Greek 303 Ammo

[Alan de Enfield]

From Army Ordnance Service book :

"Small Arms Ammunition" 24th February 1945

Ball Mk7 36.5 gr Cordite
Ball Mk7Z 37 gr N.C
Weight 174gr. Envelope of cupro-nickel gilding metal, or, gilding metal coated steel. lead/Antimony core. Aluminium or paper tipped, flat based, seured by coning and indenting. Strawboard wad in Mk7


Ball Mk8Z
Weight 174gr. Envelope of cupro-nickel gilding metal, or, gilding metal coated steel. lead/Antimony core. No tip, streamlined, flat fronted cannelure secured by coning

'Streamlined' refered to in the Mk8Z is what we now call 'boat-tail'

The book goes into great detail about what ammunition can be used in what firearm but basically Mk7, Mk7Z or Mk8Z can be used in Rifles but Mk7 or Mk7Z MUST NOT be used in machine guns, if a machine gun has been used with any Mk7 the barrel must be stamped with a number 7 and immediately returned to the armourer for replacement.
A few rounds of Mk7 destroys the accuracy of machine gun barrels.

Not stated in the 'book' but from various quotes - the Mk8Z does allow gasses to increase erosion by allowing them to escape around the bullet in worn barrels.

I have found that smaller bullets (ie 150gr) do not perform as well as 174 gr as there appears to be less bullet for the rifling to 'grip'. I'm making an assumption here but with a boat tail it would be similar to a smaller bullet and accuracy may be affected. - Just my thoughts.