The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

I've just become a full member of my local club and going through the process of first FAC application. I've also become a probationary member of a nearby outdoor full-bore rifle club. My parent club is happy to allow full-bore rifles on the indoor 50m range as long as the ammunition does not exceed 1750 fps with non-jacketed heads only.

My plan is to have a Lee Enfield SMLE .303 on my first ticket and it would be nice to take it to my 50m range say, once a week compared to maybe once a month at the outdoor range.

Obviously this means reloading my own in the future and I have just bought 'Modern Reloading' by Richard Lee in addition to being booked onto a reloading course at my outdoor club in 2 weeks time.

Asking around it appears that there is no readily available data on reloading .303 to a much reduced velocity level of 1750 fps. Verbal advice from the club is that pistol or shotgun powder at 'about' 6 grains using a 165-grain cast lead head will give the reduced velocity needed. I'm a bit nervous when words like 'about' and 'roughly' are used, especially to a very new newbie to future reloading. Should I make an extra effort and look for proved published data or does this sound right?

I'm probably thinking too far ahead in the future but it would be nice to have an opinion from those with the experience.

Your first mistake is calling bullets heads. They are bullets heads is some were you go to take dump.
Your second mistake was buying the Lee reloading data manual chuck it in the bin.
Once you have corrected the first two mistakes we can probably get you on track with shooting the .303 with cast boolits indoors at 50 yards.
Adam or dodgyrog is a good source of advice on this sort of shooting. I shoot military calibres with cast boolits at 25 yards and out to 50 yards with reduced loads but I'm regarded as a bit of a retard when it comes to re loading so I will keep my mouth shut.

Thank you Alpha1. I've seen a few written references (Henry Krank catalogue P70, Shellhouse Bullet Company etc) that refer to cast lead bullets as heads. Didn't realise I was that wrong.

As a matter of interest, why the low opinion of the Lee manual?

I'm sure your knowledge of reduced loads would be far better than my non-existent knowledge!

First and foremost the Lee manual just copies other peoples data, they do not pressure test the loads. They also copy verbatim the errors in the originals and then throw in a few of their own. All the loads are on the conservative side so as to be safe with their reloading "practices".

Secondly they have their own particular approach to things like cast bullet loading which works in its own way but doesn't give a broad foundation to work on.

Best advice on loading data is to bin the lee manual, the Lyman is very good and deals with cast bullets.

I suggest that you read Ed Harris's article on Cast Bullets in Military Rifles which is lodged in the library here. Then do a search as this topic has been covered many times and in great depth on here. Once you have read up a bit then you will have specific questions and people will take if from there.

For such loads there is no need for such a heavy bullet, no need to waste lead or powder for that matter.

If you persist in calling bullets "heads" then I am afraid I will not respond further.

170 gn bullet with gas check,11 gns of unique will be under that and will be accurate enough!

dromia wrote:First and foremost the Lee manual just copies other peoples data, they do not pressure test the loads. They also copy verbatim the errors in the originals and then throw in a few of their own. All the loads are on the conservative side so as to be safe with their reloading "practices".

Secondly they have their own particular approach to things like cast bullet loading which works in its own way but doesn't give a broad foundation to work on.

Best advice on loading data is to bin the lee manual, the Lyman is very good and deals with cast bullets.

I suggest that you read Ed Harris's article on Cast Bullets in Military Rifles which is lodged in the library here. Then do a search as this topic has been covered many times and in great depth on here. Once you have read up a bit then you will have specific questions and people will take if from there.

For such loads there is no need for such a heavy bullet, no need to waste lead or powder for that matter.

If you persist in calling bullets "heads" then I am afraid I will not respond further.

Thank you dromia, very informative reply but was the last sentence for real? I hope it wasn't because I'm partial to a bit of sarcasm but if it was, then it's a bit harsh for a simple slip in nomenclature.

For my part handloading requires some discipline and attention to detail. When starting out I believe that people should take time to understand the basics and the correct terminology so as to avoid confusion and potential accidents. The words "bullet head" or "lead head" are meaningless, confusing and should be seen as such when the head of a cartridge is the base of the case.

My take is that if people can't be bothered to get the basics right when they are explained to them then I can't be bothered trying to help them.

Sorry if that seems harsh to you but I only thought it fair to point it out to you.

Fear not there are one or two other people on here who understand cast bullet loading and shooting, no doubt they will be along in the fullness of time to help you along the way.

Good luck and be safe in your hand loading endeavours.

The standard referance I use 3392.... http://www.full-bore.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=810
I've safely loaded thousands of rounds based on this info.
Enjoy your loading and shooting.
Joe

Thank you jjvc and running man: All good stuff- much appreciated.

Thanks dromia: I can see the confusion you talk about so a fair point.

Regards,
David

A few of our guys use adaptors and use .32 long/acp ammunition for indoor use.