.303 British
 

Has anyone ever hunted with a .303 British?

I have a Enfield #4 Mark 1 that I am considering hunting with for deer, black bear and hog here in Georgia.Its a nice old military round that I got a good buy in.It is fitted with a nice aftermarket synthetic stock, detatchable magazine and scope.

Does anyone have experience with the caliber? If so give your thoughts....

Thanks.......

RE: .303 British
 

The 303 has been used widely in Canada for elk, moose and bears. It is close to the 308 but not quite there. It has also been used for over a century in Africa. I have three of them.:D

RE: .303 British
 

I haven't personally used one, but I know a lot of guys you use them every year for moose, and they usually don't have a lot of problems (just poor shot placement). I wouldn't hesitate to use it on any of the mentioned game.

RE: .303 British
 

The 303 British is quite a cartridge! With the right bullets, it will kill anything in North America. I have seen a couple of cruddy old Smellys (Short, Magazine, Lee-Enfield) turn in sub-MOA groups at 100 yards using handloads containing .308" bullets. Never sell those rifles short!

RE: .303 British
 

Great caliber as I used to hunt with them shooting Remington core lokt bullets and it was fantastic on deer and more than enough for bear! Mike

RE: .303 British
 

when i was a kid i traded an old double barrel shotgun to a fellow for a 303 smle. i killed a few deer with the old gun and it performed just fine. as mentioned, there is no telling how many elk, bear, etc. have fallen to the 303 in canada. put the bullet where it is supposed to go and you won't have a problem.

RE: .303 British
 

Most hunters/shooters in Canada(including myself) have been brought up on them the same way Americans are brought up on the Mod94 in 30/30. They are excellent rifles for moose(shot my first moose with one at age 16), deer, bear, elk, and caribou.
My Dad has shot sheep at 400yds with his. You can buy factory cartridges with bullets weighingup to 220grs in size. I highly recommend them. Remember bullet placement. Good luck.

Ron:D

RE: .303 British
 

My three brothers who still live in Ontario and hunt in Northern Ontario still use 303s even though they have a variety of rifles..

Barnes now offers a 150 grain TSX if you consider reloading..

RE: .303 British
 

My uncle Bob, who passed away 3 years ago at the ripe old age of 83, used an Enfield #4 - 303 Brit. He told me he gave something like $15 for it way back when at J.C. Penny's in Little Rock, Ark. and had the kids in the local HS shop "sport" the stock for him for free. I guess he hunted with this rifle for nearly40 years, taking dozens and dozens of deer and several feral hogs.When he turned about 55, he had a gunsmith drill and tap it for scope mounting. His eldest son has the rifle now and it is a real family treasure. Beat to heck and back, but still shoots fine. A special thing to those of us that hunted with Bob, for what seemed like forever, is that he was hunting with us only a week or so before he died. And he killed a 10 pt. buck that weekend that we have since named "Bull Winkle" because it had a thick, stubby, palmated "moose" looking rack.Even set sort of flat.

RE: .303 British
 

Where did you get your aftermarket stuff for your .303 enfield? My father-in-law gave me one a few years ago but the stock is cracked and I need to replace it.

RE: .303 British
 

Midway usa has some. http://www.midwayusa.com/browse/BrowseProducts.aspx?pageNum=1&tabId=9&cate goryId=11419&categoryString=10636***10560***

RE: .303 British
 

I found two really good stocks - one on ebay and the other on cheaper than dirt. They were both being sold well below market value and the one I put on the gun has a nice recoil pad as well - not just a basic stock....

Good luck on finding one you want.

RE: .303 British
 

Great caliber. My father has one and I used it one year, great gun, just watch out for the double safety on some of them, it may causeyou the buck of a lifetime as I found out one year...:D

RE: .303 British
 

The first year I ever hunted I carried one. That thing was heavy for a twelve year old. My father wouldn't trade his336C Marlin 30-30 with me. I got my own thenext year for Christmas.

RE: .303 British
 

i shoot a .303 magnum, i love the gun. its a .303 blown out and necked down from .312 to 308 so you can fire any old 30 cal bullet out of it. you cant ream out your existing chamber to the .303 kanuk magnum like mine but you can ream the chamber out for .303 epps, which is also a nice bullet if you are a die hard .31 cal fan or you want to shoot larger bullets more accurate

RE: .303 British
 

I had an Enfield #4 Mark 1 when I was in the Philippines in 1960. We hunted everything with it including roque water buffalo...............I left itto a good Philipino friend. We use to order all the ammo from Hong Kong.....

I always wished I had kepted it..:D

RE: .303 British
 

just saw this thread. Thinking about fixing my old 303 up with amodern stock and maybe putting a scope back on it and killing a deer with it.