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Hey all new around here and had a question for the experts. I've recently purchased some good condition 303 surplus that is marked DA 1945. I've found out that this is Dominion Arsenal, however I was wondering if it is corrosive or not, as well if its boxer or berdan primed? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers and Thanks in advance!
Pretty sure you can count on it being corrosive, berdan primed and I wouldn't be surprised if it's not click......bang ammo. I have some 42 Radway .303 that has now attained collector status in the bunker. :lol:
It's likely boxer primed non-corrosive, which makes it less likely to fire, as the corrosive priming compound is more stable. However, storage conditions greatly influence primer life and sensitivity. Pull a bullet and pour out the powder to see if its Boxer primed- or just shoot some! Clean w/ hot water if you're not sure if its corrosive primed or not...
DA (Dominion Arsenal) ammo was all corrosive until the 1950s. It will be Berdan primed and loaded with cordite. In 1968 I saw 1951 dated DA MkVII issued to the ORA give hang and misfires. That ammo was only 17 years old.
The 1941-45 Boxer primed DI (Defence Industries) VIIz loaded with the CIL noncorroive primer has proved much more reliable.
I went through 288 rounds of 1944 DA .303 last year in temperatures from 20 degrees F to 70 degrees F - performed very well, only 1 click-bang, and it wasn't that noticeable. Depends on how the ammunition has been stored (heat, humidity, etc.)
Now I have stumbled on 6000 rounds of Kynoch .303 from the 60's - I wonder how long that will last?? lol.
Dominion Arsenal was the Government ammunition plant and it stayed with the british specs for .303 ammo right to the end of production, very nearly. Primers in ALL of their stuff, right into the 1950s, were corrosive AND mercuric: rust your barrel, wreck your brass.
Defence Industries was a World War Two Crown Corporation which was managed by, and had all its core staff from, CIL. They used the CIL noncorrosive and nonmercuric Boxer primer and they made some of the finest .303 ammunition ever constructed. The very lates primers are a little more stable than what they had, but not by a great margin at all, when you consider the variables and vagaries of storage.
But your DA 45 VII WILL be corrosive, mercuric and loaded with Cordite.
Nice thing is that you can pull down a round and toss it into your First Aid box: Cordite, even the weak MDT these were loaded with, is an excellent slow-release heart stimulant and the little sticks are really great for starting fires.