.303 with pistol bullets

[bladeracer]

Been thinking of a nice light load for the .303, but with a jacketed bullet that works at low velocities.

I just put ten rounds through my No.4 Rifle using Hornady's .312" 100gn XTP.
http://www.hornady.com/store/32-Cal-.312-100-gr-HP-XTP/

I wasn't expecting them to feed well at all due to their short flat noses, but I only had one that popped up and stove-piped into the top of the lug recess, my fault I think.
My seating die wound fully down doesn't push them all the way to the cannelure but there's plenty seated in the neck. I'll just make a spacer I can drop into the die for these or finish them in a vice if I want more depth.
No idea on velocity but possibly subsonic based on the lack of noise and the amount of drop at 50m.
I simply filled the cases with Trailboss (15.5gn) and seated the bullets.
And I fired them at steel at 50m offhand to see if they worked okay.
Grouped them around five-inches, but they worked just fine. I put one into the bank to see if it's hitting hard enough to deform, I wasn't able to find it though.
I'll load up another batch and shoot some groups from the bench and get the velocities.
Then I'll work up some hotter loads with AR2206H or AR2208 and see if they hang together at much-higher-than-pistol velocities.
And I'll order the 85gn and 60gn XTP's to try as well.

[No1Mk3]

G'day bladeracer,
Having a bit of fun? Better watch out for for the Fun Police mate! Some of us played around with 32cal, 105g hard cast a while ago, alox lubed, and got some surprising results around the 12 to 1500 fps mark. Most we tried was 40.0 of BM2 for around 2100 fps but everything tumbled at that speed, be interesting to see how jacketed goes when they are pushed a bit. Enjoy!

[bladeracer]

G'day bladeracer,
Having a bit of fun? Better watch out for for the Fun Police mate! Some of us played around with 32cal, 105g hard cast a while ago, alox lubed, and got some surprising results around the 12 to 1500 fps mark. Most we tried was 40.0 of BM2 for around 2100 fps but everything tumbled at that speed, be interesting to see how jacketed goes when they are pushed a bit. Enjoy!

Yep, purely for fun and experimentation
I have cast as well but nothing light. Now that these work I'll have to hunt around for a .314 pistol mould.

[Oldbloke]

Yep, why not. It makes the rifle more versatile.

[bigpete]

Nice !

[AusTac]

Different but cool

[Cooper]

Digging up an old thread!
I got given some 32 cal 98gr copperwash wad cutter style pistol projectiles.

I was wondering if I could shoot these out the 303 with some Trailboss?

I guess I wouldn’t want to push them too fast?

Any input welcome?

[bladeracer]

Digging up an old thread!
I got given some 32 cal 98gr copperwash wad cutter style pistol projectiles.

I was wondering if I could shoot these out the 303 with some Trailboss?

I guess I wouldn’t want to push them too fast?

Any input welcome?

Do you have a picture of the bullet?
I've tried the Lee .314" .32-cal SWC in the .303 and 7.62x54R, and was surprised that they fed okay. I didn't have the chrono out but they were supersonic. Accuracy was reasonable but not great. They were just tumble-lubed so I'll powdercoat some and see if that improves them.

[Cooper]

image.jpeg (1.1 MiB) Viewed 5830 times

Not really what I was expecting. But otherwise the were going to be thrown out. I probably have 400 or so.

I was expecting a round nose pistol type projectile. Not the flat bottom or top wad cutter style.

Probably might have to signal feed them? If I try them?

Forgive my lack of knowledge do I have to lube them?

I was thinking if I load them up I would start around 8-10gr of Trailboss. I don't want them too fast. But I don't want to get one stuck in the barrel either.

I was thinking I'd just neck size the case like I normally do. Then bell the mouth of the case slightly with the Lee expander die to help seat the projectile. Then give it a slight crimp with Lee factory crimp die. I've never load loaded a lead projectile before.

[bladeracer]

The attachment image.jpeg is no longer available

Not really what I was expecting. But otherwise the were going to be thrown out. I probably have 400 or so.

I was expecting a round nose pistol type projectile. Not the flat bottom or top wad cutter style.

Probably might have to signal feed them? If I try them?

Forgive my lack of knowledge do I have to lube them?

I was thinking if I load them up I would start around 8-10gr of Trailboss. I don't want them too fast. But I don't want to get one stuck in the barrel either.

