About to start reloading Quick Question.

[quiet_lurker]

Have tried some of the 125grn Pro Hunters. Accuracy was awful. In a couple of different No.4s that were both capable of very good accuracy.

Stick with the 180grn Sierra Pro Hunters.

These rifles are old, many have much loved and sometimes abused barrels.

The more projectile you have in contact with the rifling the better it will stabilise the projectile. A longer/heavier projectile achieves this.

I know I haven't answered your question re a light load. Just my experience with lighter projectiles in 303 rifles.

Your rifles may be different.

Regards

Mark

Information

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[bigduke6]

Newcastle what distance are we talking regarding plinking? I,ve used all weights with Unique, but the heavy ones seem to work the best, I use 14grns for the .303 and .308. normally for 100yds/mtrs

The .308 with 110grn RN bullets are excellent, proof is in the pudding as they say see link below, I use this round with every .308/7.62mm rifle, very good in the Ishapore 2A1.

The .303 produces similar results, should be able to do a comparison next time at the 100 yrd range, as I,ll have a scope on it. (eyesight not that good in a dark tunnel)

L42 repro at the range

[CINDERS]

Try Hornady 150gn Spire SPFB they are .312 400m max I used 42gns Varget (ADI 2208 I'm in Aus) but suggest you start at 39 and work up also I left about 1/32"of the cannular showing then crimped it this was in No.4 2 groover and a 1916 Lithgow No1 Mk III worked very well in mine shot 98.11/100.20 @200m sitting in the No.4 so they work but again I stress to you work up slowly and watch for pressure signs as you have a different rifle than mine even though the same lineage.
My suggestion is make an empty dummy round to what I described and try it through the action if that works well, then you are 1/10th the way there.

[CINDERS]

Hey Bigduke6 can I ask if with super light loads and allot of air space is it liable to suffer a secondary explosion by the flash over affect, I know they have tried to duplicate the EE in the lab and have been unable to replicate it but it has occured in weapons with rather devastating affects on the weapon and the user, just a thought bloke

[bigduke6]

Hey Bigduke6 can I ask if with super light loads and allot of air space is it liable to suffer a secondary explosion by the flash over affect, I know they have tried to duplicate the EE in the lab and have been unable to replicate it but it has occured in weapons with rather devastating affects on the weapon and the user, just a thought bloke

Cinders,

Think we covered this one in the Enfield forum, but to recap, I,ve never had any problems, and well over 1000 + probably closer to 2000 using the load stated, some powders are unsuitable and are position sensitive, but others produce excellent results, its studying what others have used or do use.
I,ve done plenty of experiments with two old rifles, and have loaded on the high side and low side regarding Unique, I use this because I know the results and happy with them, I cant speak regarding all other powders as I,ve only experimented with a selected few, but found unique the best but that's my opinion....

Regarding flashover, secondary explosion etc, I,ve never seen evidence regarding anyone blowing there rifle due to this, plenty of folk giving the old "I,ve read somewhere that......" but that's all I,ve ever read seen etc.

It took a lot of experimenting and also some info from a forum member that I got to the said load, again anything regarding loading has to be treated with extreme caution.

I would guess and it probably concerns all aspects of reloading that the myths surrounding downloaded ammo has come from double charging the case, or similar.

[browningautorifle]

The only issues I've had in this area is hangfires due to a primer up condition. The airspace problem was restricted to pistol ammo that a bullet had been pushed in and negated the valuable airspace. This condition created a small bomb. Then there were problems...

I'm just not convinced you can create a light load that duplicates ballistics of a full house load...

[bigduke6]

I'm just not convinced you can create a light load that duplicates ballistics of a full house load...

That's true Jim, it doesn't produce the same ballistics, far from them, but for plinking you cant go wrong, of course you have to wind the rear sight up to compensate for the bullet drop etc, but you can get the required accuracy.

I don't use cast pills either, just normal FMJ pills, but I,m at present loading up a cast Bullet load for my LEC Carbine, to compare the results with FMJ.

Surplus rifle did a article regarding trail boss for downloads for anyone interested, see links below also included an article by CE Harris from the Cast Boolits forum.

Collecting and Shooting the Military Surplus Rifle (2008) - Surplusrifle.com

Cast Bullet Loads for Military Rifles - Article

[CINDERS]

Thanks bd6 I have not played with reduced loads just ensure the case load is above 50% so there is no chance of a double load I am fairly lucky in the fact that 20 years ago I started hedging gear away for the 303's so running FP loads is not an issue as when the barrels shot out I machine them in half hang 'em up with a dummy Mk VII round or a Mk VI round in the chamber they look really good.
My first 2 I did with a 1mm 100mm cutting disc and boy do they look dam rough but still a good conversation piece for a laugh. Thanks for the reply I wonder if Elmer Keith was alive he could perhaps say whether he had ever seen the rare occurance.

[WarPig1976]

Thanks for the reply I wonder if Elmer Keith was alive he could perhaps say whether he had ever seen the rare occurance.

Ha!! Doubt it, old Elmer was stuffing as much powder as he could in cases. When the gun broke,,,, He blamed the gun!!

[browningautorifle]

When the gun broke

I know a man locally that professes "If the gun won't take full house loads and a few grains over, better junk 'er right now!"