Discussion Forums

LR S

Hi everyone,
I'm about to buy an all matching SMLE at a very low price. So far, so good.
The downside of that rifle is its bore (ain't all that surprising for a rifle this old), there's basically no rifling at the muzzle anymore and it's keyholing at 15-20 meters already - but it still somehow does decent groups. Ive shot factory (S&B) and reloaded ammunition through it, got the same results on target with both.

> What kind of terminal ballistics can I expect from a keyholing 303 SP/FMJ on medium sized game (boars) at short to very short range (dense woods)?

I gathered from my readings that a bullet tumbling shortly after impact can have dramatic effects and achieve good penetration but I've never read about bullets tumbling beforehand, mid-air... can I expect just as good or maybe marginally better performances? How likely would it be for the bullet to be deflected and exit the game early on at a weird angle, therefore having little effect on the game (compared to a normally stabilized bullet)?

I'd be very glad to use that rifle for hunting as-is, without having to counterbore or rebarrel it, even if it means that Ill have to limit the range of my shots