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HXP 1970's in bandoliers... |
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bubba ho tep 
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Joined: June 19 2017 Location: KY abode Status: Offline Points: 290 |
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 Posted: April 17 2025 at 6:25pm |
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Sadly the profiteers have smelled this too...as you note.
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britrifles
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Posted: April 17 2025 at 6:47pm |
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I won’t buy it for $1.00/round. You can make your own ammo for less and it is much more accurate (4 MOA for HXP and 1.5 MOA for handloads). For shot out barrels, it probably makes no difference what ammo you use.
I”ll shoot another 10 rounds tomorrow and see how it does. |
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Sapper740
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Posted: April 18 2025 at 5:18am |
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^^^^This^^^^ SG Ammo sales in Oklahoma has Prvi Partizan 174gr. .303 British ammunition for $1.25/round with free shipping over $200. Those of us who reload the price is much lower. A few might buy the spam cans at a higher price for the novelty of it all but that would be a limited market.
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bubba ho tep
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Posted: April 18 2025 at 9:12am |
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Exactly. I have reloaded 303 for 44 years. I have even experimented with using 308 bullets in 303 if supply became an issue with 311 bullets. Still has minute of man with 308 bullets. Anyhow the bandos and chargers are nice , but over $1 round kinda makes it hard to go there , but the bandos and chargers for now do make it worth the novelty for now.
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britrifles
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Posted: April 18 2025 at 10:38am |
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I had planned to shoot a bit more of the HXP today, but found the TMP range closed for the junior Olympics this week, ugh! Serves me right for not checking their calendar.
I just deprimed the ten cases I fired last weekend and found one with a cracked neck. Another strike against getting any more. I do anneal the necks on every reload, so hopefully the ones that are not cracked after the first firing will get a decent number or reloads on them. |
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bubba ho tep
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Posted: April 18 2025 at 4:15pm |
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For me winchester brass has always been on the thin side and the brass most likely to have a case head separation excepting the ww2 era WRA brass. Never have had an issue with HXP until about the fifth reload...gets too thin for even annealing to help it.
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Neuraleanus
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Posted: April 19 2025 at 7:53am |
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Yup. Just saw single bandoliers of HXP at a local gun show going for $115 each. |
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Vivimus et morimur pollice verso
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bubba ho tep
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Posted: April 20 2025 at 5:09am |
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britrifles
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Posted: April 20 2025 at 5:40am |
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This lot of brass seems quite heavy (HXP ‘71). I weighed 10 fired cases that were deprimed: Min 179.7 gr Max 187.5 gr Mean 182.4 gr Compare that to RP with a mean of just 160.8 gr. Sample of 10 PPU cases 171.0 gr. This HXP is the heaviest .303 brass I’ve seen. |
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britrifles
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Posted: April 25 2025 at 4:04pm |
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Shot another 10 rounds of HXP ‘71 today at 200 yards. Much the same results as previously posted above.
MV = 2537 fps ES = 90 fps SD = 25 fps 10 shot group size 7.25” (3.6 MOA) center to center extreme spread at 200 yards. Again, not bad for 1970’s surplus ball ammo.  I also shot 10 rounds of Canadian Dominion Arsenal 1951 Mk 7z. This ammunition remains quite accurate even after more than 70 years since production, it is also on spec for muzzle velocity: MV = 2428 fps ES = 60 fps SD = 17 fps 10 round group at 200 yds = 7.0” C-C (3.5 MOA). Discounting the one flier on the left, the group is right at 2 MOA. Note, I was shooting for groups, not for score. This would have been a 99 with a 2 minute correction to the rear sight height.  |
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bubba ho tep
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Posted: May 16 2025 at 12:58pm |
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Last saturday a buddy came over with his BSA made Lewis. We put the better part of two cans of that HXP and a couple hundred privi partisan ball rounds through it. Worked flawlessly after we dialed in it's timing/fuzee spring. We had not shot that gun in almost 11 years...was a load of fun !.
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Sapper740
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Posted: May 17 2025 at 3:45am |
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My experience with the current batch of HXP, all 1971 dated and from the same bandolier: I shot several 100 yard 5 shot groups through 3 different rifles yesterday, a Fulton Regulated BSA No.1 Mk III, a Home Guard Ross MkIII, and a Long Branch to see how accurate the ammunition was and to check velocities. Temperature was 83 F., humidity 63%, and elevation 0f 594' asl. Wind was 7-8 mph from 12 o'clock. |
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britrifles
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Posted: May 17 2025 at 1:39pm |
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You’re getting similar muzzle velocities that I got, nearly 100 fps faster than Mk 7 specification. Could be from deteriorating powder, seems odd HXP would load them this fast.
5 shot groups won’t really tell you much about the ES and SD (unless it’s very good!). Velocity variations you measured between the No. 1 and No.4 are likely all related to the large MV variations of individual rounds of this ammo. I wouldn’t think even 2550 fps would cause a pierced primer. Cups may have hardened over time and become brittle, tho I didn’t experience it in the 20 rounds I fired. I did have some old SP primers crack, it eroded bolt face on my C96 Mauser before I realized the primers were cracking. I’m glad I didn’t buy any more of this ammo, sure as heck would not pay $100 for a single bandolier. |
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Leo303
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Posted: July 04 2025 at 10:23am |
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Hi All,
I purchase some of the Greek surplus .303 Mk 7Z (Lot 47 HPX-75.) The ammo feeds normal, but after firing extraction is VERY difficult!! (Using a MK 4 1/3 sporterized.) There is a 'sticky feeling to the cases, so I tried cleaning the cases with soapy water and a sponge - no joy, same difficult extraction. Next I cleaned the cases with Hoppys #9 and a cleaning patch - no joy, same problem. On a different website someone speculated the might be sealed with spray-on lacquer. Any suggestion????? R/ Leo303
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Leo
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Strangely Brown
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Posted: July 05 2025 at 3:33am |
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That perfectly describes the South African surplus that was floating around some 20 years ago in the UK; I bought 1100 rounds of the stuff because that's how it came packed in wooden cases. My first outing with it was a huge disappointment and I mentioned it to a gun shop owner I was shooting with at he time, he examined it and told me to break the seal between case and bullet which I did, after that it the accuracy improved to the level of the HXP which was starting to get difficult to find in the UK. Leo I've bought various years of HXP but none of it came varnished and all of it has behaved well in various rifles; can I ask you what the date on the headstamp is please?
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Mick
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britrifles
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Posted: July 05 2025 at 4:01am |
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I have read a few others have experienced extraction problems.
Could this be related to the high muzzle velocities we have seen (from high chamber pressure)? I like the idea of breaking the bullet tar seal. Now I can’t remember if I did that when I fired the 20 rounds of HXP ‘71. But, I did not have extraction problems. Try cleaning the chamber really well, with a bronze chamber brush using a chamber rod. Then wrap a patch damp with Hoppes around the brush. Then dry with clean patches. |
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britrifles wrote:
ammunition and rifles I've experience both incipient and actual head separations from handloads but never a pierced primer.