.303 british

[TrapperZach]

any one use a british .303 for deer  that is what iwill be using it is a enfield and i will be using pmc  pointed 180 grain bullets.

[savageT]

Hey TZ!
You gotta hookup with one of the regulars over on Military Arms Collectors...his handle is kevin.303 from Manitoba CA.  He's the enfield expert 'round here.  What model Enfield do you use?  I bought my Dad a #5 jungle carbine many years ago and had it sporterized for him.  Turned out real purty!  Wish I still owned it.

Jim

[TrapperZach]

not sure dont now how to read the hall marks on it best we can figure it was made in 1942 very accurate.

[willysjeep134]

I had a very bad experience with a sporterized Lithgow No 1 Mk III 1913 enfield in .303 british when I was just a kid. I was shooting 180 grian Core Lok't Remington ammo. I shot about 10 shots on paper, went out to the woods, and missed a deer from 50 yards, and it WAS the gun! I went out the next day with my single barrel shotgun and the rifle too. I shot a nice fat doe at 50 yards and dropped her there, but she was still kicking, so I took a shot from the blind with the rifle and saw dirt kick up about 6 feet in front of it. Later, I took it to the range. i shot at 25 yards. There was about a 36 inch pattern from 4 shots on a piece of newspaper! I had no idea what went wrong, so I got a 30-30 the next year and didn't shoot it for a while.


Then, just last year, I found surplus ammo really cheap. I was looking for something to leave out at my deer camp just to make noise with and to have something in the very rare possibility a bear should invite himself in, but noting I would cry over if it were stolen. First thing I did was take that cheesy scope off, then I cleaned it.

 Before I shot the rifle I took a cleaning brush and a bucket of hot water and scrubbed the bore out, then ran patches through with Kano Kroil on them, then an oiled patch. That surplus ammo will group about 2" at 50 yards for about 10 shots, then the accuracy will start slipping, then after a lot of shooting it goes all to heck again.  I'm thinking that once the bore warms up and gets dirty the rifling looses its grip on the bullet. Anyways, i have about 50 rounds of pakistain FMJ ammo and mabey 5 hunting rounds out at my camp. If my deer rifle were to go kaput out there I wouldn't hesitate to run a brush and patch down the ol' 303 and load it up again.

Balistically I've been told it is about like a .308, mabey a little better. I hear they use them a lot on moose up in canada. For a while it was one of the biggest baddest smokeless rounds around, Winchester even chambered their M95 lever action in it.

If you get any cheap surplus ammo be sure to clean the bore with water to get the salts from the primer out. otherwise, modern ammo is no diferent from any other cartrige. I hear tell the chambers in No 4s are intentionally a little loose, so you might get some stiff operating with hot commercial ammo. Good luck!

[TrapperZach]

thanks the stuff i got issint surplus its hunting amo comercal and i cleaned the gun with gun oil and bore cleaner is this good or do i need to do the water to?

[willysjeep134]

Nope, probably not at all, especially not with commercial ammo. Modern primers don't cause corrosion like that old military surplus blasting ammo does. I just mentioned it incase you ever get some to fool with. It makes great practice ammo though.

[BnSC]

I'm a collector and have a few Enfields.. If you stay away from surplus, you can clean up w/ normal bore cleaners.. However, you may want to flush the bore one good time initially just to make sure... Use boiling water and make sure the barrel is dry (and lightly oiled) before you put it away..

I use a #1mk3 to hunt w/ quite regularly.. Mine has a non-altering scope mount on it.

My advice is to stay away from PMC ammo.. the bullets do a poor job of expanding.. I know this form personal experience on game w/ the .303... It was a recurring problem that eventually cost me a lost deer  :evil:

The best commercial is the Remington SP's. However, they are only offered in a round nose bullet.  If you are keeping to short ranges (under 100 yds) go w/ it..
I use Federal 180 grns.  They are a pointed SP.  I have pretty good results from it as well..

The .303 round is plenty enough for whitetails, but it is not a magnum cartridge by any means.  If you take vitals shots, the deer will most likely run... I've even had a few walk away after being hit, only to go down w/in 75 yds or less..

Good luck w/ your weapon, and post of your success!!

[willysjeep134]

If you hit towards the top 1/3 of the deer with a body shot you still hit the lungs, but you also stand a better chance of knocking the animal down with a single shot. The bullet hitting a little bit closer to the spine messes with all of the nerves in the spinal chord and the animal drops, more often than not.

