303 British / 12 GA Combo for Commonwealth Nations

[WILD_WEASEL]

I just retuned from a business trip to Ottawa, Canada, looking around a few of the more popular sporting good stores along with checking out the ammo counter at a WalMart near the hotel turned out slim pickings.  In Canada you have to present a permit for the gun you own and can only buy ammo for that gun.  WalMart was interesting because they stocked a lot of 303 British ammo with the boxes printed in both English and French.  They also stocked all sorts of 12 ga.  So, a Handi Combo with 303 British and a 3 inch 12 ga with interchangeable chokes would be very practical on several fronts.  1)  The permit process would possibly give you two guns for the paperwork of one.  2)  Ammo for both guns is readily available.  3)  I'd buy a set in a heart beat!

[gstewart44]

Has anyone here rechambered a Handi in 303 Brit?  If so what was your starting chambering?

[Fred M]

Well that is not how it works, at least not where I live. You have to have a valid FAC ore a PAL. Firearms acquisition/possesion Certificate with that you can buy any ammo.
 
To get a certificate you have to pass a written and oral test and have a background  check by the police. That is supposed to prevent criminals from obtaining guns and to make sure you know how to handle a firearm.

Courses are given and take three evenings and extra day for handguns. The course deals mostly in firearms safety and is very good even for us old timers.

Your firearms are not listed on the certificate. Yes we do have two official languages.

[Fred M]

Has anyone here rechambered a Handi in 303 Brit?  If so what was your starting chambering?

There are no factory barrel with a .311-.312 bore except the Russian 7.62 x39. Other wise it is a rebore job from a 223 or what ever is suitable. If yo have a good 303 barrel a stub in could be done. The 303 is a good deer/moose rifle. Very well liked in eastern Canada and by the natives.

[WILD_WEASEL]

Fred,

Thanks for sorting me out.  Since H&R, now Remington, seams willing to creat specialty combo outfits that cater to regional hunting regulations here in the Lower 48, I'd think there would be enough demand for a Canadian Combo in 303/12ga.  Once in production they would hopefully be available down here.

[Jacko]

A .303 / 12 gauge smoothbore combination holds a lot of appeal for me down here in Australia as well - I would buy that combo in a heartbeat . My current .303 is a collector and I know I will be really annoyed with myself the day I ding up the stock out bush .

My 12 gauge does not have screw in chokes and I have been wishing the 357 mag / 44 mag combo was available in a 12 guage smoothbore with screw in chokes so I could have the versatility of fitting a rifled choke for solid slugs if need be in case a bigger beastie than the pistol round will reliably take is about . The accesory barrel deal is not available down here , you Yanks  have it made .

I am going down the local gun shop after work today to check if customs has released the new Handi rifle shipment , last I checked it had sat there for several weeks already . If it's at the distributors I will order a 357 Handi , get my permit to aquire a firearm which intails police checks on my suitability as a firearm owner despite the fact I have proved years ago I am a superiour citizen when I jumped through hoops to get my firearms licence . Then there is a delay of several weeks as the permit is processed and a cooling off period is enforced , then a raft of paperwork registering my new firearm after I pay for it and hopefully by march I will be enjoying my new rifle .

regards Jacko

[351 power]

i almost grabbed the phone to call a dealer when i read the title to this thread. just the .303 would make me happy

[WILD_WEASEL]

Jacko,

What part of Australia are you in?  My last trip to Sydney I had a chance to visit a couple gun shops and a surplus store on George St.  Also picked up some local gun magazines (reading) on my trips down your way, great articles on surplus guns and cooking bush meat! 

[petemi]

It is sad, but true, you Brits, Canadians and Aussies are a little farther down the road than we Yanks are, but it is about time ALL of us acted together to get our basic gun rights back.  The governments are OUR governments and are supposed to act in OUR behalf.  We need to stand up and make them DO IT.  If we don't, we're all going to be disarmed.

Hey, mates down under, have ya got a spot we can export Obama to before it gets any worse???  Any of the scenic old prison colony sites still available???

Still hanging onto my guns,

Pete

[Jimbo47]

Jacko quote:  The accesory barrel deal is not available down here , you Yanks   have it made .

