303 British Ballistics and Cartridge Guide

What was once feared on the battlefield during several wars is now used for hunting purposes across the world. The 303 British and the Lee Enfield rifles that they were fired in are the subject of this article.

The cartridge itself has a rimmed, bottleneck case that dates all the way back to 1888. At first it was a black powder cartridge, but transitioned fairly early on to utilize smokeless powder in 1891.

The 303 British stayed in service until 1954, and was eventually phased out for a more modern cartridge, the 7.62X51 NATO.

303 Brit Rifles:

I urge caution when purchasing a surplus Lee Enfield rifle. I’ve shot some sporterized rifles (meaning that they were changed and de-militarized with a shortened barrel) that were off target at 50 yards during sight in, only to find later that the barrels were messed up.

To my knowledge, there aren’t any modern 303 British rifles being made, periodically Ruger manufactures the Ruger No 1 in 303 British, but I can’t remember the last time that happened.

Some of the original Lee Enfields can be worth a considerable amount of money depending on what you have and the markings. That goes outside the scope of this article.

303 British Ballistics Charts:

This 303 British ballistic chart shows 150 grain Interlock Soft Points from Hornady:

This 303 British ballistics chart shows 180 grain Federal Premium PowerShok:

The 303 British is a popular enough cartridge with plenty of surplus and used rifles out there in the United States to ensure that it won’t be going anywhere any time soon.

For more cartridges, check out our main rifle ballistics chart next.