I made such a shot on a whitetail with my 30-30 last year. The 30-30 carbine definantly has less energy than a .303 british, and I know they can be dropped on the baitpile with the 30-30. The only organs that get hit directly with a high body shot are the lungs, and liver if you shoot farther back,  and we all know it takes a little time for an animal to bleed out and die. Still, the deer fell to the ground and kicked a little, and that was it.

Plus, if you shoot towards the top 1/3 of the deer, just behind the front leg, and the deer is farther away than you thought, the bullet will still hit the center of the chest. You can drop em' with almost any reasonable gun if you hit them right.

[kevin.303]

this will be my second season hunting, but i'll be carrying a 6.5 swede( go figure!) anyways i've never shot a deer with my .303 but my dad did when he used to hunt with it back in the 60's. every deer he shot dropped on the spot or never got up( once he spotted a buck lying in the grass, just aimed between the antlers and BAM! venison.) the service .303 and .308 loads are identical with 2650 FPS being average.one other ammo option we have up here is the old Imperial/Dominion brand. i doubt if it was ever sold in the states, but it went out of business in the 80's. it's still popular for hunting and sells high at gunshows. the reason why is Imperial produced some of the very first Ballistic Tip bullets. a lot of people thought Nosler invented them but you could get them up here in .303, .30-06, .308 and most other calibers 30-40 years ago. another good place to find info on the .303 British is www.303british.com i know the guy through another forum, he has started making and selling 200 Gr jacketed bullets for the .303 Brit. also is testing a target/hunting trigger for the lee-enfield , looks to be interesting!

[BnSC]

Good website you mentioned.. I've gone there for help before..

If I can a braced shot, I'll shoot them in the neck.  That puts them down instantly as well.. Too bad the deer don't always come in the direction we plan for  

You make an interesting point about the 30-30 putting them straight down w/ a vitals shot... I've had that experience as well w/ the 30-30, but not with the .303 for some reason.. No matter, the blood trails are sufficient to find the animal.  

I had one last year that I shot through the vitals w/ the .303 jump about twice and start looking around.  I got ready to shoot again and it jumped about two more times and started looking around again.  It started walking as I got ready for another shot, but I noticed he  was real wobbly on his feet.  He hopped over a fallen tree and fell...  

I've going to start handloading for .303 after this season.. I'm interested in going the other way w/ bullet weights.. I've seen a few recipes around for using a 125 grn HP or Ballistic tip....

[TrapperZach]

where in the neck do you shoot? and whereon the main body? any body

[BnSC]

My neck shot is usually placed right in front of the shoulder, aiming in upper 1/3 of the neck.. This is where the spine is located.  Even if you don't get a direct blow to the spine, between the energy dumped in that area,all blood vessels, and the windpipe it will go down instantly.

I have taken a few head on that have busted me.  In this case, I level my cross hairs on the white patch of the throat and shoot.

For a vitals shot I shoot directly behind the shoulder and actually some times clip the outer edge of the shoulder blade.  I like to shoot a little  below center (top to bottom).  This usually get the heart and lungs, and puts an exit wound close to the bottom of the deer.  I like this because it just about always starts a good blood trail immediately since the chest cavity does not have to fill w/ blood before a trail starts.  If the terain is open enough, they sometimes fall w/in sight....

[TrapperZach]

it defintly ant open but  maybe thel get cought in the brush and stuff.

[rockbilly]

The 303 has taken every species of animal on earth.  Think about all the places that flew the Brit flag, in most the 303 was the most modern and powerful arm available.  It has been used to take everything including the big five............shouldn't be any problem with deer, elk or bear in the 48.  Its about equal to 30-06.  Notice I said about................

[jordisonkevin]

I have shot a few deer with my .303 brit but have yet to reload for it. I have just used the 180 or 150 grain winchester bullets from wallmart and havent had any problems killing deer. Every animal I have shot has droped on the spot and was dead when I got to it. I have even killed a couple deer over the 300 yard range and still had pass through shots. I would have no problem taking my .303 after Moose, Elk, or even bear. I even read in a magazine that in Africa the .303 British has been used for years to kill everything that they have there. If it can kill a cape Buffalo I don't think a moose or elk should be a problem.

[spikehorn]

I picked up a bubbaized SMLE No.4 from a guy who due to health problems could shoot or hunt anymore. Got it for $80 with two magazines, put a $29 No gunsmith scope rail and a bushnell banner 3X9X40 on it. The first ammo I tried was the wolf brass cased stuff don't remember what grain it was. once i got It sighted in It has not failed to shoot sub moa for me. UsE it for woodchucks all the time. Due to the laws Here in N.Y. I would have to use it as a single shot to hunt deer so it has never gone to deer camp with me, but given its track record I have no idea it would perform on deer.