I was thinking I'd just neck size the case like I normally do. Then bell the mouth of the case slightly with the Lee expander die to help seat the projectile. Then give it a slight crimp with Lee factory crimp die. I've never load loaded a lead projectile before.

The first time I saw a wadcutter bullet when I was kid I thought it must've been broken or something
I haven't used many rifles that will happily feed empty cases, and that's basically what you have with wadcutter bullets.
No, you won't need to lube them, but even jacketed bullets have been known to improve accuracy when lubed. The wadcutter will be flush with the case mouth so I doubt you'll need to crimp it. And if you're shooting light loads, I doubt the bullet will migrate into the case under recoil.

I don't think I've loaded any so low that they stuck in the barrel of the .303, but I've been down to 500fps with 155gn cast. 8gn of TB should be okay behind a light bullet. Getting one stuck in the bore is not a big deal though, give it a moment to bleed off pressure, then open the action and just push it out with a rod. You generally need significantly more powder behind cast bullets than jacketed to achieve similar speeds. I haven't used enough copper-plated bullets to be certain, but they seem to run closer to jacketed bullets than cast in that regard. According to the website these are "Button Nose Wadcutter", and 16BHN, which is very hard (I have to run them that hard in my .44 Magnum MicroGroove Marlin), but it doesn't say whether they're plated, washed or powdercoated.

I just loaded up some Speer 100gn semi-jacketed "Plinker" bullets to try in the .30-06.

[Maxjon]

A mate of mine is shooting the .313 SWC-BB 32-20 HRBC copperheads, in his 303 for a subsonic match, and he's kicking ass with it at 50m. I'm keen to try it also, considering the CBE .32-20. 314-BB mold. Not sure about the current quality of CBE molds though.

[Blr243]

Been trying to find the 90 grain xtp ( I think they are .309. Can’t find them anywhere in stock

[bladeracer]

Been trying to find the 90 grain xtp ( I think they are .309. Can’t find them anywhere in stock

900 in stock - https://www.scopedout.com.au/hornady-309-30-cal-90-gr-xtp-projectiles-100-pack

[perentie]

[quote="Maxjon"]A mate of mine is shooting the .313 SWC-BB 32-20 HRBC copperheads, in his 303 for a subsonic match, and he's kicking ass with it at 50m. I'm keen to try it also, considering the CBE .32-20. 314-BB mold. Not sure about the current quality of CBE molds though.[/quote

Just ordered a couple of moulds from CBE 2 weeks ago. Just got an email yesterday that they are experiencing delays and there is a 6 to 7 week lead time.
Must be busy

[Maxjon]

A mate of mine is shooting the .313 SWC-BB 32-20 HRBC copperheads, in his 303 for a subsonic match, and he's kicking ass with it at 50m. I'm keen to try it also, considering the CBE .32-20. 314-BB mold. Not sure about the current quality of CBE molds though.[/quote

Just ordered a couple of moulds from CBE 2 weeks ago. Just got an email yesterday that they are experiencing delays and there is a 6 to 7 week lead time.
Must be busy

I hope that's the reason for your sake. CBE has been bought out by a guy named "Gordon" who has also bought Simplex Australia apparently. Guys on a 310 Cadet forum that I'm on, have bought 310 dies from him that had a terrible internal finish which resulted in him replacing the dies purchased. He has been very accommodating about it though. He still has not updated the website too, which sometimes can be a red flag. It still has David Commens owning the business.
I hope your molds come back superior quality, like they were when David owned the business. 6-7 weeks, you could get a mold out of the US if you needed it in a hurry.
Keep us informed if you can.

[Blr243]

Legend blade. Thank u very much

[Blr243]

That mob SCOPED OUT ….reasonably priced item and shipping cost. Very simple and easy to register and purchase.

[Maxjon]

A mate of mine is shooting the .313 SWC-BB 32-20 HRBC copperheads, in his 303 for a subsonic match, and he's kicking ass with it at 50m. I'm keen to try it also, considering the CBE .32-20. 314-BB mold. Not sure about the current quality of CBE molds though.[/quote

Just ordered a couple of moulds from CBE 2 weeks ago. Just got an email yesterday that they are experiencing delays and there is a 6 to 7 week lead time.
Must be busy

I just ordered the 314-115BB for some 303 subsonic fun! It will be a great bullet when I do get a 32-20 also! Its the first plain base .30cal mold Ive bought.
Just gotta wait now!