303 loads to soften recoil

[BigDuncs]

I don't see why not - maybe up to 26gr 5744

Good man, thanks. And may need some more boolits from you. When are you next at Bisley?

[john paul]

My .303 load:

S&B 180grs heads, H4895 - 37.5grs, OAL - 77.20mm CCI bench rest primers works sweet in my no4 Mk2.

[BigDuncs]

My .303 load:

S&B 180grs heads, H4895 - 37.5grs, OAL - 77.20mm CCI bench rest primers works sweet in my no4 Mk2.

Top man, thanks.

[Parabuteo]

I have been looking to download myself but not because of recoil. .303 Brass was originally designed for black powder and some folk get hung up about the 2440 expected velocity and the sight settings matching, the trash their brass.

The problem is if you beat the shit out of the load it will beat the shit out of the brass and can separate them in short order. It wont do the rifle much good either in the long term.

Some authorities are happy with 38gr ONO of N14o behind a 174grainer. I use a near standard load of 41gr, but I am looking at exploring the slightly lower loads as mine is a 2 groove 43 savage with the original barrel. I copped a mate shooting 42.5 grains out of an old SMLE yesterday....no wonder the brass was a bit stressed.

I don't fancy messing with lead so its worth looking at. The sight setting argument is tosh as anyone shooting these rifles seriously will know sight settings and will adjust the blade to be as close as possible. In any event settings also depend on a centre of mass, 6 or sub 6 hold. I am set at 700 aiming at the base of the board to shoot at 600. My rifle is used pretty much for CSR type shoots to 600 is more than enough but I enjoy shooting it at these ranges.

Its all a bit of a mish mash anyway when you compare the old issue cordite loads and the flat based CuNi jacketed 174grain bullets with modern offerings they are miles apart. I got hold of an original Mk8z round a few weeks back and it was surprisingly close to what we would now consider a decent round, yet the older barrels still seem to prefer flat based rounds at sensible ranges.

Do what works.

[Maverick61]

Have used Dodgyrog's 200g GC lead bullets out to 300y with 25g Acc5744 in my 303 L/E No4 with good results.
I would thoroughly recommend that you try rog's bullets if you get a chance, even more so if you have an oversize bore as mine are sized at 0.314" & work just fine in my rifle.

Have also used the slip over leather butt pad intended for shotgun use & this helps considerably too.

Hope this helps.

[Maverick61]

Forgot to mention that I also use 123g S&B bullets in my 303 (again haven't tried past 300y yet) which works well & reduces recoil somewhat. I think these were originally intended for use in 7.62x39 AK47's as they are nominally 0.311" dia

[harry mac]

Forgot to mention that I also use 123g S&B bullets in my 303 (again haven't tried past 300y yet) which works well & reduces recoil somewhat. I think these were originally intended for use in 7.62x39 AK47's as they are nominally 0.311" dia

+1 on this. Load them with a fast (ish) rifle powder like N135 or N133 at a high enough pressure so that the brass expands to fill the chamber and the lighter bullet should reduce recoil.

[ProHunter]

even the old boys used to put a towel on there shoulder

[tim56]

For 50m plinking i use a home cast 185grn gas check bullet tumble lubed in Alox with 10grns of Unique. My no4 mk2 loves em. I no longer enjoy
punishing myself with massive recoil so for my local club 50m range this load works for me. Don't know how these would perform at distances
beyond 50m as not tried but 3" group is normal with std iron sights and one guy does better with a scope mounted. Tim

As a bit of a foot note: When i bought my Ruger no1 sporter in 45/70 i loaded up to factory levels and as Prohunter says a towel came in very handy
but it still smacked you in the jaw if you didn't hang on. Not many folks wanted more than a couple of shots.!!

[andrew375]

A quick fix is that he gets himself a decent shooting jacket like target shooters use, apart from the padding that distribute the recoil better, the pad will get a better grip on the butt plate reducing slipping. Secondly get him fixed up with a (shooting) sling and shown how to use it. Shooting with a sling alone will make a difference as now the rifle will be fixed in to the shoulder. But as Lt. Commander Montgomery Scot was fond of pointing out "there's no getting around the laws of physics!"

I use cast all the time in my mosin and .303 and 7.62 x 54 are similar enough for comparison. I use the Lee .312-185, it cast's out at .3145 and I size to .3139 to match the Mosin's bore. Best accuracy is at just over 2100 fps and I've shot this out to 600 yards; though realistically I'll only use it at 300 maximum. With cast bullets it is important to measure your bore before doing anything. This means slugging (plenty of tutorials out there) and a micrometer.

[TALL]

I have a 303, 200gr GC mould for sale if any one is interested,
thanks,T