Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles 7.62x39 bullets in a 303 Brit?

Im downloading a 303 brit for my girlfriend to shoot because I like the enfield rifle im tinkering with and want to put it to use. Problem is the lil lady is recoil sensitive. Do you guys believe I could load 123 gr 7.62x39s in a 303 brit? If so where could I find load data? Thanks in advance.

doesn't the 7.62 measure .308 diameter? the 303 measures .311 bore. so dont expect any accuracy.

7.62 measures 310 as do the 303 bullets for sale on midway.

7.62 x 39 is .311 diameter as is .303 but I would stick with published data - especially on surplus rifles. Speer #13 lists data with 125 grainers.

Thanks archer, im just trying to make this rifle work for my girlfriend and im worried that the 150s even downloaded would be too much.

Hodgdon lists a starting load with the 125s at 41.0 grains H4895, but you can safely go down to 30 grains or a bit less for a low-recoil load. In a heavy SMLE that should hardly kick at all.




.

Thanks doubleradius, i want enough power to kill deer cleanly at 100-150 yards and not clobber her shes rather thin built with typical woman longish neck and sloping shoulders, absolute worst build for handling recoil.

Podunkkennels - I think the 125 grain bullet load data I've seen would be just fine for deer at those ranges. With practicing with a reduced load, then once comfortable load up a little bit if needed.

125 grain Sierras do a good job on deer. With 44.5 gr. of IMR4895 and an OAL of 2.925 inches, recoil is not excessive. It leaves the barrel at about 2650 fps. 45.5 grains of IMR 4064 is good too. It moves along about the same. The nice thing about either powder is that you can reduce the load by a few grains without any problems.

The .310 diameter Hornadys don't shoot too well from most rifles. They are several thou undersized. I've never had much luck with them.

The hornadys were the reason why I wanted to load the 123, but I guess theres nothing wrong with a 125 gr sierra pro hunter either.

Thank you Mr Redgwell I was kind of hoping you would chime in on this topic.

And there is always the Trail Boss route as in Handloader this issue.

You're welcome, podunkkennels. If you have some .310 Hornadys lying around, I'd try them for the heck of it.

The biggest problem with these barrels is that the design diameter on paper was 0.313, but machining practises were more primitive years ago and the diameters varied.

Inspectors using barrel gauges would allow bores up to 0.316 off the line. Add throat erosion and mercuric primers eating anything they touched, and an otherwise excellent rifle could have a badly washed out throat.

Someone in the Pacific NW should pull their old Lee Enfield barrel off and send it to Chris Dichter at Pacnor barrels. He'll scan it and add the dimensions to his available pre-chambered rifle barrels.

Trail Boss sounds like a smart idea. Shooting cast bullets is fun and you should end up with some good deer loads too.

Ive really been wanting to build my girlfriend a rifle and this enfield seems like it would be great for her to learn to shoot on. The 125s I have no dobt in killing deerand maybe if she gets more accustomed to recoil I could load her some of the 150s for bigger game if the need ever arose.

Back when you could buy 7.62x39 for 10 cents each but it cost 20 cents to buy projectiles to load 303, I pulled the bullets and loaded up a bunch of 303. All I did was prime the 303 cases, dump the powder charge from the 7.62x39 case directly from the surplus ammo into the 303 case and seat the 123 grain bullet over it.

They were low recoil and amazingly - they were tack driving accurate in my No. 1 Mk III.

So yes, it can be done, and done well. But I don't have any idea what commercial powder would be best.