add it shot so well that we didn�t want to modify it and a new barrel wasn�t in the budget for the owner anyway.

Again, hopefully that was useful information and again good luck with your .303.

Regards,
Dwayne

I use lee loaders so neck sizing is my only option. Im just gonna tinker it and see what happens.

some have more generous chambers than others.....had one that used to spit out brass that looked closer to a 308 than the nice tapered 303....my current one must be near right on as they are nearly the same coming out as going in....

they are nice dependable rifles but a tad heavy.....paid $70 for my current one and wouldnt sell it for 4 times that.....likely be one of the last rifles i would part with, but im a bit of an odd duck....

here is the No4Mk1* made by Savage here in the states for the Brits during WWII

we never hunted regularly with ours but in the fall of '08 we used it on a very sloppy rainy antlerless season hunt... the boy and i both took nice does with it...

a month later i had shoulder replacement surgery which resulted in nearly a years recuperation... i sold that rifle for 3 times what i paid for it... i'd pay a premium to get it back now that i'm working again...
we used winchesters 180 grn loads in it... it shot pretty well for an old tomato stake...

the boy just reminded me that his deer was a button buck... 13 yr olds!!!

I would be more likely to hunt with mine if one of the major bullet companies would make a good 215gr. soft point RN in the correct diameter.

I agree that there is a lock of good bullets out there, i believe im gonna load the 150gr hornady interlock first then see what else there is.

My grandfather has one just like the above photo, but many years ago he had a different 2 piece wood stock installed. More of a standard hunting stock than the above. Hunted with it a few times, missed a buck at 200 yards and later found out the scope wouldn't hold its zero.

I have taken both deer and hog with the 303. I use BLC2 and Reloader 15 powders with the 150 & 174 Hornady. The 174 round nose went from the brest to the butt on a deer with a close shot 50-75 yards and all the way though a 130 Lb pig. The stock sights were set with 175 grainers zeroed at 200 yards with about 2400-2500 fps, if you max out with Reloader 15 you can get pretty close. 150 grainers might shoot low in Enfeilds with stock sights. You must try different bullets and weights to find what your rifle likes. These rifles seem to be ammo sensitive more so than others. One I have that likes Rem. 180 factory loads and 174 hand loads and HATES all 150's. Also some, do not like to feed the last round do to wear on the mag lips. Buy some powder bullets and have fun, the old SMLE will get the job done.

Im gonna put a fixed four power on it and see what itll do, im just looking for a 100 to 150 yard truck/backup rifle.

Literally tons of meat brought into the larder in our family #1mkIII. It graces my gun safe, and gets use still from time to time. I have used 150 gr but I like the 180 better. It far surpasses the 30/30 but is not up to 308.

Randy

A gunshop in my area has a Winchester M1895 in .303 British,
only the second one I have seen in that caliber. On the
SMLEs dont lose your magazine, the prices on them are
getting pretty high.

The Amish use it a good bit around here.

They kill LOTS of deer with them. Too many....