Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Mule Deer - .303B article?

G'Day Mule Deer,

Are you thinking of writing an article on the No.1A/.303B?
I'd love to see an article in Rifle or Handloader Magazine with some loads with best powders and bullets etc. Any chance you reckon?

Thanks.

Better yet an article on a Savage 303 "B"

Elvis - is your "undisclosed location" on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, or have you moved again. I've heard of no recent sightings.

Still waiting for the article on the #3 in 30-40, could combine the 303 Brit one with it as they are ballistic twins. (yeah I know the bullet diamter is different)

Ha! I just did one.

Ha, I'm actually living in Australia now.....but don't tell anyone.

Actually the dual article with the 30-40 sounds good. The old .303B might not be too popular with American editors so the more popular .30-40 might help persuade an editor to give it a crack.

It would be nice to see some modern load data in a strong action for this old round.

The .303 British Ruger No. 1 article is on my schedule for Handloader.

I have already written about the .303 Savage and .30-40 in previous issues of Handloader, but neither article was specfically about just that cartridge. I did a piece on loading all the Savage rounds some years ago (.22 HP, .250, .303, .300), which basically said use .30-30 data, because the .303 and .30-30 have exactly the same case capacity. Or at least Winchester brass for both cartridges had exactly the same capacity, and others would be so similar the rule would hold.

I've had excellent luck with H4350 in four .30-40 rifles, including a reproduction High Wall, two Krags and my present .30-40, a double rifle built on a Ruger Red Label 20-gauge frame.

The 303 British is an excellent cartridge, in the class of the 30-40. It deserves attention, but with so many cartridges to choose form, it just never caught on as a sporting round in the US, even with large numbers surplus Lee-Enfields on the market.

Sad to see, but understandable.

So Mule Deer, while we wait for the article to come out, what would be your go to powder for the .303? I'm using Varget (AR2208) at the moment with 174/180gn bullets for about 2430fps. Is there a better powder? We are pretty much limited to the Hodgdon Extreme powders (as they are made here) and the Reloader powders.

Thanks.

Varget generally works very well, especially with 150's, but you might also give H4350 a try with 174/180's.

Mule Deer,
Are you seeing vertical stringing from your 1A 303British? A few being reported on in Australia are showing some fairly extreme (2" to 6") vertical stringing ... particularly if trying for 5 shot groups.

A 'How to tweak your 1A" article may also be relevant and of great interest.
Cheers...
Con

I've posted on that several times on the single-shot forum.

So far my .303 1A is making round groups, but I don't fire more than 3 shots.

oohhhh..... delicious.....

Round triangles?

Equilateral triangles!

Um.... ain't they got straight sides?

Or, is this part of the "more diverse" math, and "straight" sides are no longer kosher....

Was that your No 1 303 in Elio's a while back?. I had a play with it and was most impressed. He was getting another one in so there are at least 2 in your general area.

Von Gruff.

Would enjoy watching you shoot rising Snipe while being poled through a marsh with your 404 Jeffery and 7x57. (just funning)

Excellent John, I have a heap of H4350 on hand. Can't wait for the article. Stop posting on here and get to the type writer.