Interesting

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Originally Posted by Daan Kemp

Having shot thousands of military 303 through several No 1 and No 4 rifles, I have never seen a muzzle flash. Granted, my shooting has never been in the dark, only low light every now and then. Or my eyes are deceiving me, which is entirely possible.

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Try it with a No5 at dusk it is impressive.

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Originally Posted by Bruce_in_Oz

In the First Great Unpleasantness, US factories NEVER used "Cordite to fill .303 ammo for Britain,instead, they used the same type of stuff they used in their "sporting' ammo in that cartridge.. The Canadians made BOTH styles of ammo; Mercuric-primed, Cordite-fueled stuff at the "government" facilities and Boxer-primed, NC powder-fueled at "commercial" plants.

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Indeed and it is recognised in the Armourers manuals of the time :

'Regulations For Army Ordnance Services', Vol.3, Pam.11A :-

APPENDIX 15



Instructions regarding Cordite and the corrosive and errosive effects - a note at the end of the sections states :

7. Belt packed S.A.A. for M.G.s is packed in boxes which are clearly marked with labels or stenciling indicating its proper use. It will never be de-belted and used for practice purposes in L.M.G.s or rifles.

8. It must be noted that the above restrictions apply only to ammunition fired from British weapons. All American ammunition is N.C. loaded and their weapons are designed to fire it satisfactorily.


The problem was (in WW1) that by mid 1916 the US was about 400,000,000 rounds in arrears to their contracted delivery quantities, and, about 50% of what was supplied by the US Cartridge company was 'reject' and only suitable for 'practice use'.The situation was discussed in parliament and the contracts cancelled soon after.

In WW2, there were similar problems with Winchester supplied 303 which was banned from use in aircraft due to dimensional quality control being poor and the guns jamming - not a big problem with your LE on the ground, but not the most convenient thing to happen in the air. Some of the ammunition was so poor it was rejected even for 'ground use' and was again relegated to 'practice use'.

Attachment 130243Attachment 130244Attachment 130245Attachment 130246

Is this why some WRA rounds had staked primer pockets in WWII to negate the primers backing out so they could be used in aircraft.
See pic.

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Originally Posted by CINDERS

Is this why some WRA rounds had staked primer pockets in WWII to negate the primers backing out so they could be used in aircraft.

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That is exactly it. There was some literature about them getting backed out and causing stoppages...proof as it were.

The 1909 graphic, posted by Cinders at the start of his thread has a descriptive sub-heading: "exterior similar to American".

Any insights? (Was the bullet jacket profile similar to that of U.S. .30-06 bullet)?

Interesting pick up butlersrangers missed that bit guess they may have looked at maybe the 30/40 Krag or 30/06 projectiles.

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Originally Posted by Alan de Enfield

Try it with a No5 at dusk it is impressive.

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Been there, done that! ;)
Try comparing it with a shortened No4 sporter.

The No5 makes a lovely ball of flame from its muzzle device, the No4 made a really long jet of flame straight out, very impressive.