Who still hunts with the .303?
 

Just wondering how many of us on here still hunt with old Lee Enfield rifles? I've used mine sporadically over the last decade or so, but having made the personal goal of using iron sights for most of my hunting this year, my old No1 BSA sporter will be my main rifle once again. I saw Cat was aiming to use an old heirloom .303 in favor of his custom Ruger, anyone else?

My old Brit is never far from reach. It gets the nod quite a bit when heavy bush hunting. Shot my cow Elk last year with it. It's quite heavily bubba-ed though :-)

Yup....great rifle and cartridge....anything anywhere!

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Groups about 3-4" high at a hundred yards all in about a 3" circle open sighted

My sportized enfield has taken many deer, and will take many more.

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Best 200 bucks spent!:)

I know where you can find one...free of charge. Its wrapped around a poplar about 35 miles north of Swift Current

Got rid of mine a long time ago now, but the .303 was my first hunting rifle. Had a Weaver k4 on it and I shot federal blue box ammo.

When I think about it, I bet I shot more game with that than all my other rifles with their fancy scopes and triggers, and all of today's bullets. :)

Yeah, mine cost me $130, and after a bedding job I can keep the groups under 2" all day long with the irons. That rifle, my Mad River canoe, and a pair of Millsurp snowshoes are probably about the best out door gear investments I've ever made.

My off season bear gun, with some modification. Rugged and dependable

Grizz

This year I'm going to use cast bullets in my 303. Just have to decide which 303 I will hunt with!

Yuuuuuup!
2 of my 4 wall mounts were shot with my trusty .303.

Pics?

It's not the exact same but as soon as my repairs are done I'll be using my 303 savage every once in a while

going to try 215gr woodleighs this year

The last time I took mine out was 2013 and got a bull moose with it. I'll bring it as a scabbord gun this year. It is stamped 1919, so its 100 years old this year.

303
 

Guys, just for the record, the largest B & C bull moose ever shot in North America was shot by a 303 in the Yukon 2-3 years ago.

Nevermind, need more coffee.

double tap

I have three that I hunt with, my Ruger being one of them, but as Bushleague stated this year my Dad’s heavily customized Enfield will be used on at least one hunt :)
Cat

I have one from my grandpa. Never hunted with it yet but want to. Not positive how to sight it in. It has one of those slide irons on it. Start at 100? And see where it shoots?
Thanks for any sarcastic comments as well as helpful tips.


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Maybe this fall.
 

Savage No4 MkI*
She shoots these pretty decently.
215gr gas checked cast boolit.
Loaded in Lee Classic Loader
IMR 3031
Winchester brass

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I bought my first 303 British from our local Marshall Well's store in Swan River Mb in about 1966 or close to it for $59. I remember there was a barrel full of them in the firearm isle. I think they were all #1 mark 3's.

Your .303 Lee Enfield rifle (#1 Mk 3, #4 Mk 1 or #5 Mk 1) sights were designed to shoot 174 gr full metal jacket bullets.
Current commercial hunting cartridges, that I'm aware of, come in 150 gr and 180 gr bullet weights.
Using the iron sights with the 150 gr cartridges, the bullets would shoot high.
The 180 gr would shoot close to the same trajectory as the 174 gr.

I still use my Jungle Carbine.

[QUOTE=Bushleague;4023859]Pics?[/QUOTE
Have pics, but can't get them to upload.

I usually bottom the rear sight out and start from there. Almost every LE that has come through my possession has shot high, and the one that didn't had the front sight built up. The other rifles I have had to purchase taller blades in order to get them acceptably close to zero at 100 yards with 180 grain ammo. I think their original purpose was to make sure the targets never got anywhere near 100 yards from the shooter, so they can tend to shoot a bit high for sporting purposes unless modified :)

Thanks a lot. I had some 150s and they were really high. Just bought two boxes of 180 I’ll bottom out rear sight and try those at 100. So the marking work pretty close from there? Appreciate all the comments guys. I’d love to take a deer or bear with it if I can find an opportunity to not use my 270wsm


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My dad has hunted with his British .303 his whole life. I've heard it's killed more big game than any other rifle throughout history, can anyone confirm this?

303
 

I would venture a guess that a 30-30 probably killed more game than any other caliber. The 30-06 would probably be a close second place. However the 303 would score quite high then dropped off in last 30 years when we had dozens of different calibers. The 30-06 was the go to caliber for grizzly bears in Alaska for many years.

YMMV, but I've typically found the Remington corelocts to hit a bit lower than Winchester power points, at least out of the SMLE's that I've owned. Never really shot anything else out of these rifles.