Only reason we have it made is because of the continued sacrifices of our brave American fighting men who are willing to put their lives on the line for our freedoms and what we believe in.

God help us the day that they take even a little bit of that freedom away!

They are working on it, to try and take these freedoms away, and the new administration even with all the other more pressing issues have this at the top of their agenda.

I just hope we still have what it takes to stand up and reject whatever they have to throw our way, in the memory of those who fought and died for these rights!

I apologize for getting this thread off track, but I feel strongly about this and when I read how you guys have to dance around all the rules and regulations I really feel for your predicament, and knowing that there are those who wish that, and more on our citizens.

[Stan in SC]

As much as I like .303British,the problem would probably be the same thing that killed the 7.62X39 barrel.The hard military primers.

Stan

[Jimbo47]

That would only be the case with military surplus ammo, whereas most of the .303 ammo is redily available and manufactured just like any of the standard ammo using the softer primers.

Shooting the cheap surplus stuff is a gamble anyway you look at it and it's corrossive primers make it less attractive as well.

I've got an old Enfield .303 I've had for over 40 years, (never shot surplus ammo in it) and I'd buy one in a Handi rifle in a heartbeat!

[Rustyinfla]

   I don't think the hard primers on .303's would be as big a problem as they would with the 7.62X39. I think the fact that the .303 is rimmed would off set the hard primers. With the rim it would offer a sharper resistance than the shoulder of the cartridge.

[Fred M]

Most all GI 303 ammo has Berdan primers with two flash holes.
I never thought they were hard? We used to remove the the GI bullets and replace them with soft point hunting ammo for hunting.

At one time 303 ammo was easy to come by and plentiful when you belonged the the reserve army rifle club.
303 and 9mm ammo was free for range use. Even rifles and the p-35 were provided at the range if you did not have your own.

Now we don't even have the ranges anymore and the army base is gone too. The natives reclaimed their land and let it go to pots.
The 303 is a fine battle rifle I had several of them including a Mk5 the jungle carbine. Here is a MK5 I remodeled with a one piece stock.

[Jacko]

I love the way a chat about a .303 / 12 gauge combo drifts to gun control and exporting Obama to a penal colony .

Completly off topic sorry to highjack but someone did mention gun control - I am pretty disgusted with your GW given our EX prime minister the highest civilian award your country has , can't imagine you folks would agree with it either . This is the man that introduced the droconian firearms legislation that took our pump action shotguns , all semi auto rifles and shotguns and tied hunting and target shooting up into endless red tape then too rub salt into our wounds turned up at a peacefull rally wearing a flack jacket so the mindless media would run with the grave threat law abiding shooters posed . The man who told a lie about children being thrown from refugee boats in Australian waters to gain politic milage and introduced legislation aimed at taking workers rights away like leave , fair pay etc from Aussie battlers amoungst a raft of things you do not want me on my soapbox about .



Stand up and fight the politically correct anti's that want to disarm you - the buggers need a dose of reality .

Wild Weasel I live in Queensland , 40 kilometres north of Brisbane , would you believe bush tucker has not been appreciated and the majority of hunters here shoot our pigs , goats etc [ culling ] and leave them to rot , pigs can be a problem to eat as much of the land they live on is poor and carrion even in a reasonable season is part of their diet , thousands of tons of wild pig is exported to europe though and they love it . Aussie's are slowly coming around to eating goats and pigs as the popularity of recipes in our shooting magazines shows . Deer are highly regarded and rarely wasted .

Fred how did you fit a one piece stock to a Jungle Carbine ?

Still love that .303 / 12 gauge combo idea though , perhaps a .303 case necked down to 7.62 [ .308 ] would be a cheaper rechamber .

regards Jacko

[petemi]

Fred, that .303 is a beautiful old gal!!!!

Pete

[WILD_WEASEL]

Guys,

Sorry to bring this thread back on back on topic, but as I pointed out, if H&R/Remington is willing to manufacture Handi Combos that cater to specific regional hunting regulation there is no reason that the same could not be done for Commonwealth Nations and discerning US customers.

I recall Ruger made a run of Security Sixes twenty some years ago chambered in 38/200 (.380) for India, so this is not without president.  I recently picked up several boxes of .380 (38/200) that was from the lot Ruger used for testing.  Heck, these would even be popular in Africa.