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Let me say that me and my father are trying to get into reloading. for him it is his 300 weatherby magnum that he is mainly concerned with. However me it is mostly 30-06, .223, 30 carbine, 45acp and .303. My question revolves around the .303 as this is the hardest and most expsensive ammo for me at this time. If found some people selling the bullets that they have for sale that were for 7.62x54R. But they said that it would also work for British .303 is this true or false? I mean 500 bullets for 40 bucks sounds like a really good deal. Any help would be welcomed.

In that case I might go seek some help from a friend of mine if I try that route.
So what books or websites would have information that I would need? Also where is a good place to pick up the components online or in the houston Galveston area? Should I look for bullets that specifically say .303?

There are some very helpful people, who know quite a bit, at http://www.handloads.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; - there is a forum as well as load data and articles.

I'd recommend starting with .45acp. Pistol rounds are easier to learn to reload with than bottleneck rifle rounds.

The bullets will work fine so long as they are of the same jacket material...i.e. make sure it isn't steel jacketed. Just be sure that you can find data for that weight of bullet. I also wouldn't expect anything unusual like barrel twist/bullet stability issues either, but it is a remote possibility.

If you are hunting with them, then you have to worry about proper velocity issues, but the difference in the 7.62R and .303 isn't all that much.

Diameter and weight are the critical issues. '30 caliber' can mean anything from .308" to .312", and 110 to 240 grains, and THAT is a significant problem.

Isimanica wrote:In that case I might go seek some help from a friend of mine if I try that route.
So what books or websites would have information that I would need? Also where is a good place to pick up the components online or in the houston Galveston area? Should I look for bullets that specifically say .303?

Galveston area, I don't know. Houston area, 10-ring in Cypress, and Carter's Country scattered about the Houston area are your best bets. The ABC's of Reloading is usually at either Border's or Barnes & Noble stores.

When you say .303, are you referring to .303 British?

If you're talking about .303 British, you'll have a pretty easy time coming up with components (.311 bullets) and recipes (some 80-90% of the manuals will have loads for it).

If you're talking about .303 SAVAGE, that's a whole different ballgame. That's a .308 bullet (anything for a 30-30 will work nicely), but the load recipes are as common as hen's teeth.

Seating depths and OAL's is what will eat you up when you start playing with "different" or "non-standard" bullets, especially if you're not working with reduced/light loads.

I'll have to hit a carters country on the way home from work some time. Yeah I think I will pick up a book too.
Yeah I was refering to british 303. Most likely I will use reduced or light loads. To hope to get more use out of the brass and this is more for just fun military rifle shooting. This gun was given to me by a good co-worker I used to work with a while back. They were my first guns and they belonged to his brother who died of cancer. He was the only one left and didn't have any kids to leave them too. He knew that I would never get rid of them and that I would value them more.
I'll wait to mess with fancy loads way down the road. Some of the bullets I was looking at were standard FMJ 174gr I believe.