[dh1633pm]

With the new arrival of a No 4, MK2 and some C&H dies comes the time to reload for the thing. Doing my research tells me:

Keep your powder speeds about the same as H4895 or IMR4895.
Neck resize only.
Keep pressure under 45,000.
Preferred bullets 150 - 180 Grains.

So I loaded about 10 each Varget, IMR4064, IMR4895, AA5744. I have purchased a couple hundred Hornady 150 Gr soft points and a couple 100 more Speer Softpoints. Get what you can when you can. Will see how they all do. I was wondering if anyone had any words of wisdom for this caliber. I have been busy collecting brass. Up to about 300 and won't stop until 1000 have been obtained. It would appear the prvi is the best? I have 100 on order right now. My other 300 is mostly PMC.

Before I started, I loaded one with 10 grains of H110, and cream of wheat to fire form. Shot it off in the basement. Didn't even make the cat jump. I then compared the round to the others and round that I must have a tighter chamber than most being that it's a post WWII model.

 

[Jeff F]

The No4 Mk2's were made with new tooling, the ones I own and most all the others I have shot had nice tight chambers and were pretty darn accurate. If thats new brass you have don't waste the primers and powder fire forming them. They will fire form to your chamber when you shoot them, just load them up and shoot, then neck size.

Another little trick, look up annealing case necks on the net. Its not hard to do yourself and will make your brass last a long time, just don't try and hot rod the .303, you can load her up just don't be extreme.

 

[grumpy_old_man]

With the new arrival of a No 4, MK2 and some C&H dies comes the time to reload for the thing. Doing my research tells me:

Keep your powder speeds about the same as H4895 or IMR4895.
Neck resize only.
Keep pressure under 45,000.
Preferred bullets 150 - 180 Grains.

So I loaded about 10 each Varget, IMR4064, IMR4895, AA5744. I have purchased a couple hundred Hornady 150 Gr soft points and a couple 100 more Speer Softpoints. Get what you can when you can. Will see how they all do. I was wondering if anyone had any words of wisdom for this caliber. I have been busy collecting brass. Up to about 300 and won't stop until 1000 have been obtained. It would appear the prvi is the best? I have 100 on order right now. My other 300 is mostly PMC.

Before I started, I loaded one with 10 grains of H110, and cream of wheat to fire form. Shot it off in the basement. Didn't even make the cat jump. I then compared the round to the others and round that I must have a tighter chamber than most being that it's a post WWII model.

Good post, and a great catch. The 303 Brit is a fine caliber and the Enfield is one of my favorite rifles. I really need to get back into it myself with either another SMLE MKIII or Rifle No.4 one of these days!

Good luck and enjoy your rifle!
Grumpy

 

[dh1633pm]

Thanks for all the information. I fire formed a single case to get a feel for the chamber size. The rifle barrel looks like new with strong rifling. Although I did clean the bore every day for a week before I could get a clean patch out of it. It did look shiny to begin with. There was so much cosmoline in the trigger area that the trigger wouldn't return without being pushed forward. Cleaned all that out and it works fine now. I am going to anneal with some help from my cousin who used to rebuild jet engines for a living.

Prvi brass the best?
Powders in the 4895 range the best (IMR, H, or AA2495)?
AA3100 for 180 Grains, but not for 150?

With all the new guns laws in the state, I wanted to take some time with my bolt guns. The same ones I enjoyed when younger and couldn't afford anything else. I reload for each.

Arisaka Type 38
M96 Mauser
M39 Nagant
M44 Nagant
1903A3
Rolling Block 7MM
30-40 Krag
Enfield No 1 (has the wire around the hand guard)

 

[Jeff F]

Privi and Wolf Gold which is made by Privy is some of the best brass out there for the .303. S&B is a bit brittle and will split the case neck fast unless you anneal it. Remington brass is OK but does not last as long as Privi.

 

[grumpy_old_man]

Thanks for all the information. I fire formed a single case to get a feel for the chamber size. The rifle barrel looks like new with strong rifling. Although I did clean the bore every day for a week before I could get a clean patch out of it. It did look shiny to begin with. There was so much cosmoline in the trigger area that the trigger wouldn't return without being pushed forward. Cleaned all that out and it works fine now. I am going to anneal with some help from my cousin who used to rebuild jet engines for a living.

Prvi brass the best?
Powders in the 4895 range the best (IMR, H, or AA2495)?
AA3100 for 180 Grains, but not for 150?

With all the new guns laws in the state, I wanted to take some time with my bolt guns. The same ones I enjoyed when younger and couldn't afford anything else. I reload for each.

