Most consistent .303 factory ammo ?

[waverace]

Ok this could go in several threads as it covers several topics , but as it all revoves around a rifle , ill put it here .Mods feel free to move it should it go down a certain path .
So heres the question , which factory .303 British ammo have you guys found to be the most consistently accurate ?
The reason I am asking is that I am working on some hand loads and need a benchmark to set them by , I realise that different rifles like different ammo so I am looking for a concensus of oppinion here , if everyone says Winchester then thats what ill go with or S&B or whatever .
The rifle I am using is a Bubberised No 4 MK 1 (bought it that way before you ask) thats scoped and set up for target shooting and hopefully some coyote hunting later this year.
Any oppinions , tips , dos and donts will be greatly appreciated .

 

[foghornl]

I don't have a .303, but a couple of shooting Budds have them. Favorite 'Non-Mil-Surp' ammo is a toss-up between Sellier & Bellot and Wolf "Gold Line"..which may be rebranded Prvi Partisan.

 

[Topkick]

consisstant .303

WAVERACE, you might like to check out .303 British.com, much info available. you may be interested in reloading.

 

[nbkky71]

When it was available, HXP .303 ammo shot VERY well in my No4.

 

[waverace]

Thanks , I will be reloading thats why I need a benchmark ammo to compare it against , Ive already tried federal blue box in the 150 gn that gave me 4" at 100 yds with iron sights so I am hoping to tighten that up now that I have a scope , I just dont want to spend $30 plus on a box of ammo if it isnt going to shoot straight . I already have a couple of boxes of wolf gold line to try next time out , cant complain at the price of that . just looking for a concensus of oppinion about premium ammo .
nbkky , who makes the HXP ?

 

[lencac]

If I can find them I had several recipes for the .303. I'll look

 

[alemonkey]

Mine does not like the Federal Blue Box, but shoots very well with S&B.

 

[9mmepiphany]

i've been very happy with PMP ammo. accurate and clean..nice brass too

 

[jim147]

.303 is one of the few rifles I've shot more factory than handloads.
The Prvi Partisan has show better results then my eyes with open sights.

 

[jpwilly]

Prvi shoots pretty well IMO for factory but nothing beats handloading for these rifles. I've found that Lee Enfields accuracy generally suffers because of worn bores often pitted in poor condition, damaged crowns and rifling, headspace issues (usually out of SAMMI specs but just pass the military field gauge), differences in mfg tolerances, and multiple factories / tooling used in production during wartime. Also it helps to think of the Lee Enfield as the bolt action equivalent to the AK-47...extra clearance, fast shooting, okay sights. I've only shot a couple tack drivers the rest were only so so in accuracy by todays standards. Good handloaded ammo can make an okay Lee Enfield shoot great when made for that specific rifle.

 

[waverace]

thanks guys , so far PP and SB seem to be on top , thats cool they are cheap , has anyone tried the more expensive offerings from winchester and hornady ? or is it just not worth it ? lol
did some research on the hxp seems its just about run out , last production runs for the military . I'm thinking milsurp is probably dry now other than maybe some pakistani stuff that doesnt get good reviews .
Handloading has to be the way to go , I have a bunch of different bullets to try from 125gn up to 200gn lead with gas checks so I'm sure I'll find something the old girl likes .

 

[Jeff F]

I've killed a lot of animals with Remington and Winchester soft points. I have been punching paper with S&B and Wolf gold FMJ out of a few different platforms. Its all good and consistent ammo. Some Enfields don't like boat tail bullets.

 

[Gewehr98]

I handload my .303 British to MkVII specs.

But I've purchased and fired a goodly amount of both Greek HXP milsurp, and Sellier-Bellot reloadable 174gr .303 fodder.

I give both high recommendations, although the former may be hard to come by these days.

 

[Matt Dillon]

I, too, will be developing a load for my MK4 No.1 in the near future, and was wondering if anyone might share their favorite recipes:
thanks!

