Since today is March 3 (3-03), it seems fitting to applaud Great Britain's first smokeless powder military round.
It was, incidentally, their last BLACKPOWDER round as well. They converted it to smokeless and the British made the rimmed cartridge work in the SMLE and her sisters.
At the time the .303 Brit was conceived, nearly every other major power was fielding long arms that fired bullets that were 0.40" to 0.45" in diameter and each projectile weighed nearly an ounce.
The .303 Brit was as ground breaking in its day as the 5.56mm NATO round. It was smaller and lighter. The bullets weighed a half ounce (220 grains) Soldiers could carry more ammo. It was easier to shoot well because it didn't kick as hard as the big 0.45" bore guns.
The .303 Brit was introduced in 1888 and it was still being issued to the Canadian Rangers until approximately 2015 when it was replaced by the 7.62mm NATO. Some Anglophiles contend that the 7.62mm NATO is really a rimless .303 Brit, but I am not going to get sucked into that debate.
Since England had vast colonies in Africa and Southern Asia, a credible case can be made that more game has been killed with the .303 Brit than any other cartridge. And as one wag snickered...it has probably wounded more game, too.
Our guys found an arms cache in Afghanistan; the usual Soviet stuff mostly. In one corner, very carefully wrapped in a blanket was a SMLE and about 400 rounds of .303. THAT guy was one to watch out for.
ReplyDeleteBoat Guy
Back in the early-mid 60s you could but a .303 Mk 3 or 4 in army surplus stores for $15 to $20. My cousins and friends and I used to buy them (with the first buy with Dad along and after that with a letter of permission from Dad) and take the guns home, and sometimes to shop class in school on the school bus, and refinish them and sell them for $25. They were a good shooting rifle. Wish I still had one. The neighbor has one and she gets a buck about every year. --ken
ReplyDeleteI have an Ishapore (sp?) made MKIV. It’s still a good shooting rifle even after all these years. Iron sights still are spot on.
ReplyDeleteIf it works... it ain't wrong!
ReplyDeleteBCE did a bit of restoration work and research on them, checkout his blog if'n you're a fan. I acquired some .303 BBs from a friend when he gave me a bunch of reloading gear.
ReplyDeleteAn old bolt rifle that came equipped with a 10 round magazine capacity. For sporting purposes, plenty of firepower on-board for your day.
ReplyDeleteJames Paris Lee was born in Scotland, but grew up in Galt, Ontario northwest of Toronto. His magazine rifle design was commercialized by Remington in .45-70, in 1885, then was made in .30-40 Krag. The Michigan Militia (later National Guard) bought and issued 2,000 in the Krag cartridge during 1899.
ReplyDeleteLee also devised a straight pull rifle in 6mm which was issued to the U.S. Marines and Navy in 1895 and used to suppress the Boxer Rebellion.
Lee Enfield .303 with five round magazine was standard issue to my school cadet corps in the mid 1960s in England. Got my marksman badge with one at 100/300/500 yards on an open range. Great rifle!
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot of great rounds out there, like the 6.5 Swedish round. The .303 is one among many.
ReplyDeleteThe .303 cartridge was also converted to a straight wall cartridge with a round ball projectile for the Enfield 'musket', a smooth bore made by drilling out the barrel of the rifle. These were issued to Indian police and some military for domestic use to maintain British control. Short range and effective in crowd control but not so much for a rebellion. This was the origin of the .410 shotgun cartridge.
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