Arisaka Type 38
M96 Mauser
M39 Nagant
M44 Nagant
1903A3
Rolling Block 7MM
30-40 Krag
Enfield No 1 (has the wire around the hand guard)

You've got some fine rifles there dh1633pm;

I'm a little curious - is the chrysanthemum on the Arisaka intact? If so, make sure that you get a picture of it for your insurance records, just in case, since the value goes way higher if its one that didn't have the imperial seal* (chrysanthemum) struck on the surrender. If you ever did need to use your insurance I would hate to see them undervalue the piece. I'm going through my insurance now and finding that will all the price hikes I am massively under-insured. Not sure quite what to do about it, since the values are still fluctuating so wildly.

Does the NY "SAFE" act mess with grenade launcher attachments for things like your Enfield? Hope it doesn't. You'll know this, but for the new guys reading this, the wire wrap means the rifle was issued as a grenade launcher (a lot of the older WW1 vintage Enfields were kept in service as grenade launching rifles in WW2). I don't have one myself, but it looks really nice on the wall if you have a grenade launching Enfield next to your others (dummy grenade of course).

With all the hoopla over self loaders having jacked the prices there so badly, I'm thinking of getting back into WW2 bolt guns myself. Lots of variety and lots of history - that's what helped draw me into collecting in the first place.

All the best,
Grumpy
*PS Here's something I only found out when I lived in Japan - that Imperial Seal shows up all over the place over there, in historical sites, etc. and is usually gold plated. It means the ship, rifle, castle, etc is the personal property of the emperor himself. Its even on the bow of every ship the IJN ever had. Here's a pic I took of the 1/10 scale Yamato at the museum in Kure a few years ago. Look for the gold circle on the extreme bow of the ship just to the right of the railing. Its not that easy to see, but its where the bowsprit would be on a sailing ship (sorry for the crazy angle but I had to tilt the camera to get a shot of the gallery and we were on a moving escalator - did the best I could).

 

[dh1633pm]

I'm a little curious - is the chrysanthemum on the Arisaka intact?

Sort of. There are three little circles that were stamped over it in almost a triangle shape. Has the original dust cover.

Does the NY "SAFE" act mess with grenade launcher attachments for things like your Enfield?

Nope doesn't cover anything that is not self loading. It would be fun to shoot some inert grenades from it. Like my friends golf ball launcher for the AR.

I think that shooting the bolt guns will help me to shoot a little better with all the others. Whats funny about the NY Dangerous act is that they now have to modify the law. Gun dealers have been selling pistols without mags because there are no 7 rounders.

I used to go to the NRA Matches locally with my Garand. Now I am going to use the 1903A3 instead. The quality of life in the area is high. The government in the area is low. Hence the stupid laws. My wife and I make a reasonable living. She works in the IT Field and I work at a startup. But the kids ether have to move out of state or work in low paying jobs when they get ready to leave the house. Not too conducive to jobs with the high taxes and everything.

Most shooting is done at my dads. Its way out in the country. A guy I used to work with and I go to the local range once a week later in the evening when its warm out.

 

[dh1633pm]

I will try to get a picture of the Arisaka. I bought it in Albuquerque, NY at Ron Pertersons on Central Ave. Been almost 20 years ago. It has no import marks. Has some sort of varnish over the metal.

 

[dh1633pm]

Picture of where I shoot. The bench may not look it, but the bottom is filled with concrete. It was made upside down, we used the front end loader to flip it over.

 

[dh1633pm]

Finally got out to the range today with the ability to setup some targets. Wouldn't you know it the wind was really gusty, the temp was about 35 and it was lightly snowing. Shot six rounds (three with AA5744 and three with IMR4064). The groups were mixed. I was able to adjust the sights out to 200 yards to hit (ring) the steel plate (1 ft by 1 ft). Both loads were pretty close in point of aim. I will play some more and add some loads with IMR4895 as well.

I still have to adjust the sights to move the point of impact to the left. I did notice the front sight is offset more to the left.

 

[C1PNR]

I'm sure you know this, but if you move the front sight over to the right, a little closer to the center, you'll move POI to the left.

I wonder if the front sight was maybe bumped a little left. Just be sure it's nice and tight and takes a little effort to move.

I wish you good luck with your rifle, and good luck surviving in that hostile environment.

I worked on building Fort Drum up North for about a year and a half back in the late 80's and it was bad enough then. Glad when the job ended.

 

[dh1633pm]

Thanks. I got the sight moved over. I found the best loads for the Rifle was with IMR4064. Picked up a bunch of brass so I am good to go.