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HXP 1970's in bandoliers... |
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britrifles 
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Joined: February 03 2018 Location: Georgia, USA Status: Offline Points: 8404 |
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 Posted: April 11 2025 at 7:26am |
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Found my one box of HXP ‘87, L1A1. Case heads are stamped HXP 86. I bought these about 30 years ago from Century Arms for $16.99 ($0.35 a round). Thought that was a lot of money back then.
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Strangely Brown
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Joined: April 05 2022 Location: Wiltshire Status: Offline Points: 645 |
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Posted: April 11 2025 at 7:57am |
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[QUOTE=britrifles]Found my one box of HXP ‘87.
Packaged in 48's! Those are the boxes we were buying it in the UK during the late 90's and early 00's. Most of what I bought were 75 manufacture, ironically I'm in the middle of reloading some once fired 89 at the moment.
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Mick
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Sapper740
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Posted: April 11 2025 at 3:14pm |
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My HXP ammo arrived today, I was pleased to see that 3 of the 4 cans were the same lot.
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Strangely Brown
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Posted: April 12 2025 at 2:51am |
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The big question from me is; where the he!! has this stuff been hiding for the last twenty years?
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Mick
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britrifles
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Posted: April 12 2025 at 3:02am |
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Yes, and I wonder how much they have?
I see the price has ticked up a bit again. Would rather not buy any more until I shoot some of it and see how it does. |
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bubba ho tep
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Posted: April 12 2025 at 6:50am |
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I just bought my fifth can - this time at $242. My first four were $220 - I split two with my son. All were HXP 71 with one can HXP 75. You just - well they dont make it anymore and at that price even the chargers & bandoliers make it worth it alone.
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Doco Overboard
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Posted: April 12 2025 at 3:24pm |
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I opened a can and was looking at the way the rounds were loaded into the chargers just from from one bando. I noticed there was no standard pattern for how the rims were stacked against one another. Some of them were, one right on top of the next up to the last one ascending. Others, were last two on top one in between bottomed etc. Was pretty interesting to me inspecting it. I'm not suspecting any problems for how it feeds when I cram a charger or two into my rifle though. |
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A square 10
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Posted: April 12 2025 at 4:58pm |
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i have not bought any surplus ammo in a decade or so im pleased to see your still finding it , i did buy a lot back when and im still shooting it , i suspect my son will be shooting it when im gone ,
ive been hearing the prices of ammp are going to go up again in coming months because of the rare earth metals that go into them , we shall see , im happy i have my supplies
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Sapper740
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Posted: April 12 2025 at 6:04pm |
I noticed that about the haphazard placing of the rims too Doco and that there were two distinct types of bandoliers: green or brown colored and some with RG (Radway Green?) stamped on them.
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Strangely Brown
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Posted: April 13 2025 at 2:33am |
I'd forgotten that! From memory a few of the bandoleers found amongst the HXP over here were dated 1918. The majority were the light cotton green versions which I assume were made specifically for the HXP.
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Mick
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britrifles
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Posted: April 13 2025 at 2:27pm |
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I was able to get to the range today to test some of the HXP ‘71 Mk 7z I bought from Max Arms. Below are the results, along with a comparison to my Match handloads and also Canadian 1943 Defense Industries Mk 7z.
Garmin XERO Chrono results below along with group size and score. Temp was 65 deg, clear, winds at 12 O’Clock at 3-5 mph.
 The tests were all done in the prone position, with sling, at 200 yards. Shot out of my 1944 Long Branch Mk 1/3 with CBI barrel, now at around 600 rounds total. Standard Mk 1 aperture sight. I did not change rear sight elevation settings during this shoot and held the same sight picture. MV - Mean Velocity at muzzle ES - Extreme Spread of Muzzle Velocity (max - min) SD - Standard Deviation of Muzzle Velocity (Normal Distribution) C-C - Center to Center spread between extreme shots in group (MOA) Score - score on US NRA Short Range Target I did not take any fouling or warm up shots, the first group was with my Match Loads: PPU Case WLR Primer 40.0 gr Varget (charges thrown direct from measure into case) 174 gr Sierra MatchKing 3.05” OAL Here is the results with Group #1, the above Match Load. Shot #2 was my fault, poor sight picture, held too high, just slipped out of the 10 ring, a 9.9.  The second group, the Canadian WWII 1943 Mk 7z. No issues at all with this ammo, it is still 100% reliable ignition. It is Boxer primed and good brass for reloading.  And last, the HXP 1971 Mk 7z. Also reliable ignition, easy extraction despite the rather high muzzle velocity.  The HXP did better than I thought it would. With a front sight correction, it should hold the 10 ring. The DI’43 did worse than I expected. The last time I shot this ammo it was grouping at around 2.5 MOA, but this may have been a different lot. This CBI barrel seems to run a bit fast compared to the original barrels. They are fairly tight, and much smoother too, which may be the reason. I’ve learned that these barrels do like a bit of fouling, the velocity spreads and SD’s settle down nicely after about 10 shots, typically single digit SD’s. Conclusion Although this was just 10 rounds, the HXP ammo performed well. Reliable ignition, easy extraction, decent accuracy. A bit hot though, velocity was almost 100 fps above Mk 7 ball specification of 2440 fps. I suspect it will run quite a bit slower in worn surplus barrels due to gas blow by. |
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Shamu
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Posted: April 13 2025 at 2:51pm |
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I like the HXP. I wish I had more of it, but went with the PPU when it vanished. I have probably a lifetime supply of the PPU from back when it was inexpensive & reloadable.
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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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Neuraleanus
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Posted: April 13 2025 at 4:49pm |
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Today I shot 50 rounds of 1975 HXP today from a couple of my No 1, Mk III rifles. My grouping wasn't as good as yours, but that is likely more me than the ammo. It shot well and the only minor issue I had was with occasional cartridge sticking making me have to pull back on the bolt a bit harder.
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Vivimus et morimur pollice verso
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britrifles
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Posted: April 13 2025 at 6:37pm |
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I’ve read in the Max Arms website comments that some have had the issue of cases hard to extract. I only shot 10 rounds, and no issues at all with extraction. Chamber condition may play a factor here, I’m shooting from a new barrel.
Excluding the one poorly aimed shot, my match loads grouped at less than 1.5 MOA. The HXP grouped at just under 4 MOA, but I suspect there will be more variability with this ammo, perhaps 4 MOA was on the high side. Next time I’m out, I’ll shoot another 10 rounds and add the results here. |
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bubba ho tep
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Posted: April 17 2025 at 5:55am |
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It's presently $263 at Max Arms now....they must be on the last few cans with their nearly weekly $20 bumps per can.
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Sapper740
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Posted: April 17 2025 at 11:52am |
Watch for cans to go on Gunbroker for sale at north of $300 when Max Arms runs out.
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Doco Overboard wrote: