.303 British

E713953

The .303 British is a rimmed rifle cartridge that served as the standard service round of the British Empire and Commonwealth forces through both World Wars.

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Statements (53)

Predicate Object
instanceOf firearm cartridge
rifle cartridge
alsoKnownAs .303
.303 British Service NERFINISHED
baseDiameter 11.7 mm
bulletDiameter 0.312 inch
7.9 mm
cartridgeType bottleneck
rimmed
caseLength 56.4 mm
caseType rimmed, bottleneck
countryOfOrigin United Kingdom
currentUse civilian sporting
historical and vintage shooting
hunting
designedBy British War Office NERFINISHED
designedFor bolt-action rifles
machine guns
introduced 1888
militaryDesignation Cartridge, S.A., Ball, .303-inch
neckDiameter 8.6 mm
notableFeature long military service life
widespread use across the British Empire
overallLength 78.1 mm
propellant later cordite
later smokeless powder
originally black powder
rimDiameter 13.7 mm
serviceEntryDate late 1880s
shoulderDiameter 10.2 mm
standardBulletWeight 174 grains
215 grains
standardServiceRoundOf British Army NERFINISHED
British Empire forces NERFINISHED
Commonwealth forces NERFINISHED
status obsolete as a standard military cartridge
typicalMuzzleEnergy around 2100 ft⋅lbf
around 2900 J
typicalMuzzleVelocity approximately 2440 ft/s
approximately 744 m/s
usedInConflict Korean War
Second Boer War NERFINISHED
World War I
World War II
various colonial conflicts
usedInFirearm Besa machine gun (early British version) NERFINISHED
Bren light machine gun NERFINISHED
Lee–Enfield rifle NERFINISHED
Lee–Metford rifle NERFINISHED
Lewis gun NERFINISHED
Pattern 1914 Enfield rifle NERFINISHED
Vickers machine gun NERFINISHED
various aircraft machine guns

Referenced by (6)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Bren light machine gun cartridge .303 British
Lee–Enfield rifle cartridge .303 British
Lewis gun cartridge .303 British
Maxim gun typicalCaliber .303 British