SMLE Scout and Jacketed Bullets

Discussions covering the components and techniques of reloading for your long gun.
Post Reply
User avatar
Ranch Dog
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 6456
Joined: 22 Jun 2013 17:16
My Press Choice: Progressive
Location: Inez, TX
Has thanked: 1616 times
Been thanked: 2850 times

SMLE Scout and Jacketed Bullets

Post by Ranch Dog »

I've officially thrown in the towel on cast bullet use with my SMLE. I thought I had it all figured out with my TLC313-150-RF, but the results yesterday were dismal, and I'm not going to send another cast bullet down the barrel of my No. 4 or 5. My rifleman and reloading view are that of a hunter, that is trying to get everything out of a given cartridge that I can so that I can maximize both range and terminal ballistics and I cannot get that with a cast bullet in the 303 British. Sure, I can make it perform like a 30-30 Win or 7.62x39, but I cannot make it deliver traditional 303 British performance.

Instead, I'm turning to jacketed bullets; specifically, the Hornady #3130 174-grain RNSP, the Privi Partizan #B-125 180-grain BTSP, and the Speer #2223 180-grain HCRN. I've shot all these and have taken feral hogs with all three; I want to decide which it will be as far as maintaining an inventory. Not going to work with a bunch of powders either; I've shot all the Hornady hopefuls already, and without a doubt, the two best performers are H100V and Varget.

The SAAMI limit for the 303 British is 49.0K PSI, but my experience with strain gauge on the barrel is that my bolt gets stiff and extraction sticky on both of my rifles beyond 47.0K PSI so that is the pressure I will use as a limit. My experience with this particular work is that the QuickLoad estimates, case H20 capacity, and temperature matched, are very accurate. So that is the pressure I will load each powder to and then compare the accuracy of each bullet, eliminating one of the powder choices. Then I will try to find the best accuracy for each bullet within a percent of the maximum velocity offered from the previous work and whittle the choice down to a single bullet based on the best MOA offered at 100 yards.

Here is what I will shoot as soon as the rain stops.

Hornady
Image
Image

Privi Partizan
Image
Image

Speer
Image
Image
Last edited by Ranch Dog on 14 Sep 2018 06:41, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: Images updated
Michael
Image
User avatar
Macd
Supporter
Supporter
Posts: 1009
Joined: 16 Oct 2017 16:12
My Press Choice: Single Stage
Location: Far East
Has thanked: 362 times
Been thanked: 403 times

Re: SMLE Scout and Jacketed Bullets

Post by Macd »

I will be very interested in the results. I am going to load some rounds using the Speer 2223 also and have both Varget, HV100 and may try Bl-C2. BL-C2 has the best velocity and keeps pressures under 47k at maximum load according to the published data. Next in line is H4350 in a compressed load.
User avatar
JohnnyEnfield
Supporter
Supporter
Posts: 159
Joined: 08 Dec 2017 20:24
My Press Choice: Single Stage
Location: Northeast USA
Has thanked: 176 times
Been thanked: 53 times

Re: SMLE Scout and Jacketed Bullets

Post by JohnnyEnfield »

I will be watching for your update. Thanks for keeping us in the know.
Reduce, reuse, recycle, means- resize, reload, recycle.
klr
250 Shots
250 Shots
Posts: 305
Joined: 01 Mar 2016 05:00
My Press Choice: Single Stage
Location: ohio
Has thanked: 108 times
Been thanked: 94 times

Re: SMLE Scout and Jacketed Bullets

Post by klr »

I'll be following along too.

I still have to test out some rounds I have loaded with Hodgdon's max charge of Varget.

What is your barrel length, 22"?
User avatar
Ranch Dog
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 6456
Joined: 22 Jun 2013 17:16
My Press Choice: Progressive
Location: Inez, TX
Has thanked: 1616 times
Been thanked: 2850 times

Re: SMLE Scout and Jacketed Bullets

Post by Ranch Dog »

klr wrote:I'll be following along too.

