POF mk7 to the same standards as British made?

[Fruler]

It really must be storage/temperature extremes that kills the primers. There is good and bad of all Mk.7 as old tanker says. Incidentally, the tightest groups in my little Mk.7 accuracy/consistency test was from Iraqi dated 1962.

I totally agree... It's hard to beat mk7 ball, especially in British made cartridge cases... I'm definitely going to shoot for accuracy soon with my royal lab 1939 ammo. My no4 mk2 luckily has an awesome barrel with no wear or pitting. I originally bought this POF ammo for the purpose of pulling the corodite and mk7 bullets from the POF and loading it into new primed cases but since it's performance is like new, i dont see a point... Not yet anyways. I have had a bad batch of POF many years ago in a different country and the ammo at the time was less than 20 years old if i remember correctly. Storage is key. I have emptied the 32 round pOF boxes and dumped them in a ammo can, with a 10 gram silica packets... Maybe that helps, maybe not. If the primer is already gone then it is, but i thought it may help. Thanks for the reply.

[martins8589]

I have sectioned some RG MKVII projectiles and they had the fibre filler but the jacket was copper washed steel!

[Brian Dick]

I much prefer Mk.7z with the nitro powder. The cordite stuff is OK but not for my purposes around here. Those in the USA who haven't bought any of the German MEN 83 dated Mk.7z from SG Ammo are missing the boat. It's fantastic stuff. I was range testing a recently restored No.4T yesterday and it was shooting consistent groups around 2" at 100 yards. Considering the spec is 3" at 100, I certainly won't complain. They raised the price $20 a can but it's still well worth the money.

[Bruce_in_Oz]

Given the way ALL cordite-filled .303 ammo is made, if the price is right, drag out your press-mounted bullet puller and recover the Mk 7 bullets.

Load these into nice, fresh boxer-primed cases with new primers and the propellant of your choice. The intertubes and tree-ware manuals abound with suitable recipes. The usual ammo-loading caveats apply. You will immediately notice that seated to correct nominal length, the bullet cannelure lines up about halfway down the neck. That is because CORDITE loaded .303 was filled with the "bundle" topped with a glazed cardboard disc and the bullet sat on top of this BEFORE the case was final-formed / necked. The cannelure is there to retain a bituminous waterproofing and catch a couple of "stab" crimps. This was an industrial hangover from the days of compressed black-powder pellets used as fuel, starting with the Mighty 577-.450 for the Martini Henry.

The past is a funny place, but lots of things not only "seemed like a good idea at the time", but actually worked.

The more enthusiastic can apply a Lee "Factory Crimp" if desired (Bren and Vickers gun drivers, take note).

ANY case containing a 1/4" diameter, copper-coloured primer is suspect. If you luck upon some ammo with post WW2 FN headstamps and the smaller .217" BRASS coloured (for brass it is) primer, Berdan, of course, grab all that your truck can carry and you can sneak into the house. The FN stuff with the white wrapper label is essentially Mk7Z. But be aware that the FN with the "PINK" label / wrapper on the box is TRACER, albeit very DIM tracer these days. BOTH of these FN packagings from the late 1940s / early Fifties will also bear the words "Pour Bren", providing a hint at its originally intended usage.

[Fruler]

I have sectioned some RG MKVII projectiles and they had the fibre filler but the jacket was copper washed steel!

I section my Royal lab 1939 and it had aluminum tip

---------- Post added at 10:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:37 PM ----------

I much prefer Mk.7z with the nitro powder. The cordite stuff is OK but not for my purposes around here. Those in the USA who haven't bought any of the German MEN 83 dated Mk.7z from SG Ammo are missing the boat. It's fantastic stuff. I was range testing a recently restored No.4T yesterday and it was shooting consistent groups around 2" at 100 yards. Considering the spec is 3" at 100, I certainly won't complain. They raised the price $20 a can but it's still well worth the money.

What is mk7z? Is that just a solid lead slug? I bought some of the MEN 83 lot 8 and I assumed it's solid lead bullet. I chronographed it, 2388 fps average out of my no4 mk2 fazakerly... About 10 feet from muzzle.

[Bruce_in_Oz]

Mk7 Z indicates a "nitro-cellulose granular powder. The bullet is the tried and true one as used in standard Mk7.

One of the reasons for its introduction is that Cordite has a fairly severe flash. This is a bit of a liability when used in aircraft guns at night, a common practice in the RAF.

Almost all North American production was essentially Mk7Z. the exceptions were the huge production from the Canadian Dominion Arsenal plants (DA. DAC, DAL, DAQ headstamps), a different company from Defence Industries (DI / DIL / DIV headstamps) that seems to have all been boxer primed and NC powder filled. There is, apparently a "different" DI headstamp that originates in India; probably a mercuric / Cordite product; never seen one, however.

I have not found any references to US manufactured, Mercuric-primed, Cordite filled .303 ammo; anyone else? Bear in mind that the US was making contract .303 going back to Mk 6 days, as well as 7.62 x 54R for the Russians, along with whatever other orders they could find.

The Russians appear to have made .303 as well, probably to feed into their Ross rifles.

[Fruler]

I was under the impression that mk7 bullets had to have some sort of filler at the tip, eith aluminum of wood pulp or something else, other a solid lead slug. I believe this MEN ammo is solid lead, with no fillers, does that make it a mk7 bullet? Kind of confused here lol. Yes it is a granulated powder.