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RSA use of .303 ammo possibly also ties in with their continued/recent use of the Vickers machine gun as a fire support weapon

saddler wrote:RSA use of .303 ammo possibly also ties in with their continued/recent use of the Vickers machine gun as a fire support weapon

I thought they had converted their Vickers guns to 7.62mm?

Rhodesia also used twin Browning mountings as ground weapons, mounted on the back of vehicles. They had a an rpm of about 1200-1400 each, so were pretty effective as a bush-clearing anti-ambush weapon!


IIRC most of the .303 ball in Rhodesia was of British manufacture, with some older SA cordite MkVII. The 1980s PMP .303 (7.7mm) was probably just intended for SA Police use - the Police were still mostly equipped with Enfields up until the 1990s.

I have some .303 ammunition made by Winchester for the RAF during the war. Some is marked 'synchronised for aircraft use' and some is specifically marked not for aircraft use.
Still boxed in 20's and I don't feel I should shoot it.

Mattnall wrote:I have some .303 ammunition made by Winchester for the RAF during the war. Some is marked 'synchronised for aircraft use' and some is specifically marked not for aircraft use.
Still boxed in 20's and I don't feel I should shoot it.

I spent the afternoon yesterday sticking 1943 dated 303 ammo through my SMLE, that's what it was made for :)

DanTheMan wrote:

Mattnall wrote:I have some .303 ammunition made by Winchester for the RAF during the war. Some is marked 'synchronised for aircraft use' and some is specifically marked not for aircraft use.
Still boxed in 20's and I don't feel I should shoot it.

I spent the afternoon yesterday sticking 1943 dated 303 ammo through my SMLE, that's what it was made for :)

My father in law has a a unfired 03 Springfield sitting in his gun safe still in the original wrapper and cosmoline. He's had it for Christ knows how many years and won't take it out and shoot it. What's the point of that? It's a rifle. take it out and shoot the damn thing, it's what it's for.

Blu

DanTheMan wrote:

Mattnall wrote:I have some .303 ammunition made by Winchester for the RAF during the war. Some is marked 'synchronised for aircraft use' and some is specifically marked not for aircraft use.
Still boxed in 20's and I don't feel I should shoot it.

I spent the afternoon yesterday sticking 1943 dated 303 ammo through my SMLE, that's what it was made for :)

Unfortunately I don't have a Mk9 Spitfire for which half of this is made. I wish I did, it'd make the run-downs a lot more fun with and without ammo. razz

Pneumatically triggered IIRC Dave.

They dug one out of a bog in Eire, the Irish Army version of the REME stripped, cleaned, and fired the damned thing.

Amazing.

Video of that ground dug MG here, the ammo they dug looks in better nick than the stuff I have.

Maggot wrote:Pneumatically triggered IIRC Dave.

They dug one out of a bog in Eire, the Irish Army version of the REME stripped, cleaned, and fired the damned thing.

Amazing.

Unsurprisingly there's a thread on that.

http://www.full-bore.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=4862