Krag Collectors Association Forum Archive

Krag Collectors Association Forum Archive
General >> Ammunition, reloading, shooting, etc >> .303 brit Brass? http://www.kragcollectorsassociation.org/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1435455647 Message started by luvmy40 on Jun 28^th, 2015 at 1:40am

Title: .303 brit Brass?
Post by luvmy40 on Jun 28^th, 2015 at 1:40am

Has anyone tried resizing .303 British brass for the 30-40? It looks like it should work but I haven't tried yet.

I have a metric crap ton of once fired .303 brass but my stockpile of 30-40 is almost non existent.

Title: Re: .303 brit Brass?
Post by Parashooter on Jun 28^th, 2015 at 4:55am

Works fine. A tad short, but no big deal.

Title: Re: .303 brit Brass?
Post by butlersrangers on Jun 28^th, 2015 at 12:55pm

'luvmy40': Is your .303 brass Boxer primed or Berdan? If you have military cases, they will most likely will be Berdan.

Berdan cases are reloadable, but, require different de-capping techniques. Correct size Berdan primers are also harder to obtain.

It would also be good practice to anneal Case Necks before converting .303 British cases to .30-40 Krag.

Title: Re: .303 brit Brass?
Post by luvmy40 on Jun 28^th, 2015 at 2:13pm

all my .303 brass is newer manufacture and re loadable.

Thanks for the confirmation.

Title: Re: .303 brit Brass?
Post by usmc73 on Jul 10^th, 2015 at 2:46pm

I am about to do the same with my krag.I have sent the Remington made 303 British brass through my resizer and loaded 3 cases with Hornady 180gr Spire points.39grs of IMR-4320,and CCI-200 primers.OAL is 3.080"The brass is new and I am looking forward to trying this load out.Will report the finding when I am done.Good luck! :-?

Title: Re: .303 brit Brass?
Post by Parashooter on Jul 10^th, 2015 at 4:32pm

usmc73 wrote on Jul 10^th, 2015 at 2:46pm:

. . .Hornady 180gr Spire points.39grs of IMR-4320 . . .Good luck!

Luck may be needed with that load. Here's IMR's pressure-tested data -

.30-40 KRAG
WIN. CASE; WIN. 8 1/2-120 PR
REM. 180 GR. SPCL
.308" DIA.; 25.5" BBL.; 3.00" C.O.L.
Powder Charge Vel. Pressure CUP
IMR 4320 35.5 2210 38100
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Many handloaders would be disinclined to start 10% higher than the powder manufacturer's maximum.

Title: Re: .303 brit Brass?
Post by madsenshooter on Jul 13^th, 2015 at 5:54am

My old Sierra manual goes well above that, up to 42.4gr. I see their newer one does too. Hornady 3rd goes up to 40. 4320 was one of the first powders I worked with. I wound up kicking the bolt of my Madsen open because the data I used was developed in Winchester brass, but I was using GI brass. And, I didn't start low & work up, just picked a number a couple steps below max. Not enough numbers below, it turned out.