Greek 303 really hot loads?

I bought some of the Greek .303 British ammo that was available and brass looks pretty good but it really hammers the gun. Bolt is hard to cycle after each round, my reloads are intentionally a bit mild but I was wondering if something about this old ammo might be hotter due to deterioration.

Have heard that powder breaks down into finer grains which can create more pressure. I'm also seeing some case stretch at the head that I don't see with my own loads.

Giving some thought to just tearing them down to use the brass and bullets. Originally I bought the ammo because the price was actually cheaper than good brass. Lot of work to tear that much down (450 rounds) might have to get something to use other than the hammer style bullet puller.

If it is HXP then it is usually very high quality ammunition, what is the date stamp on it?

I've fired HXP ammo from three different years of manufacture and they all function normally . Since I normally load light too , the full power loads do seem as though they are giving a beating . They are working just like they were meant to . Bolt operation seems fine also maybe something else is going on here ?

You can pull a few rounds apart to satisfy your curiosity but I think the powder is fine .

Jack

Might be a good idea to check headspace and inspect the locking lug recesses for setback. With excessive headspace being a common denominator in the SMLE, that is where my thoughts would carry me if the ammo checks out ok. It would be worth pulling down a few random rounds and making sure your lot doesn't have the red dust in the powder and acrid smell. Perhaps the lot you have was stored in poor conditions.

If the bolt is hard to cycle, that is red flag. Either a problem with the gun or the ammo, but definitely not something to ignore. But I am a wussy.

How do the primers look?

Don Verna

Try them in another rifle, if same actions as in yours I`d tear them down. As an after thought I`m wondering if you have machine gun ammo. I remember there is a warning about some Brit .303 ammo being made for machine gun use and not for rifles.Robert

The Greek HXP .303 ammo I have is loaded with spheroidal powder and has a flat-based MkVII type bullet.

The MkVIII machinegun rounds have a boattail bullet, but so far as I know the Greeks never loaded any of that.

The HXP .303 ammo and brass are of high quality and I've never had any issues with either of my No.4s.

Cheaper than dirt was selling machine gun ammo about a year back. It was sold loose in the box with no clips.

I've shot a bunch of the HXP 303 in several rifles without issue. I've also broken down a few of the rounds because the cases were so ratty, and transferred (straight across) the components to another case and these also fired without issue. The ratty brass also cleaned up pretty nicely with a citric acid wash and tumble. YMMV

Well I do have a different Enfield I could check them in. Probably worth pulling at least a couple to check, now that folks have provided me with something to check.
I do recall the stock ammo was rather stout. This is a replacement bolt so worth checking further, but as I noted my loads don't have the same effect on the brass or the feel of the bolt.

When in doubt about something exploding next to ones head nothing "wussy" about following up on it to find out what is going on, or if there is I'm betting the wussy shooters end up buying reloading stuff at the non-wussy folks estate sale. :-)

RogerDat,

I have a '43 Long Branch No4 that acted like you describe when shooting the HXP ammo. Since my other No.4s seemed fine with this ammo, I surmised the '43 had more generous head-space (it does). Thin "O" rings placed under the rim made it a bit more difficult to chamber a round but the stiff bolt-lift disappeared. I kept these cases segregated for use only in the '43 Long Branch and neck sized them only using the Lee Collet Die. HXP ammo is high quality for Mil-Surp, and pretty accurate too. I limit my shooting with the HXP ammo to about 20 per range session. Bruises are no fun! I prefer my "wussy" cast-boolit reloads for extended shooting.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by curator

RogerDat,

I have a '43 Long Branch No4 that acted like you describe when shooting the HXP ammo. Since my other No.4s seemed fine with this ammo, I surmised the '43 had more generous head-space (it does). Thin "O" rings placed under the rim made it a bit more difficult to chamber a round but the stiff bolt-lift disappeared. I kept these cases segregated for use only in the '43 Long Branch and neck sized them only using the Lee Collet Die. HXP ammo is high quality for Mil-Surp, and pretty accurate too. I limit my shooting with the HXP ammo to about 20 per range session. Bruises are no fun! I prefer my "wussy" cast-boolit reloads for extended shooting.

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Once you had fire formed with the O ring did you just load and shoot the brass without the O ring? Or did you have to use the O ring every time?
Have heard about using an O ring to deal with Enfield headspace issues but never quite understood how it worked.

Once you load and shoot new brass with the "O" ring, the case will head-space on the shoulder instead of the rim, like most bottle-necked cases do. Just don't set the shoulder back by full length sizing. The "O" ring prevents the case from being driven forward by the firing pin before it expands under pressure. All of the case stretch will be in the neck and shoulder area instead of near the head leading to head separations. Once fire formed, you don't need the "O" ring any more. Lee Enfields are made to shoot ammunition from many different suppliers and under wartime conditions. The rim recess at the chamber is purposely generous to allow for dirty ammo. Some of this excess head space can be taken up with different bolt heads. My '43 Long Branch would probably benefit from a #2 instead of the #0 bolt head that is currently installed.

On another board several years back someone posted of getting a very bad few boxes of HXP .30-06 ammo. The powder had degraded to the point that it was stuck to the interior of the case like a hollow tube.
That's the only complant I've ever run across concerning HXP ammo.

The Brass is among the best, but I did find a few cases with oddly broad relief cuts above the rim, which matched exactly the brass of a very bad two boxes of Winchester commercial sporting ammo I bought back in the 80's.
Apparently after Britain cut off military aid to Greece the US shipped Greece WW2 surplus loading equipment to replace that stolen by the Germans. It would appear that the Greek HXP .303 brass is drawn on older Winchester machinery, and the powder is an Olin Ball powder.

The British contracted for a huge amount of HXP .303 for use in Bren Guns and Vickers guns still in reserve stores in the 80's during the Falkland dust up.

Have been shooting HXP A and B grade ammo from my No5 clone (spoterized '42 Maltby No4 Mk1 converted to No5 Mk1). Shoots just like MkVII ammo in my original No5. No problems except when shooting with just T-shirt in warm weather, after 20 rnds the shoulder is a little sore... for a couple days. Head stamp dates are '74, '75 & '76. Very accurate mil-surp ammo.

Hxp is one of the finest surplus ammo I have used. The brass is about the best to reload.
Be safe

Is it really HXP ammo (boxer primed) as there was other Greek stuff that was berdan primed that was very 'hot'. I recall the headstamp was marked MkVIII

Before WW2 the Greeks used British made case drawing equipment and their .303 ammo was much the same as British ammo of the day.