3-0-3 was the british army rifle caliber bullet for the first half of the 20th century.
not sure if it was around in the boar was but any way this might well be the meaning behind it .
cracking film about one of our more grubby wars.
I faintly remember something like this when I was studying it in year 12 English.
I think you might be right.
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Andrew.
"Rule 3-0-3" refers to the standard gauge (.303 in/7.69mm )bullet that would have been used by the British Army and associated formations during the Boer War using either Lee-Metford or Lee-Enfield rifles.
what makes it so interesting is that I think there was no such thing as Rule .303, making the statement all the more dramatic
share.303 inch caliber ,SMLE (short magazine lee /enfield )bolt action rifle built by BSA and royal aresenal (enfield) to the end of ww2
shareIt's a very 'Dirty Harry' kind of statement - very pithy, damn-all-the-rules sort of thing. At this point he's fed up with the hypocrisy of the court with the rules of war forbidding what his commanders had sanctioned and what was keeping his men safe against the Boer commandos guerrilla tactics. Essentially he's saying it's the 'rule of the gun', the rule of violence that is followed in the reality of war not some rule devised in a conference somewhere.
Tom
Yep, you're right.....what is actually being said is "rule 303 {ie the rule of the gun} was the only law that the Army recognised", incidentally, i think you'll find that Harry Morant was English.
http://p066.ezboard.com/bthedavincicodefactandfiction
Yes, it was a soldiers 'rule' and Edward Woodward delivered that line perfectly. Did you notice the quiver in his voice when he does it. And, yes, Morant was English. He spent some time living in Australia. There were numerous British soldiers in the Bushveldt Carbineers, it wasn't uncommon.
shareWell, most white Aussies at the time were first or second generation Englishmen or at least Great Britain
What are they doing? Why do they come here?
Some kind of instinct, memory, what they used to do.
Most of your white Aussies were Irish descendents who got shipped out to Australia since it was used as a penal colony. Ever heard of Botany Bay? Most of them were shipped to Australia as criminals due to some phoney baloney that the British used to keep the Irish, Scots, and poor English under control in order to maintain the class/caste system in Great Britain and Ireland.
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Well, in the end they were the luckier ones than the ones who stayed in England
Tell that to the fellas that went to Gallipoli ...
share
Somme, Paaschendale, Ypres, Cambrai; were they any better? At least Gallipoli didn't last too long.
British troops fought on Gallipoli
Australians fought at the Somme and all along the Western Front.
"Someone has been tampering with Hank's memories."
The average Australian soldier had a better chance of making it through the war than his British(Scots, Irish and Welsh too) counterpart. They were better led and better trained.
Thats an opinion not a fact.
As Wikipedia might say: [citation needed]
Not meaning to slight anyone, but the casualties rates per thousand were much lower for Australians and New Zealanders than regular British Army troops. Even the Germans respected the ANZAC more. The regular British Army seemed rather reckless with men's lives, like all those battle like the Somme, Ypres, Neuve Chapelle. They would regularly pack the front line trenches with most of their troops, leaving them open to barrages, gas and flanking movements instead of just outposting the front line with strongpoints and machine guns and leaving the bulk in the rear protected from fire to counterattack and reinforce as needed. The Germans were masters at that.
share[deleted]
Yes, the .303 callibre Lee-Metford rifles were those favoured by the Carbineers
B
Yes, as addressed by others, 303 was a play on words. I think what was the most interesting about it is that the court members woudl not have missed the reference,while we as an audience member had to think about it. It is as if it was the serious version of an inside joke.
share[deleted]
You can fire the same calibre rounds from a variety of barrel lengths.
shareI have a "US Property" SMLE No4 Mk 1* (.303 British) made by Savage arms in 1943 and I can tell you that the actual diameter is closer to .310 - .313 depending on the wear in the barrel. Typically, any bullet .310 - .312 in diameter can be fired from the rifle with varying degrees of accuracy. The caliber markings don't always indicate the actual diameter of the bullet, strangely enough. For instance, .38 Special and .357 Magnum can both be fired from the same gun.
shareA bit pedantic, but here it is: caliber/calibre can mean different things depending on the unit/organization considering it. "Caliber" in small arms is the nominal bore diameter or bullet diameter. "Caliber" in Naval guns is the length of the bore as a ratio of bore diameter.
A Five-inch fifty caliber naval gun is a fast-shooting medium bore cannon. A fifty caliber small arm (rifle or machinegun) is a big-bore like the Browning M2HB, or the Barrett M-82.
The "Rule 303" speech is much the same as Jack Nicholson "You can't handle it" in that (title escapes me) Tom Cruise movie.
Except that "A few Good Men" was hollywod tripe.
share.303 is the land diameter of the rifle's barrel.
I have a "US Property" SMLE No4 Mk 1* (.303 British) made by Savage arms in 1943 and I can tell you that the actual diameter is closer to .310 - .313 depending on the wear in the barrel.
The M 1917A US Army rifle, used by most troops in WW l, was also an Enfield design rebarreled to .30 cal gov, because the morons in ordinance never tooled up to mass produce the 03 Springgfields.
Huh? According to Merriam-Webster:
cal·i·ber
noun
2. the internal diameter or bore of a gun barrel.
"a .22 caliber repeater rifle"
omg i cant beleive u just figured that out
thats what he means by rule 303 its the rule of the gun
Yes, the .303 was used in the Boer war and the reference is definitely to the rifle.
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