Ammo Compatiblity

[Stanley]

I am not at all versed in calibers or ammunition and would like expert opinion on whether or not you can fire Winchester 30-30 ammunition through an Enfield 303.
What does the numbers stand for? Is 303 equivalent to 303 thousands of an inch in diameter? Would 30-06 then be 306 thousands of an inch in diameter? Someone please clue me in on this. <_<

[gossman]

The Enfield is Different from a 30.06. They are not interchangable. The discriptive names given to rounds are come from many different sources. The 303 is designated that because that is the bullet diameter. The 30.06 gets it name from the fact that it is a .30 cal bullet designed and birthed for the military in 1906. It was originally called a 30.03 because it came out in 1903 but after some design and bullet weight changes by 1906 the US Millitary changed the name. Some bullets are from the 19th century and use the amount of black powder the case held as a designation i.e. 30.30 ( 30 cal bullet w/ 30 grains of power, 45/70= a 45 cal with 70 grains). There is no one reason to names given to cartidges but never exchange cartridges in a firearm unless it can be verified by a gunsmith or a reputable firearms book. When in doubt, check it out! Good Shooting! :D

:cannon: :ar15: :2guns: :sniper: :rapid: They are all fun! :beer:

[Tailgunner]

Cartridge names don't always follow any kind of rules.
Black powder cartridges are often the easiest, IE: the 45/70/405 is a 45cal with 70gr of BP and a 405gr bullet (this is the standard 47/70 BP loading)
30-30Win (& 30-40Krag) is .30 bore (.308 diameter bullet) and 30 (or 40) grains of the than new smokless powder (these 2 were never BP cartridges BTW).
303 British comes from a .303 bore (it's a British thing) and uses a .311-.312 diameter bullet.
303 Savage however uses a .308 bullet as it's actualy a 30cal
30-03 and 30-06 (30-Govt-1906) are named after the year of adaption (as mentioned above).
308Win, 7.62NATO and 7.62x51 NATO are all the same cartridge (and use a .308 diameter bullet)
Lazzeroni cartridges use the metric bullet diameter in their names just to be different, IE: the 7.82 Warbird uses a .308 bullet.

One suggestion would be to pick up a copy of "Cartridges of the World", which has full size pictures of the various cartridges, along with discriptions, and makes for intresting reading to boot. A reloading manual also contains drawings and dimentions, but dosn't cover the varity of cartridges that COTW does.

To answer you other question (30-30 and 303Brit) the 30-30Win is AKA the 7.62x51R and the 303Brit is AKA 7.7x56R (R stands for Rimmed)