1941 Winchester .303

If the powder still smells "sweet" an flows freely when decanting from the cases, it is probably OK. Any hint of "acidic / tangy smell or "clumping" of the granules usually means it is "off"

If in doubt, decant the propellant, (it makes a handy fertilizer in the garden), remove the BOXER primers with one of the dedicated "de-prime only" tools. The original bullets and cases can be tarted up in the rotary yumbler and put back to good use with fresh primers and powder.

If you ere contemplating doing such salvage on BERDAN-primed ammo, it is a bit more complicated. Before you even startrt, confirm your source of replacement primers.

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Originally Posted by Alan de Enfield

You have obviously never reloaded S&B 303 brass.
We had a competition at the club to see who could get the most reloads out of it - the record was 3 (a total of 4 firings) the majority failed on firing the 1st reload.

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About 5 years ago I was firing next to a friend who had 6 case separations on the trot with S&B brass; he had apparently been unaware of its reputation!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Alan de Enfield

You have obviously never reloaded S&B 303 brass.

We had a competition at the club to see who could get the most reloads out of it - the record was 3 (a total of 4 firings) the majority failed on firing the 1st reload.

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Right....that way...I get you.

Not unlike Federal brass here in the US.

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Originally Posted by togor

Right....that way...I get you.

Not unlike Federal brass here in the US.

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I refer you to posts #8 & #12 in this thread.

Comparisons of Winchester and Mil spec (PPU manufactured) brass.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Alan de Enfield

I refer you to posts #8 & #12 in this thread.

Comparisons of Winchester and Mil spec (PPU manufactured) brass.

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Seems to me a longer bolt head would be just the ticket for those too-skinny Winchester rims!

:)

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Originally Posted by togor

Seems to me a longer bolt head would be just the ticket for those too-skinny Winchester rims!

:)

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With that sort of thinking you'd need to keep a box full of bolt heads in your range bag and fit a different one for each brand / lot that you use.
The problem of minimising your bolt head using 'thin rims' is that when you do use some mil-spec ammo you won't be able to close the bolt.

Still wont stop the case head separation, the cases are undersized and or made with a poor quality brass.
Togor some of us have been dealing with this problem for 40 years or longer. It is not a new issue. Reloading the 303 and its derivatives has different issues to any other case i know and i reload for more than a few in both camps rimmed rear lockers and rimless front and rear lockers.

Might have thought the :) would have signalled the light humor.

Maybe Enfields aren't funny?

I look forward to shooting these, when the weather warms up. See what they can do.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by togor

Might have thought the would have signalled the light humor.

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Well yes, but these guys are tryin' to tell you something. You seem to be side stepping them so they keep going.

The problem with '303 case-head separations may not all be down to rim thickness.

.303 headspaces on the RIM, not the case shoulder , like sensible rimless cartridges..

Your "surp-mil .303 rifle has had its chamber "refreshed, (to clean up roughness , the brass at the front end will expand more than usual. Depending of the "annealing", if you full-length size your brass for optimal feeding, that could be a LOT of metal fatigue going on there... The usual manifestations, in order of "annoyance" being: cracked necks, blown shoulders and case separations.

Forty to fifty thousand PSI exerts a LOT of encouragement for the brass to "flow".

Likewise, squeezing it all back to SAAMI dimensions in your trusty Rockchucker, makes the brass flow inwards AND forward. (Hence, why experienced / well-trained reloaders TRIM their rifle brass, especially)

IF you have ONE.303 rifle, use the neck-sizer die and the full-length die, . And an annealer. The FLS die is used to do a "general" resizing. It is backed off a few turns. Then the neck-sizer is adjusted slowly until the empty, sized brass JUST drops smoothly into the chamber.

Trim and inside chamfer as desired / needed.

If you have a bunch of different models and conditions of rifle, you have two basic options:

"Custom" case processing for each rifle, or, "universal" sizing (one size fits all), and buy bulk brass when it turns up on "special" sale.

And DO NOT use boat-tailed bullets in ANY .303 Lee-Enfield, Ross or P-14.

Or, buy an Ishapore 2A1 and enjoy shooting without fretting about all that brass management,