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Cartridge question INFO ADDED
bpost
Member Posts: 32,664 ✭✭✭✭
It LOOKS like a 303 British. The problem I have is the shoulder looks steep and short according to the drawings. The case length is right the head is a few thousandths small and the bullet is .3115. Is there another cartridge very close to the 303 British I should look at?
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The head stamp is POF with a 7 and a 99
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The head stamp is POF with a 7 and a 99
Comments
What's the headstamp look like?
There are a variety of .303 improved rounds with more abrupt necks to increase powder capacity, but doubt you'd run into one if in a Berdan primed case.
With a steeper neck and usually a 3 point deep crimp around the neck.
http://cartridgecollectors.org/?page=headstampcodes
POF ammo is known for quality issues. Hangfires a lot. I'd not be surprised that a round got out with a messed up neck.
If it was a boxer primed case, I'd think it was an improved cartridge, but as it sits, I think it's probably just a screw up.
Pakistan was as a part of Britain's Indian Empire until about 1947 when Pakistan was made an independent nation. The Indian Empire was armed by the British for many decades and there are plenty of Enfield rifles in use in this part of the world still. The POF arsenal started production in about 1959 and still produces Pakistan's ammunition at Wah Cantt.
I have a single cartridge like this in my cartridge collection with the same headstamp left over from a box of 20 which I purchased at a gun show. These were imported as Pakistan surplus into the country about 10 years ago. The cartridges were dirty and corrosive and looked terrible. I was going to shoot them out of my Enfield No. 5 Mark 1 but decided not. I think I threw them all out except for the one I kept. They must have made millions of them.
It wouldn't surprise me if the dimensions of these cartridges were out of tolerance by wide margins from the looks of them.
Best,
Heavyiron