I've got three full cartons and one nearly full of .303 British. It is old surplus from 1945. Ive got this old sporterized Mark II (maybe) that I'm going to get rid of. I don't have any other guns in this caliber.

When I tried to shoot some of this ammo years ago I had a hangfire. Click and then a pause and then ignition. Dang near scared me to death. Fortunately I exhibited good discipline and keep it pointed down range. I tried a total of five cartridges and two failed to fire at all.

I did shoot a box of S&B modern loading without issue. I put the ugly thing away and forgot about it.

Now I'm downsizing and wonder what to do with this old ammo. I don't feel I can send it off with the rifle , even with a buyer beware warning. I know there are people that collect old ammo and the cartons. But can they be trusted not to shoot it?

I also assume that the bullets could be pulled and re used as well as the brass. Some new powder and primers and good to go, right?

If I dispose of it how do I proceed? Is there Hazmat concerns ?

As you can see from the photo it looks pretty good.

Any thoughts or suggestions appreciated. Thanks

It might be Berdan primed brass which is such a pain to reload that it is hardly worth it. I think all Brit and Indian .303 is Berdan. Canadian may not be. I don't know about Australian.

Odd that it is so unreliable - ammo is normally very stable and will last a very long time. Maybe it got exposed to some really extreme condition or had a bad batch of primers from the start.

Berdan huh? I'm afraid I don't know squat about reloading.

Yea, I was surprised as well. I have some older 30-06 that is wonderful.

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It might be Berdan primed brass

I was thinking the same thing. It would take forever to pull all the bullets, but that's probably the safest solution to getting rid of them.

You could pull the bullets and dump the powder. Somebody would be happy to reload those with new primers and powder.

Powder is pretty innocuous by itself. If you pull the bullets and pour out the powder it will be akin to match heads. It will flare a bit when lit, make some smoke, and fizzle out. If not contained it won't go bang.

Modern powders can be poured onto your landscaping and will provide nutrients, but I don't have enough knowledge about 1940's era powders to recommend it though I expect it won't kill anything.

As far as giving someone the ammo as-is, I think you could make a judgement call based on the person. If they say they reload .303 and want the components, and if they seem intelligent and mature, I don't see a risk. If it is a young buck who might take it out to the range with a bunch of buddies to screw around, nope I wouldn't think it a good risk.

I reload 303.

If someone told me of the issues you had with the ammo, I would just pull the bullets, fertilize the yard with the powder and smash the mouths of the brass with a hammer and throw them in the trash. Then you won’t have to worry about someone else getting hurt.

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Modern powders can be poured onto your landscaping and will provide nutrients, but I don't have enough knowledge about 1940's era powders to recommend it though I expect it won't kill anything.

Pretty sure the Brits were still using cordite in their powder throughout WWII. Wikipedia says they stopped in 1945. Whether that means anything or not, I don’t know.

If you don’t have a bullet puller then Soaking ammo in a container of solvent or oil can soak in and ruin the primer and powder.

A 50/50 mix of Acetone and Transmission Fluid makes a very good penetrating oil.
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I'd sell it to an old ammo dealer. There is one who frequents the Orlando Gunshow and always has old stuff, including some marked NOT SAFE TO SHOOT. This stuff is for collectors, or those who want to pull the bullets, etc.

I had some bad ammo . I threw it in a pond .

quote:

When I tried to shoot some of this ammo years ago I had a hangfire. Click and then a pause and then ignition. Dang near scared me to death. Fortunately I exhibited good discipline and keep it pointed down range. I tried a total of five cartridges and two failed to fire at all.

It is obviously unsafe to shoot, and who knows, the next one might lodge a bullet in your barrel or even detonate and blow up. Unless you want to salvage the bullets or brass (noting that Berdan primers can't be removed without special equipment), shit-can it.

The 303 back then could of been boxer or berdan primed. Could tell by pulling the bullet, dumping the powder and looking inside if have one or two primer firing holes in the base of the case.

Would probably give it to someone who is interested in taking the rounds apart and reloading them.

If you don't have an interest in pulling the bullets for your use, then either sell it to an ammo dealer, or just throw it in your garbage. There is no need to pull bullets, soak in solvent, etc. Ammo is safe to put in the trash. Even if it did somehow "pop off", it is not dangerous as no pressure builds if the cartridge is not in the chamber of a barrel.

It is loaded with cordite.
The "powder" is comprised of long sticks.
Unless you want to set and pull them out with tweezers until they come loose, find an old ammo collector or just pull the bullets and dump the rest in the trash.

bI like the Guys solution of throwing it in a pond. Maybe not the best for the environment, but more fun. Gawd, southerners have good solutions to things.

I see several guys at the gun shows that have collections of old ammo to include military ammo. They want serious money for their stuff as well. I'll bet they would make an offer on all of your old ammo.

Yes it's going to be cordite. You can tap, shake them out.

I ended up with a rubbermaid container full of flammable spaghetti from a couple boxes of hang fire 303 someone dumped on me when I worked at the range.

The Brits used some really antiquated ammunition manufacturing practices for the .303, long past when they should have modernized. If that stuff hang-fired on you, it's likely loaded with cordite and corrosive Berdan primed. Most of the stuff I got was not only Berdan primed, but the primers were also significantly larger in diameter than modern primers, so even if you wanted to deal with reloading Berdan primers, good luck finding any that would fit.

My son and I pulled all the bullets, dumped the cordite, kept the usable brass, and chucked the rest. He made a volcano out of clay for a class project, and we packed it full of cordite and lit it on fire...that was pretty cool. There was enough cordite to do it multiple times, too.

If, by chance, those are boxer primed, you have a gold mine on your hands, as .303 brass is dang hard to find these days.

MkVII was always Berdan-primed and Cordite loaded.

Please read - 'Military surplus .303 British ammunition that may be available often has corrosive primers, given the mass manufacture of the cartridge predates Commonwealth adoption of non-corrosive primers concurrent with the adoption of 7.62 NATO in 1954. There is no problem with using ammunition loaded with corrosive primers, provided that the gun is thoroughly cleaned after use to remove the corrosive salts. The safe method for all shooters of military surplus ammunition is to assume the cartridge is corrosively primed unless certain otherwise.'

All British-made military brass until the Lithuanian contract stuff started appearing [GGG-branded], was Berdan-primed, including all 7.62x51 of all kinds.

Could be just me or the angle of the picture but is that rim angled as all go get?

I too am of the mindset just to toss it in the pond.