OT- Sort of. Interesting ( to me) Surplus .303s/ powder and

[2ndovc]

Bullets.

I bought the Big Box of 303 British ammo from Levers. ( Nice guy by the way!)

In it was some Greek surplus on stripper clips in bandolers.
Along with some South African Surplus that I've seen but have no experience with.

So being one that has to take everything apart I pulled the bullet and took a look.

The 174 Gr FMJ had a plain base with exposed lead and a canalure (SP).

The powder was the interesting part. 35.6 Gr of a long rod type of powder that was
packed really tight.


I lit a couple pieces just for kicks and they burnt on the slow side. About 1/2 a second each.
Betting that is a LOT faster in a sealed cartridge.


The label on the box says "Non-Fouling"
So even though it's berdan primed I'm hoping it's not corrosive.

Can't wait to go shooting!!




Just for fun.

I know I'm wierd!



jb

[Old Time Hunter]

Sir, You have discovered Cordite!

[Ben_Rumson]

They put the cordite in the case then form the shoulder & neck around the the sticks.

[deerwhacker444]

I bet that's a *** to meter properly.!

Thanks for posting, I've never seen Cordite.

[2ndovc]

Well you learn something every day

I've been shooting .303s since I was 14 but never took one apart.
Plus it's one of the cartridges that got me into reloading. That and the .32-20.
Neither were popular around here in the early 80s.

jb

[JReed]

Cordite fun stuff. Those primers are going to be corosive make sure you clean the bore real good after you fire them hot soapy water works folowed by your normal cleaner.

[Old Time Hunter]

Now you know why these sometimes have a hang fire tendency.

[morgan in nm]

I knew a fellow who would chew on cordite. He said it makes your heart race.
Anyways, like Jeremy said, that is corrosive.

[J Miller]

Back in the 60s when I had my first 303 I would go to the Govway store and buy ammo for it. Really cheep. What the companies had done was pull the ball, tracer, or what ever bullet was in the case, neck size it, seat and crimp a soft point. The stuff shot pretty good too. I still have a few in my cartridge collection.

I love the old Cordite ammo. Never had a lick of trouble with it. Very accurate. Wish I could buy it for cheap like I used to.

Joe

[Ben_Rumson]

Talkin' about cordite.. I was watching a documentary about Lawrence of Arabia mebbe 10 years ago... A guide took the film crew to a place LOA had blown up a train.. Cordite blocks about the size of a red building brick were still laying around..They had 1914 molded on the wide part.. It was fascinating when the guide put a match to one and it started slowly burning.. 95 year old "desert cured" propellant

[GEOFF]

That was a pretty darn interesting thread. Clicked on it not expecting to learn 1/2 as much as I did!!!!

Thanks!

Geoff

[Rusty]

I read somewhere that in the late days of WWII the Japs were running low on cordite so they cut up negatives and used it as a propellant.

[the telegraphist]

Gday all,
Cordite, whow, have not smelt that smell for years. Shoot the stuff and have fun if in good condition, others write about corrosive priming compounds and the need to clean, certainly do that. Cases are probably berden primed so unless you have the tools, then dump the brass. 303 brass is reasonably priced. Enjoy. This was the standard military loading, very effective it was too.

The Telegraphist

[Pop Watts]

Speaking of Cordite. I saw a docco about the Australian landing on ANZAC cove during WWI. A diver retrieved sticks of cordite from corroded artillery shells that had been in the water since WWI and then proceeded to light the sticks and they burned. The military usually use gear that lasts!
Pop.

[2ndovc]

That was a pretty darn interesting thread. Clicked on it not expecting to learn 1/2 as much as I did!!!!

Thanks!

Geoff

Exactly.
I didn't start out planning to post about this but just thought it might get a good discussion going. There's so much collective knowlegde on this site that I thought something interesting might pop up. Like how the powder was loaded in the case and then formed. Way cool!!

jb

[Borregos]

Thanks for posting, reminded me of all the 303 ball we pulled apart when I was in the army cadets, many years ago

[O.S.O.K.]

Interesting. So was it the Greek (XTP?) that had the cordite? Or the SA?

The XTP that I have is very accurate in my No.4 MkII Faz. I'd be surprised if its the XTP that has cordite...

Yes, do clean with warm water when you're through shooting that. No biggy.

[2ndovc]

The Greek rounds are loaded with about the same weight of a fine ball powder. Boxer primed
with a 174 gr flat base FMJ that's sealed inthe case. Most I have are dated 69.

The SA ammo is WWII dated. I'll fire a box or so and store the rest.


I do have experience with corrosive ammunition. Been shooting surplus firearms since I was a kid. Sometimes that's all you can find.

jb

[JReed]

2ndovc
The practice of forming the .303 case around the cordite started back when the round was a BP round. They used a highly compressed pellet of black powder stuffed in to the case then they formed the shoulder and seated the bullet. It was the only way to get enough powder in the case to make it worth while.

[JohndeFresno]

Thanks for sharing your find and letting me see what Cordite is - like others, I was familiar with it in name only!

[JustaJeepGuy]

I've seen pics of Cordite before, but I don't think they were color pics. Very interesting post.

[ceb]

Yes, very interesting thread. Reminded me I have some surplus for my old MK4. Need to go check that out.

[awp101]

Here's a little bit of trivia on Cordite...

If you've read Day of the Jackal, you might remember the assassin eating cordite before starting the final part of his assignment. Apparently it was an old trick that would make you look lousy enough to get away with going on sick call without making you feel so bad that you couldn't do anything once you'd gotten the day off.

[kimwcook]

Nice post. I didn't know that about loading the cordite first and then forming.

I've got to wonder who started chewing on cordite first. That's kind of like sipping gasoline to me.

[JustaJeepGuy]

Yeah, who would think of chewing on Cordite??