303 and Cordite.

[tkcomer]

This may not be the right forum, but when did the British stop using cordite in their rounds? A friend found a 303 round that did not go off at the range and pulled the bullet. The bullet is silver and weighs 174grs and it was over a paper wad with yellow cordite strands in it. The strands kinda burned like a fuse when lit. Just trying to figure out how old it is. He pretty much destroyed the case getting the cordite out, and the headstamp is unreadable. I'm thinking they quit using that stuff in the '40s. Any idea?

 

[Ron James]

IIRC, the British closed their last Cordite factory in 1957/58, however India and Pakistan was still using it in the 1960's.

 

[armoredman]

I have 18 rounds of 303 loaded with cordite from the early 50s somewhere. They will stay in hiding until the zombies force me to use them.

 

[tkcomer]

Thanks for the info. I did some searching but couldn't find for sure when the British quit using it. Then again, I didn't know about India and Pakistan.

 

[Old Time Hunter]

Be very careful, the cordite rounds are very prone to "hangfire".

 

[Mk VII]

The last RG batch of Mk.7 I have noted was 1960, next year they were making Mk.7z with NC propellant, and their last lot of all seems to have been 31/12/72.
Kynoch seem to have loaded Mk.7 somewhat later, to about 1965.

 

[Jeremy2171]

Be very careful, the cordite rounds are very prone to "hangfire".

Not because of the cordite.....but because of the primers.....

 

[Acera]

It is still a strange site when you pull a bullet and these "matchsticks" come out. For those who have not seen what the op is talking about, I took one apart a while back.

 

[thegoodlistener]

Does that stuff go bad I think I have a bunch of it in storage?

 

[Ignition Override]

Very experienced Lee-Enfield owners claim that warming POF (Paki-) ammo for a while in the hot sun reduces the time between pin strikes and primer ignition, or helps prevent it.

You have read about the "click-bang". Have not tried this technique, but for my POF the time gap is a small fraction of a second.
Guys on Youtube pull the hammer back with the bolt, to avoid the danger of opening the bolt (even after waiting 30 seconds), to cock it for the next attempt.
Look up "Jungle Carbine" and you can see a guy do this-he uses a blue bench rest device in his backyard.

 

[fireman 9731]

Mmmm... looks like spaghetti.