I still have to test out some rounds I have loaded with Hodgdon's max charge of Varget.

What is your barrel length, 22"?
My rifle has a 20" barrel. I'm also going to consider BL-C(2) and H4895. That will cover the four recommendations from QuickLoad. I will post stuff on those in the morning.
Michael
Image
User avatar
Ranch Dog
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 6456
Joined: 22 Jun 2013 17:16
My Press Choice: Progressive
Location: Inez, TX
Has thanked: 1616 times
Been thanked: 2850 times

Re: SMLE Scout and Jacketed Bullets

Post by Ranch Dog »

Back to brass and it's life cycle between the collet and full-length sizing. I did keep good records. I full-length sized the brass on the first cycle, shot it, annealed it, and then annealed it, and full-length sized it at the start of the 7th and 12th cycle. Thank goodness, I keep an index card in the brass bag to record the cycle, date, count, and what has been done to the brass as I would forget (I didn't think that I had that many cycles on the brass). I also keep a spreadsheet with the stats recorded when the brass is annealed/full-sized.

The reason I do this is that the TMT Precision Records can monitor critical case dimensions from simple measurements. I've compiled some screenshots from the software.

Image

Look at the 7th and 12th cycles, I've gained .1 of H2 volume (.07 cc) and lost .001" of neck thickness. This loss has been in the neck and flowed north, being removed through trimming The critical thickness at the shoulder and web have not lost anything.

I've added the SAAMI to that screenshot but it really offers little info as SAAMI does not define case depth nor case capacity. Those two dimensions are a bit of a crap shoot for the software developer. I've been helping him by gathering statisics from actual cases, I've measured hundreds if not thousands, and he has a good source for volumes. Tom is a very smart guy and is working a solution to the unknown SAAMI case depth.
Michael
Image
User avatar
Macd
Supporter
Supporter
Posts: 1009
Joined: 16 Oct 2017 16:12
My Press Choice: Single Stage
Location: Far East
Has thanked: 362 times
Been thanked: 403 times

Re: SMLE Scout and Jacketed Bullets

Post by Macd »

Do you get any droop in your 303 brass. I chucked some today and they do not turn true so I am going to gauge them when I get a chance.
User avatar
Ranch Dog
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 6456
Joined: 22 Jun 2013 17:16
My Press Choice: Progressive
Location: Inez, TX
Has thanked: 1616 times
Been thanked: 2850 times

Re: SMLE Scout and Jacketed Bullets

Post by Ranch Dog »

Macd wrote:Do you get any droop in your 303 brass. I chucked some today and they do not turn true so I am going to gauge them when I get a chance.
Not sure what you mean by droop. My cases are very concentric before and after shooting.
Michael
Image
User avatar
Macd
Supporter
Supporter
Posts: 1009
Joined: 16 Oct 2017 16:12
My Press Choice: Single Stage
Location: Far East
Has thanked: 362 times
Been thanked: 403 times

Re: SMLE Scout and Jacketed Bullets

Post by Macd »

Poor use of term. Concentricity is probably the correct term but it is when the case is no longer perpendicular to the base. Another way of putting it is that the centre of the case mouth is no longer centered over the centre of the base. I won't be sure till I set up to gauge the cases. I was using a case chuck and it always imparts a bit of a wobble but this time with the 303 cases it was pronounced. When I locate my dial gauge and block I will check if there is actually a problem.
User avatar
Ranch Dog
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 6456
Joined: 22 Jun 2013 17:16
My Press Choice: Progressive
Location: Inez, TX
Has thanked: 1616 times
Been thanked: 2850 times

Re: SMLE Scout and Jacketed Bullets

Post by Ranch Dog »

Does this happen after the case has come out of the sizing die or the chamber?
Michael
Image
Post Reply

Return to “Rifle Reloading”