.303 MKVII vs. MKVIII

[infidel]

I am looking at reloading .303 with hardpoint, but all I have found in hardpoint are boat-tailed bullets. I have read about issues i.e. barrel wear when boat tailed (MKVIII) vs flat based (MKVII) rounds were used in lee-enfields & brens. Any insights, experiences or thoughts?

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[jmoore]

I use Sierra 180gr sp bullets as substitutes. They seem to match the stock sight settings very closely to about 600yds. Otherwise, for MkVII bullets I just pull surplus bullets in rounds known to have a high percentage of dodgy primers.

[Stevo]

Otherwise, for MkVII bullets I just pull surplus bullets in rounds known to have a high percentage of dodgy primers.

Not an option in Canada. There's no current commercial supply of any sort of .303 surplus.

[jmoore]

That's a bother! 7.62x54r heavy ball is boat tailed as well, Hmmm....

7.7 Japanese probably is not too common either. How about 7.65 Belgian/Argentine? Not too likely, I should think. Not many other choices.

It's a problem, esp. trying to duplicate the long OAL of the original bullet w/ the lightweight filler material up front.