The .303 British

This rimmed cartridge was developed in 1887 and adopted by the British Army in 1888. It remained the official British military cartridge for more than 60 years. Its original load was a 215gr round-nose bullet in front of 70gr black powder which left the muzzle at 1 850fps. In 1892 smokeless cordite replaced black powder and increased the velocity to 1 970fps. Just before World War I, the British dropped the 215gr bullet in favour of a 174gr spitzer at 2 440fps – the Mk VI load, which remained in use for the rest of the .303s long military career.

Originally the .303 cartridge was designed for the Lee Metford Mk I magazine rifle, the barrel of which had the shallow Metford rifling that later proved unsuitable for use with the new smokeless propellant (the hotburning cordite eroded the lands away too rapidly). In 1895 the deeper Enfield-type rifling was adopted and from then on the ri- fles were known as Lee-Enfields.

All British colonial military units were issued with .303s. In South Africa thousands came into the hands of local farmers

and hunters after the AngloBoer war and again after World War I. Inevitably, it was used on game with military FMJ ammunition, hence became a highly controversial cartridge. There were two reasons for this: the bullets needed at least 100m to stabilize and their long tapering ogives and lightened tips shifted their centre of gravity far back.

Within the first 100m or so they were still yawing in flight, meaning the bullet was not precisely straight on its axis when striking the target, so its “backheaviness” tended to flip it over on impact and it cartwheeled through the target. This can have a devastating effect, especially on smaller animals, and even on larger animals if lung shots were taken through the rib cage. But if the shoulder bone of larger antelope was struck, or a raking shot was taken, the tumbling inhibited penetration.

At longer ranges these military FMJ’s had stabilized, hence did not tumble on impact, but punched a tiny clean hole through the animal which did little peripheral damage and caused very slow internal bleeding. Consequently, many wounded animals escaped, or the hunter assumed he’d missed. Such conflicting results had as many hunters swearing at the .303 as swearing by it. Over all it developed a reputation as a wounder, which was not the fault of the cartridge, but of the bullet. It got so bad that some colonial governments banned the use of .303s on game altogether. However, when used with appropriate expanding bullets the .303 is adequate for all non-dangerous game at short to medium ranges. Canadians used it (still do) very effectively on moose and elk.

In South Africa and Australia it continues to give sterling service. Under bushveld conditions (shooting up to 150m) a 174gr or 180gr soft-nose bullet at 2 400fps will do for game up to the size of kudu, while the 215 grainer loaded to 2 100fps is adequate for everything from duiker to eland.

It is not a long-range springbuck or blesbuck cartridge, but a 150gr bullet loaded to 2 500 or 2 600fps will perform admirably up to 200m on small and medium-size antelope.

No manufacturers chamber rifles in .303 anymore, but surplus military rifles can be bought for comparatively low prices and turned into useful sporters. Custom barrel makers can also supply high-quality barrels. Ammunition and reloading components are readily available. PMP, Hornady, Winchester and Norma still produce factory ammunition while others produce bullets and cases. Although the .303 is quite accurate in properly tuned rifles, the SMLE action is a bit flexible and most military barrels have oversize chambers.

Full-length resizing is thus not advisable, as head separation becomes a common problem. To get the most from your cases, partially resize or neck-size and avoid maximum loads. In strong P14 actions (Mauser 98-type made in America) handloaders can push the .303 up into the .308 Win class, but this is not advisable in Lee actions. Case length is 2.22” or 56.44mm and although it is called the .303, actual bore diameter is .311” while some rifles might even have groove diameters of .312”.

Though it is over 120 years old now, this reliable old warhorse is still going strong in our game fields despite the development and use of more glamorous and powerful cartridges.