.303 inch Practice - Other
India, Canada and new Zealand all developed several marks of practice ammunition prior to World War One, all based on light bullets reloaded into used ball cases.
Canada
A Canadian officer, Majot Gaudet, developed a practice round based on a lead bullet reloaded into a used ball case which was adopted and developed in three marks.
Gallery Practice Mark I Powder
"Cartridge Gallery Practice .303 inch Mark I (Powder) Canadian Pattern" was approved about 1902 for service in Canada.
It utilised a ball case loaded with a 90 grain lead bullet. Both British and Canadian made cases were used and headstamps could be any ball ammunition of the period.
The propellant was 9 grains of fine black powder with a wad held in place by a neck cannelure in the case.
Velocity is not known.
Gallery Practice Mark I Smokeless
"Cartridge Gallery Practice .303 inch Mark I (Smokeless) Canadian Pattern" was approved about 1905 for service in Canada.
It utilised a ball case loaded with a 90 grain lead bullet. Mainly Canadian made cases were used and headstamps were from Ball Mark II cases.
The propellant was 6 grains of smokeless powder and there was no neck cannelure in the case.
Velocity is not known.
Gallery Practice Mark II Smokeless
"Cartridge Gallery Practice .303 inch Mark II (Smokeless) Canadian Pattern" was approved about 1908 for service in Canada.
It utilised a ball case loaded with a heavier 125 grain lead bullet with one external cannelure. Both British and Canadian made cases were used and early examples had headstamps from Ball cases of the period, sometimes cancelled by ring stamp. Later cases were specially made and were headstamped "GP-B", indicating "Gallery Practice - Ball".
The propellant was about 5 1/2 grains of smokeless powder and there was no neck cannelure in the case.
Velocity is not known.
India
India produced three marks of Practice ammunition, two with lead bullets and one jacketed..
Short Range Mark I
"Cartridge S.A. Ball Short Range Practice India Pattern Mark I and I*" were approved in August 1903 and shown in Indian Army LoC Paragraph 4943. The difference between Mark I and I* is not known.
The case was a reloaded ball case with the headstamp cancelled by ring stamp. The case was blackened.
The bullet was round nosed and made of a lead and tin alloy of 75 parts lead to 25 parts tin, and weighed 96 grains.
The propellant was 12 grains of Schulz gunpowder with a 2 grain cotton wool plug over the powder.
Velocity is not known.
Short Range Mark II
"Cartridge S.A. Ball Short Range Practice India Pattern Mark II" were approved in November 1904 and shown in Indian Army LoC Paragraph 5405.
The case was a reloaded ball case with the headstamp cancelled by ring stamp and probably blackened. It had a neck cannelure to prevent bullet set-back.
The bullet was round nosed and made of a lead and tin alloy of 87 parts lead to 13 parts tin, and weighed 96 grains.
The propellant was 12 grains of Schulz gunpowder with a 2 grain cotton wool plug over the powder.
Velocity is not known.
Short Range Mark III
"Cartridge S.A. Ball Short Range Practice India Pattern Mark III" were approved in January 1909 and shown in Indian Army LoC Paragraph 6537.
The case was a reloaded ball case with the headstamp cancelled by ring stamp. The case was blackened.
The bullet was round nosed with a lead core and a cupro-nickel envelope. the bullet weight is not known.
The propellant was Cordite.
Velocity is not known
New Zealand
Short Range Practice
"Cartridge Short range Practice .303 inch New Zealand Pattern" was approved circa 1900.
It utilised a standard berdan primed case with a "C A C" headstamp.
The bullet was round nosed lead and weighed 89 grains.
The propellant was 10 grains of fine gunpowder with one glazeboard disc.
Velocity is not known.
