anyone have any good loads for 303 british?

Shoot a lot of .303 Brit. cast bullet loads but have selttled on three loads for any .303 use I can think of.

Have a Lyman #3118 (a 115gr. flat nose plain base made for the 32-20) that works very well for the lightest of loads...even as low as 2gr. of Red Dot will group this bullet decently at short range (for about 610fps). More common is 4.4gr. of red Dot for just at trans-soinc speeds.

An old Lyman #311466 (a 150gr. gas checked multi-groove Loverin style) casts large in this mold at .313". I use it unsized and lubed with liquid alox for the medium duty loads. 10.5gr. of Unique (or 8gr. of Red Dot) puts it out at about 1400fps. Are lots of other possible loadings, this bullet is easy to please and can be moved to about 2000fps with several powders with little trouble

The only heavy bullet I have is a Lyman #314299 (gas checked traditional styled bullet). It's been picky. Best results have been with the bullet sized to .313" over 28gr. of IMR4198 for just over 1900fps.
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Have had a ball with the litght 115gr. FN bullet loaded over that mini 2gr. charge ridding a friend's back yard of tree squirrels. Seldom are shots over 30yards, and that slow moving bullet seems to pick them up and off the limb.
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Would slug that barrel (look in the Tech notes for a great explaination of barrel slugging) as the .303 has bores all over the cahrt...from .311 to .318". Is SUPOSE to be in the .3125" to .313" range, but with so many of them war time production, it's not uncommon for them to be a bit large.

Also not uncommon (for the same reason) to be a bit rough finished when they were new; some are a bit pitted from corrosive primers and/or poor cleaning. This may complicate matters, but the worst of it can be solved with a bit of lapping (again, the Tech. notes have good information of fire lapping).

thanks ribbonstone. i do plan on fire lapping this gun

thanks ribbonstone. i do plan on fire lapping this gun

Aren't the only bullets or loads that work...just the ones that I have molds for that work best.

Do like the rimmed case for this kind of plinking, but can aproch full-speed jacketed loads with the heavier weight cast bullets.

Will be good to invest in a neck sizer or to use the minimum full length sizing that allows the empty cases free entry into the chamber. Most .303Brits have chambers on the large-long side of things, and they have a well deserved reputation of chewing cases quickly...minimum sizing helps case life a good bit.

thanks. i do have the lee collet die for the 303 and it works wonders for the cases. mine have been loaded 6 times and no signs of splits or separations.