Sort By
.303 British
.303 British Ammo For Sale - Top Ammo Retailers Available
The .303 British or 7.7×56mmR, is a .303-inch caliber rimmed rifle cartridge first developed in Britain as a black-powder round put into service in December 1888 for the Lee-Metford rifle. In 1891 the cartridge was adapted to use smokeless powder.
In 1891 the cartridge was adapted to use smokeless powder. It was the standard British and Commonwealth military cartridge from 1889 until the 1950s when the 7.62×51mm NATO replaced it. Canadian Ellwood Epps, the founder of Epps Sporting Goods, created an improved version of the .303 British. It has better ballistic performance than the standard .303 British cartridge.
The original .303 British service cartridge employed black powder as a propellant and was adopted for the Lee-Metford rifle, which had rifling designed to lessen fouling from this propellant. The Lee-Metford was used as a trial platform by the British Committee on Explosives to experiment with many different smokeless powders then coming to market, including Ballistite, Cordite, and Rifleite.
About: .303 British
- Type: Rifle
- Place of origin: United Kingdom
- In-service: 1889–present
- Used by: United Kingdom and many other countries
- Produced: 1889–present
Specifications
- Case type: Rimmed, bottleneck
- Bullet diameter: 7.92 mm (0.312 in)
- Neck diameter: 8.64 mm (0.340 in)
- Shoulder diameter: 10.19 mm (0.401 in)
- Base diameter: 11.68 mm (0.460 in)
- Rim diameter: 13.72 mm (0.540 in)
- Rim thickness: 1.63 mm (0.064 in)
- Case length: 56.44 mm (2.222 in)
- Overall length: 78.11 mm (3.075 in)
- Case capacity: 3.64 cm3 (56.2 gr H2O)
- Rifling twist: 254 mm (1-10 in)
- Primer type: Large rifle
- Maximum pressure (C.I.P.): 365.00 MPa (52,939 psi)
- Maximum pressure (SAAMI): 337.84 MPa (49,000 psi)
- Maximum CUP: 45,000 CUP
Ballistic performance
| Bullet mass/type | Velocity | Energy |
|---|---|---|
| 150 gr (10 g) SP | 844 m/s (2,770 ft/s) | 3,463 J (2,554 ft⋅lbf) |
| 174 gr (11 g) HPBT | 761 m/s (2,500 ft/s) | 3,265 J (2,408 ft⋅lbf) |
| 180 gr (12 g) SP | 783 m/s (2,570 ft/s) | 3,574 J (2,636 ft⋅lbf) |
