Feeding a 1943 03A3

[lyman]

The military loaded to a certain fps. Every lot of powder was tested, and the load was adjusted to achieve that fps.

Personally I have always loaded just a little lighter than military spec for the military bolt actions and find them much more pleasant to shoot, especially the standard 03 and 03-A3 stock.

true,
however they bought bulk powder, not the canister powder we buy today,

the powder we buy it made to be consistent, so if we use 45 grs of one can the next can should be the same,

military bought bulk powder that would vary a bit from lot to lot,
so todays train load of powder at LC may need 44 grs, the next lot bought may be 45 grns,

[Johnny P]

true,
however they bought bulk powder, not the canister powder we buy today,

the powder we buy it made to be consistent, so if we use 45 grs of one can the next can should be the same,

military bought bulk powder that would vary a bit from lot to lot,
so todays train load of powder at LC may need 44 grs, the next lot bought may be 45 grns,

Notice that I did say lot and not can. Just thought it would be understood that the military bought in bulk.

[Sunray]

You'll save your self a lot of headaches by just reducing the load by 10% and working up. Otherwise an '03A3 is just another bolt action.
IMR4064 gives more consistent accuracy than either of the 4895's with any bullet. It's way better with match bullets.
"...use 45 grs of one can the next can should be the same..." Unless it's a different powder lot. Still isn't different enough to matter except for a match load.
The only company that mucks around with CC's for unknown reasons is Lee. Those daft scoops are calibrated in 'em. CC's are never used for loading anything except syringes.

[fguffey]

The only company that mucks around with CC's for unknown reasons is Lee.

Sunray, My favorite people muck around and or carry hod, one of my favorite songs is "Sick Note" AKA the reason Patty is going to miss work today, tomorrow and all of next month.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sS2ul6zmk7U

I have all three sets of Lee dippers, that includes the yellow, red and black set. In the beginning Lee designed the dipper to be very scientific, the value of his efforts was then and is still lost on reloaders. Lee was paid to develop loads, he measured the loads with dippers and then returned to his shop and measured the dipper load in grains. He threw the scientific part out the window when they used a business card to lever the powder at the top of top of the dipper.

F. Guffey