Subsonic .303

[Jimbo47]

I've got an old .303 british Mk 4 I've had for years and have just now been toying with the idea of a subsonic plinker/small game load for this cartridge.

There seems to be limited choices and sources for cast lead bullets which is what I would be loading, and I'm leaning to a .311 .312 dia. in a 110 grain offering, or with maybe a 160 grain GCFN cast bullet.

I've got IMR4227 and some Reloader 7 powders.

Anyone with any experience loading with this configuration in the .303, with some advise on what might work?

Thanks, Jimbo

[stimpylu32]

Jimbo

Neither of the powders you listed will get you down to the 1100 fps or so that you need for subsonic loads , I would look at TrailBoss for sure and maybe even Green Dot if you can find some data for it .

http://www.hodgdon.com/PDF/Trail-Boss-data.pdf

stimpy

[Jimbo47]

Yep, you are right!   I've been doing some research and it looks like those powders I have will only get me down to around 1200 to 1500 fps.

Might be good for a mild deer load though!

I've also read a few opinions on the Trailboss powder and it looks like that may be my powder!

Anyone use it with satisfactory results?

[mattmillerrx]

I second, Trail Boss.

not much help on the bullets source.

[JRiddle]

Never made any for my .303. But 9.5grns Trailboss with a 180grainer in my .308 is a lot of fun.  Might try something like that for the .303 as I got the Lee .314 mold and a .311 sizer.
JR

[mrloring]

9.0 gr of Trailboss in anything from 30/30 to 8x57 is fun.  Go heavy to go slow.

[McDerry]

Google "The Load" by Ed Harris

[mrloring]

http://www.surplusrifle.com/articles2008/trailbosskiss/index.asp

[Jimbo47]

Thanks for the help everyone!

I wanted to give a range report on the loads I shot today.

I loaded three loads using Trailboss and 125 grain 7.62 x 39 .310 dia. jacketed soft nose bullets.

My first five shot group was pretty impressive using 8.7 grains at 50 yards with a 1 1/2" group.

The next load was using 10.1 grains and it wasn't all that impressive at about 2 1/2".

The final load was using 11.5 grains and it was a tight 1" group and all loads shot without any noticeable recoil and the report was very low also.

I really liked the way they all shot, but I'm going to settle on the 11.5 grains for now.   The wind was kicking up 20+ mph today, and without the wind, I'm sure I could have done better!

Thanks again for the help!

Jimbo

[tacklebury]

If your rifle doesn't perform well with TrailBoss, you might try stopping over to the Cast Boolits and checking out some of their plinker loads.  I load .45-70 with round ball loads for plinking and they are pretty accurate depending on which grain weight I use out to 100 yards, although the weaker loads and quieter loads are only 25-50 yard usable.    I got interested in it reading some posts over there.    Here's one for a starter. 

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=72271&highlight=.303+light+loads