Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles 303 enfield hunting bullets

What's a good bullet for short range deer hunting?

174 Hornady RN

im curious also. of all the guns i own i have never developed a load for my 303. i have a savage model U.S. property WWII original. it has 2 groove rifling. Im thinking bout hunting with it some. So..i too would appreciate any load info one may have worked up for these cool guns

Thanks for info. Looking forward to hearing about optimum powder for that bullet too.

excellent load data and info

http://303british.com/

If you're going to try a 174 grain RN, Re15 is a good powder to use to duplicate the original 2440 fps velocity. Accuracy is best with IMR4350. It pushes the bullet about 100 fps slower however.

OAL 3.000" - 41.0 to 43.0 grains of RE15
OAL 3.000" - 43.5 to 46.5 grains of IMR4350

Some Lee Enfields don't like RNs, so if you're after deer, try a Hornady 150 SP with IMR4895 or 4064.

OAL 3.000" - 41.0 to 44.0 grains of IMR4064
OAL 3.000" - 39.0 to 42.0 grains of IMR4895

150 grain bullets seem to perform best with a MV of 2500-2600 fps.

Thank you gentlemen

Steve is about one of THE sources for the .303.

BTW - The Remington 180 Core-Lokt, doesn't suck.

The Hornady 150 grain spire point works well.

I have some of the 174 grain RN's from Hornady, but the 150 grain Speer HotCor's shot so well, I think most of that box of 174's is still on my bench somewhere.

303 bullets seem to be a tough find these days

I found a partial box of 180 gr RN. What say ye shooters of 303's? Stick with IMR4350?

For deer, somebody out there is making a 150...I always used IMR 4895 in my .303 FWIW, and 180 grainers, but I was shooting stuff bigger than deer...

Ingwe

IMR4064 and a good 150 works well on deer.

Didnt think of 4064...dat would be good in that cartridge..

Ingwe

I'm just struggling to find bullets at this point. Given that I'll use 180s over nothing.

Certain calibres do seem to be in short supply.

I was at the Midway site and most of their 303 stuff is out of stock. The only stuff available in 150 or 180 gr.is from Woodleigh or Barnes. Rem Core Lokts are a good bullet. The RNs hit pretty hard, but some rifles don't feed well with that shape.

Have you had any luck at gun shows?

Graf and Sons has some bullets listed and there's always Huntingtons.

Good luck with your search.

I'll poke around a bit more Steve. Haven't had a chance to hit a gun show lately. Truthfully I just came up with this idea recently of hunting with the 303. I've got time but I get anxious and would prefer to order a box now.

Thanks again.