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.303 Rim Thickness
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105GunGrunt View Drop Down
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    Posted: February 13 2020 at 10:02pm
As I said in a previous post on headspace, I recently acquired my first Enfield rifle, a BSA No 4 made in 1942.  I also bought the dies for reloading, some 174gr SMKs and Remington brass.  My question is about the brass.

I measured a half dozen pieces of the new brass and found an average rim thickness of only .058".  SAAMI specifications for .303 British call for a rim thickness of .062".  I know .004" is not a lot, but need all the help I can get with headspace.  I bought the Remington because it was cheap.  Can anyone tell me if the rim thickness on either Winchester or Hornady is closer to .062?  Is there another maker of brass that may be preferred for my rifle?

Thanks in advance for your responses.
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I started out using Remington brass for reloading .303; but have progressively changed to PPU brass.
Remington is OK; but you don't get that many reloads from it before you get the cases splitting. It will depend on your chamber size; (many of the Enfield chamber's are large) and also on your load. But if you inspect the cases after firing, you can generally see the weak spot; appearing as a ring around the base of the case. Therefore avoiding failures at the range.
 The PPU is better quality. I would suggest you use the Remington to get you started; then try a phase it out as it shows signs of fatigue.
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PPU! Don't let the price point fool you its better than any U.S. Made brass currently.
If you find any Greek "HXP" thats my second choice.
Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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Points: 26 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 105GunGrunt Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 14 2020 at 2:17pm
Thanks to both of you!  Totally forgot about PPU.  I use it exclusively for reloading 7.5 Swiss.  When I searched for .303 brass only Rem, Win and Hornady came up so PPU just didn’t pop into this old head.

Many years ago our club bought 1000s of rounds of the HPX in .30-06 when CMP was selling it for about $ .30/round.  It’s not available anymore but we all saved the brass.  Best brass ever!! I would love to find it in .303, but I suspect it is very, very rare.

Thanks again for your comments.
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PPU brass is all I use in both .303 and 6.5x55
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I took seven different cases and measured the rim thickness on each. From thickest to thinnest. 
Herters .0615
Winchester .0610
Frontier .0605
Canadian .0600
Hornady .0590
*USA* .0585
Remington .0570
Hope this helps you out...Hug
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Goosic. Are you missing a "naught" as Jethro Bodeen might say?
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Naught any more Wink
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There are occasional "dumps" of HXP .303 ammo, but you have to jump when one appears. The was a huge quantity imported several years back but now its kind of down to the dregs.
Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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The typical difference between PPU and Win brass (difference between Mil spec and SAAMI spec):
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Originally posted by 105GunGrunt 105GunGrunt wrote:

  SAAMI specifications for .303 British call for a rim thickness of .062". 


SAAMI spec is 0.054" min and 0.064" max (0.064" -0.01" +0.0")
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Based on advice from the forum members here, I bought PPU.  Case weight and rim thickness is very comparable to Canadian cases used in the Mk 7z service ammunition.  I’ve reloaded the first 50 cases a few times.  Even if it lasts only 1/2 as many reloads as my DI and DAC cases, I’ll be happy.

I’ve reloaded my RP brass perhaps 8 to 10 times and no signs of thinning in the web or cracked necks.  At the last reload, I F/L sized the cases, all previous reloads were neck sizing with the Lee Collet die.

20+ years ago, I bought some HXP, $16.00 for the box of 48 rounds IIRC.  Wished I had bought more. 
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For those looking for HXP 303, I saw this a few minutes ago !

https://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?1085393-WTS-Greek-HXP-303-Ammo

Don't know if this price is any good. I keep my HXP locked in the safe !!

regards....roger
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I have a case of HXP so I will measure a few rims and see what they go.
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Originally posted by MJ11 MJ11 wrote:

I have a case of HXP so I will measure a few rims and see what they go.


Just for comparison I have measured a couple of different brands.

3 samples of each taken from the same box and measured in 3 places around the rim.

1) FNM (Portugal)
0.060 / 0.062 / 0.060
0.060 / 0.060 / 0.059
0.062 / 0.062 / 0.060

2) Winchester "Super X"

0.058 / 0.060 / 0.058
0.058 / 0.057 / 0.057
0.058 / 0.059 / 0.058

3) Kynoch Mk7 Cordite 1963 production

0.060 / 0.060 / 0.060
0.060 / 0.060 / 0.0595
0.060 / 0.060 / 0.0595

4) HXP

0.0615 / 0.062 / 0.062
0.062 / 0.0615 / 0.062
0.062 / 0.0625 / 0.062
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Points: 261 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote philtno Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 20 2020 at 11:32am
Originally posted by Shamu Shamu wrote:

There are occasional "dumps" of HXP .303 ammo, but you have to jump when one appears. The was a huge quantity imported several years back but now its kind of down to the dregs.
I don't know how interesting that could be for you guys but Gun City (www.guncity.com) is selling HXP 303 all along the year and - I think - they ship internationally.  They sell 100 rounds for NZ$99 which should be around US$.70 a round, something like that.  How much would shipping cost be, I don't know.  
Just my $0.02 Smile
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