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jorhenderson
Newbie Joined: October 13 2009 Status: Offline Points: 2 |
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Posted: October 13 2009 at 4:38am |
can anyone tell me why 303 was chosen? why not .300 or .305 even what is so special about 303
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jorhenderson
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Shamu
Admin Group Logo Designer / Donating Member Joined: April 25 2007 Location: MD, USA. Status: Offline Points: 17603 |
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"303" is just a name, the actual bore size is (in thoery) .311 inch.
Makes even less sense, right?
In practice most of it comes from the English system where the bore is measured for diameter. In the case of the Enfield the narrowest part of the bore is .30 inch, so the rifle is a 30 caliber, which is what the MOD wanted. When you add the grooves to the nominal .30 bore diameter you end up with .311 inch (again in thoery).
Of course there is a differeing minimum/maximum bore diameter measurable, depending on the number of lands & grooves, most of them not being directly measurable due to the uneven number of lands.
The confusion is added to as a lot of Enfield bores are oversized anyway, many being .311, .312, or even .314 in really big ones.
So, in a nutshell the 30 caliber bore+ the depth of the landsX2 (one on each side) is .311.
Clear as mud, isn't it.
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Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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SW28fan
Special Member Donating Member Joined: July 02 2007 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 2951 |
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I got curious and this is what I found:
Development The .303 British round is more than just a military cartridge; it is a symbol of a once great empire which for better than seventy years it helped build. This venerable cartridge dates officially from 1888 when it was adopted by a British Royal Ordnance committee along with the Lee-Metford rifle, both the cartridge and the rifle were of foreign origin. The .303 was the result of Major Eduard Rubin, then Superintendent of the Swiss Government Arms Laboratory at Thun (of Schmidt-Rubin fame) and his experiments and development of a straight/tapered walled cartridge in 7.7mm incorporating a crimped on driving band. The driving band system proved inferior for the pressures generated in the cartridge and thus a bottleneck case was developed. The Lee-Metford was the invention of James Paris Lee, a Scot who later became a naturalized American; however, the word "Metford" pertains only to the rifling pattern of the barrel. This rifling form was developed by William Ellis Metford an English civil engineer. |
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Shamu
Admin Group Logo Designer / Donating Member Joined: April 25 2007 Location: MD, USA. Status: Offline Points: 17603 |
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It's the "BRITISH" bit that makes 'em sound so mean, .303, Vs .303 BRITISH.
.303 Savage sounds nowhere as mean as this round.
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Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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Tony
Moderator Group Moderator Joined: April 18 2006 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 3256 |
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Correct!! The stiff upper lip handlebar tash and tiffin time! See we Brits do it in style!
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Rottie (PitBulls dad.)
“If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons Born free taxed to death!!! |
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Shamu
Admin Group Logo Designer / Donating Member Joined: April 25 2007 Location: MD, USA. Status: Offline Points: 17603 |
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They don't like it up em, the Fuzzy Wuzzies, Mr Mainwairing.
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Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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jorhenderson
Newbie Joined: October 13 2009 Status: Offline Points: 2 |
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this still dosn`t explain why 303 instead of 30 or 31(my stiff upper lip is quivering)
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jorhenderson
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Tony
Moderator Group Moderator Joined: April 18 2006 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 3256 |
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Thank you Corporal Jones! Pikey (aka stupid boy) has just joined the forum!
The measurement .303 inches (7.7 mm) measures the nominal size of the bore measured between the lands (Europeans measure bore diameter land to land, Americans measure groove to groove. If you set your calipers to 7.7mm then switch to imperial you will see it comes out at .3035. Hence the 303 lable! |
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Rottie (PitBulls dad.)
“If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons Born free taxed to death!!! |
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Shamu
Admin Group Logo Designer / Donating Member Joined: April 25 2007 Location: MD, USA. Status: Offline Points: 17603 |
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Like a lot of calibers it doesn't really make any sense at all when you look at it from the outside.
Why 7.62mm, instead of 7.0mm?
Why 9mm not 10mm?
Why .45, instead of 1/2"?
How about another Brit caliber .455, darn that's almost 1/2" even closer then .45 (which isn't .45.
Or .38, (which is actualy .357) instead of .40?
Or more Imperial oddness like the .577 Snyder, why not a .58 at least.
I think in reality the diameters & sizes were more based on performance of the time developed than some nominal bore diameter, so the effect of the bullet was more in control & the diameter just ended up being whatever worked.
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Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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Lithgow
Senior Member Joined: October 25 2005 Location: Australia Status: Offline Points: 1417 |
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Tony is 100% correct.
I dont know why thy didnt make it a bit bigger and round it off to 305 but thats the way it is. Maybe it didnt sound right....305 British doesnt have the same ring thats for sure.
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