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Winchester 748 ball powder |
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Canuck 
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 Topic: Winchester 748 ball powderPosted: February 13 2026 at 8:54am |
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I came into possession of a few still sealed pounds of Winchester 748 ball powder for next to free. I've been looking on the internet to try and find load data for 303 British but can't find anything yet. My loading manuals go back to the mid-70's and I find nothing there either. Have any of you guys loaded that powder for 303? If so, what data have you used? Thx!
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Castles made of sand slip into the sea.....eventually
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britrifles
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Posted: February 13 2026 at 11:16am |
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I’ve not used that powder, but there is load data for W748 for similar cartridges like the .308 Win for bullet weights from 125 to 215 gr. I don’t know why there is no data for .303 but it should be suitable for that cartridge.
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Canuck
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Posted: February 13 2026 at 11:42am |
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Britrifles, that does make sense. I'll try a load with it.
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Castles made of sand slip into the sea.....eventually
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Shamu
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Posted: February 13 2026 at 11:53am |
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I've never tried 748 ball, but I did try H335, which rumors say is whats currently marketed as 748 Ball. It was a bad experience. I don't know why but I had incomplete burns, click-bangs & FTF.  Because of that I'd be very cautious. I can't find any reference to 748BR in the .303 either, maybe that's why?  |
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Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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Canuck
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Posted: February 13 2026 at 1:26pm |
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After reading what you guys said, I think I will hold off loading with 748. I also came into a pound of sealed RL15 I know there is data for. These powders I found at a friend's father's house while helping him move his deceased dad's stuff out.
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Castles made of sand slip into the sea.....eventually
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britrifles
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Posted: February 13 2026 at 2:33pm |
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Re15 is a great powder for the .303. I had some of my best groups with it.
Might be that W748 needs a magnum primer? Can’t imagine what is so special about the .303 when it works just fine in the .308 Win. But, not having any published load data makes me give pause…
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Shamu
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Posted: February 13 2026 at 4:10pm |
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I got the feeling that it NEEDED the higher pressure of the 7.62 to really "run"!
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Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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britrifles
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Posted: February 13 2026 at 4:52pm |
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Double base powders are harder to ignite, and that may have been the issue you had Chaz. Especially true in cold temps. Magnum primers should help with that. 7.62 military spec primers are of “magnum” strength.
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Shamu
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Posted: February 14 2026 at 12:18pm |
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It could be. The powder lit & burned fine with CCI 200 primers in my 7.62. |
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Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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Canuck
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Posted: February 14 2026 at 12:53pm |
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I'll use it in my DCRA loads when the need arises. That, plus the loadings you guys showed me.
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Castles made of sand slip into the sea.....eventually
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Irish Blonde
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Posted: February 15 2026 at 9:03am |
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I think a guy would be set for life for the 303B if he only used RL15 & Varget! Lol
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Sapper740
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Posted: February 16 2026 at 3:17am |
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I've only recently experimented with three powders when handloading the .303 British: Varget, BL-(C)2, and H335. No powder is more reliable than Varget for producing satisfactory accuracy although I have had some good results from BL-(C)2.
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britrifles
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Posted: February 16 2026 at 4:23am |
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Chaz, I wonder if you had some bad primers with your H335 loads? How many rounds of this load did you fire and how many failed to ignite?
I happened to be going thru one of my old Lyman Reloading Handbooks and here is what it said about H335: “Loads should be worked up with extreme caution as pressures tend to take large jumps suddenly. Ignition problems were encountered with guns with light firing pin falls. In such guns pressures were extremely erratic.” Might be a weak striker spring or dragging striker? One other possibility could be the load density was too low for reliable burn. Some powders do not behave well with low load densities in the case (I.e. too much air space). Obviously, you did the right thing and did not use this powder again. |
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Shamu
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Posted: February 16 2026 at 10:24am |
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The striker spring tests a s good for both pensioned & relaxed conditions from the manuals. I know the primers were working with other powders, both before & after. So I think we can eliminate that. The powder was also working fine (& so were the same CCI #200 primers in 7.62 loads) so its not "bad" powder. I tried charges from 38.2 to 41.7Gr & all had the same erratic firing. probably on in 10 so I think you're right its just not a suitable powder for the cartridge.
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Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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SW28fan
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Posted: February 16 2026 at 3:57pm |
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Here is a link to Steve's reloading data page. It is a collation of reloading data:
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Have a Nice Day
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Canuck
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Posted: February 16 2026 at 6:47pm |
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748 is listed there. What a fantastic resource! THX!
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Castles made of sand slip into the sea.....eventually
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