1941 Winchester .303

[Alan de Enfield]

Picked up 3 100 round units from sgammo.

Each unit of 100 is 5 boxes, plastic wrapped. All from the same lot and with one box open, other 4 with intact seal.

2 lots dated December, one October in my order. All rounds externally clean in the open boxes.

Pulled 2 rounds from each open box.

October and Dec #1 have ball powder. Powder flows freely, some internal staining on brass but not enough to make me scrap the case. About 44 grains.

Dec. #2 has stick powder, about 39 grains. Kitchen clean on the inside.

I'll give all of these lots a chance to go bang once the weather turns. The bullets are definitely good but the crimp is heavy so preferably they can shoot from the cases they are already in.

From 1941 Winchester had big quality problems with 303 manufacture, It got so bad that the ammunition was banned from use in aircraft and some batches were so poor that they were not even issued to active Infantry, and instead, consigned to 'practice use only'.

The problem was a lack of 'dimensional' quality control resulting in jamming.

No serious problem if you are just 'at the range' but when being shot at it could be quite inportant to be able to fire back.

[browningautorifle]

the ammunition was banned from use in aircraft

So the marking of "Not for use in aircraft"...

[togor]

From 1941 Winchester had big quality problems with 303 manufacture, It got so bad that the ammunition was banned from use in aircraft and some batches were so poor that they were not even issued to active Infantry, and instead, consigned to 'practice use only'.

The problem was a lack of 'dimensional' quality control resulting in jamming.

No serious problem if you are just 'at the range' but when being shot at it could be quite inportant to be able to fire back.

Between it being American ammo (inferior by birth, naturally) and fired in rifles that had seen too much Cordite, the Winchester ammo had zero chance on the reputation front.

Except that there are the reports that operators of No. 4 Mk. 1 (T) rifles preferred it. Reasonable to assume they were more discriminating in their choice of ammunition from the start.

https://youtu.be/HbIcYcUJCpg?si=Or14fUADCOTtkF53

[Alan de Enfield]

Between it being American ammo (inferior by birth, naturally) and fired in rifles that had seen too much Cordite, the Winchester ammo had zero chance on the reputation front.

The problem was not the accuracy, but the inconstant sizing and quality control of the cases which jammed in the breech and could not be ejected - not easy to rectify when your guns were out on the wings.
Nothing to do with being US produced or cordite eroded barrels.


it was even worse in WW1 as the Butler Cartridge Company (later to become Winchester) and who supplied some 50% of all US supplied 303 was decalared as 'unusable' and sentenced for 'use at home only', and, cost Britain 25% more that home produced 303.
Eventually all of the contracts were cancelled.