 

[waverace]

I'll be happy to share once I get some results

 

[alemonkey]

Probably the best thing you can do for your L-E is to make sure the forend is properly bedded. The screw at the front of the triggerguard should be gorilla tight and the wood should contact the action in that area with no gap between the two. The slanted areas at the rear of the forend (called the "draws") should be a snug fit to the metal. The barrel should be free floated except for the very front, which should have a few pounds of upwards pressure on the barrel. Play around with the amount of pressure until you find what your rifle likes. These are very accurate when bedded correctly. Mine's on par with my Finn M39, which is saying a lot.

 

[waverace]

Ok thanks mine is completely free floating in its new ATI stock if it doesnt work out of the box ill shim it at the front

 

[bonza]

The only factory ammo I've shot in my No.4 LE is Federal and Sellier & Bellot. Of the two I prefer the S&B.

I have also shot quite an amount of mil-surp South African & Jugoslavian ammo. The S.A. especially seems to use very nice quality brass &, even though they are berdan primed, I've been reloading them as I have a modest supply of those elusive berdan primers on hand.

As far as the load goes, I've been using the Remington 180gn RNSP (bulk at Midway) with 44.5gns of WW760 & the RWS primers. I've been very pleased with the accuracy & feeding.
I also picked up close to a thousand 174gn FMJ bullets that were pulled from 7.62x54R (heavy) ammo for real cheap, but have yet to try them out.

 

[alemonkey]

Hey Bonza - could you provide a link to the remington bulk bullets? The only bulk .30 caliber I could find at Midway were all .308 diameter.

 

[bonza]

Yes, i just checked & they aren't listed in the bulk section, but if you go to bullets & click on the .303/7.7Jap link it'll take you to another page. There you can scroll down & find the Remington 180gn. If you click on that you'll see a drop down menu were you can chose the quantities (100/500/1000/2000). I bought mine (500) within the last year, & I KNOW I didn't pay as much for them as they're asking now. Anyway, here's a link that may get you there faster:

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=1601408254

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

S & B ammo is good for hunting/target shooting. I don't care for their brass. I've heard good reports about Greek hxp, but it's hard to come by. PP is decent ammo, especially for the money. FYI the non American ammo is loaded hotter and their brass is usually better. I've had excellent success with Remington 180 gr. even though they are .310 and not .311.

The bottom line, keep your reloads in the moderate range as your cases will last longer. Stay away from max. loads, but if you need them for hunting work up carefully. Get yourself a broken shell extractor as sooner or later you will need it. Keep it handy. The chambers are excessive on the enfields and the action stretches to compound the problem of case stretching. Make sure your chamber is completely dry before firing.

Good luck

 

[Gewehr98]

Really?

I *love* reloading S&B brass, at least their 7.62x25 Tokarev, .303 British, 8mm Mauser, and 7.5x55 Swiss flavors. It's very uniform, and reminds me a lot of the mil-spec Lake City rifle brass I also reload. It's thicker, but that just means I save a grain or two of powder per each round. It's not in the same category as the Lapua and RWS brass I use for my precision rifle rounds, but I'll take any surplus S&B rifle brass anybody has and doesn't want.

 

[jpwilly]

Reloader 15 and 180gr bullets work well out to 600yrds. I've had great results at 100 to 200yrds with my Father In Laws SMLE using Varget (43gr I think) and Hornandy 150gr SP's. The pitting in that barrel is amaizing it's also out of SAAMI specs on the headspace. It shoots 8" patterns with surplus and 2" with handloads!

 

[alemonkey]

Ok, found them - thanks.

I'm going to try casting my own bullets for the .303 one of these days. A nice cast bullet with moderate powder loads would make a nice plinking round.

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

Regarding S & B brass I would like to clarify that it is the only brass that I had a case seperation in my .303. Maybe I just got a bad batch - who knows. I do like their 150 sp for hunting. It's very accurate and loaded right up there.