Balistix .303 Bullets

I RECENTLY RECEIVED two military .303s: a Lee Enfield and a P14.

All P14 rifles were made in America by Winchester, Remington and Eddystone in .303 calibre for the British army during WWI. The P14 differed from the Lee Enfield in that it was built on an Enfield-designed Mauser type action with a one-piece stock and is potentially more accurate. To work up a load for hunting and club target shooting, I began with the P14 as it was equipped with a Parker Hale peep-sight. Balistix Bullets, the Meyerton manufacturer of monolithic copper bullets, kindly sent me a batch of their .303 170gr Huntac to try out.

Magnum published a detailed article on Balistix Bullets in the June 2019 edition. To recap, the bullets are CNC manufactured to MID-SAAMI tolerances in diameter (maximum ± 3.5 Micron) ensuring consistent ballistic coefficient. Machined from 99.5% pure copper, they contain no lead. Copper being less dense than lead, most copper bullets are lighter than lead-core bullets.

All Balistix bullets are of rebated boat tail (RBT) design, combining the characteristics of flat-based and boat-tail bullets. Flat-base bullets stabilise more rapidly and offer higher accuracy at shorter (hunting) distances while boat-tails have higher BC factors, hence better performance at longer range. Balistix Bullets’ webpage states that the RBT design deflects gas flow away from the bullet during its exit from the muzzle’s crown, ensuring less gas turbulence ahead of the bullet and resulting in an accuracy improvement of up to 15% over conventional boat-tail designs.

According to the manufacturer, their bullet’s standard tangent ogive design (not ‘bore-riders’) is less ‘jump’-sensitive than many other monolithic designs. This means the bullets can be seated to whatever depth affords optimum accuracy. Their hunting and target match bullets (Huntac, Ultra Hunt and Target) should shoot to the same point of impact at hunting distances, and one load and seating depth works for all. Their Target bullets are solid and not designed for expansion, hence should not be used for hunting. Being cheaper than Huntac and Ultra Hunt, the Target bullets are good for developing loads.

The Huntac is an expanding design said to be a multipurpose hunting and ‘tactical’ bullet (its shorter ogive design works well in semi-auto actions and magazines). The Ultra Hunt is purpose-designed for optimum performance at shorter distances as in bushveld hunting. The bearing surface of Balistix bullets is a series of low-friction drive bands for reduced bore fouling, coated with Hexagonal Boron Nitrate (HBN) which has excellent dry lubricating properties and ultra-high temperature resistance.

At 34mm, the 170gr Huntac .303 bullet is longer than PMP’S 174gr soft-point (28.2mm) and Impala’s 130gr LWHV Solid (31.4mm) in the same calibre. I weighed ten of the Balistix bullets on my electronic scale; four weighed 170gr each while six weighed 170.1gr each. This compares well with other top hunting and match bullets.

THE SOMCHEM RELOADING chart on Balistix’s webpage recommends S335 for the 170gr Huntac with a cartridge overall length (COL) of 78.1mm in a rifling twist of 1:10. The minimum starting load is given as 37gr (2 347fps) and a maximum of 39gr for 2 452fps.

My starting load was 37.5gr of S335 with a COL of 78mm. For comparison I tested these loads in a custom built, scoped .303 with a new barrel, in addition to my P14 with its Parker Hale peep-sight. The first three shots with the custom .303 hit within 17mm on a steel plate at 100m, clocking an average velocity of 2 279fps (see photo). I was impressed.

Best performance with the peep-sighted P14 was a 40mm three-shot group at 100m clocking an average of 2 412fps, using 38gr S335.two shots were within 11.5mm; a third opened the group to 40mm – a flier or shooter-error.

During a second range session, the custom .303 clustered three shots in 12.9mm on a steel plate at 100m using 37.5gr S335 (COL 78mm), but this time the velocities averaged 2 296fps, standard deviation 2.3.

Later, I also tried these S335 loads in my Lee Enfield No4 Mk1 but some bullets key-holed. A gunsmith told me the rifle had a twogroove barrel with a 1:10 left-hand twist. The P14’s barrel also has a 1:10 left twist but with five-grooves. Balistix Bullets confirmed that some older .303 barrels fail to stabilise the 170gr Huntac. Before buying these .303 bullets for hunting, have a gunsmith check your barrel.

I left my P14 with a gunsmith for scope mounting, and by the time I got it back, I’d run out of S335, so I used Vihtavouri N140 to develop loads for the hunting season. Sighting in at 100m, I placed three shots within 9.1mm; a fourth opened the group to 27.4mm. This load of 41.5gr N140 clocked a muzzle velocity of 2 459fps. This load was calculated with Quickload and although I experienced no signs of pressure, it must be considered as a maximum or near maximum load. When handloading for your rifle start well below this and slowly work the load. This load was accurate enough for hunting.

Overall, I found the 170gr Huntac bullets accurate in my P14 and in the custom .303’s new barrel. They are easy to load and the soft copper does not punch holes in the club’s gongs. Balistix Bullets are readily available; I found a box of 50 .303 Huntac 170gr bullets online for R470. For a retailer near you, contact Balistix Bullets on 082-442-7261, or chris@balistixbullets.com, or visit www.balistixbullets.com.