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NitroXAdministrator
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.318 Westley Richards Rimless Nitro Express
      #357959 - 10/11/21 02:16 AM

https://www.westleyrichards.com/theexplo...egendary-status

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Re: .318 Westley Richards Rimless Nitro Express [Re: NitroX]
      #357960 - 10/11/21 02:26 AM

Home > Blog > Westley Richards .318 Rimless Nitro Express – A Near Forgotten Classic of Once Legendary Status



November 9, 2021
Westley Richards .318 Rimless Nitro Express – A Near Forgotten Classic of Once Legendary Status
The introduction of reliable metallic ammunition components towards the end of the 19th century signalled the beginning of the most competitive era of British rifle calibre development. Gunmakers of the day, including Holland & Holland, John Rigby, W.J. Jeffery and Westley Richards, vied for the position of premiere rifle maker, and in doing so introduced a plethora of proprietary calibres, each boasting its own unique and deadly virtues.

By Trigger

One such cartridge was the Westley Richards .318 Rimless Nitro Express, sometimes referred to as the ‘.318 Accelerated Express’, which was introduced in 1906. Largely forgotten, it was once the medium calibre by which all others were measured, the noted John ‘Pondoro’ Taylor commenting in his seminal work African Rifles & Cartridges published in 1948, that ‘this is undoubtedly the most popular and most widely-used British medium bore’.

Available in two loadings, a 180gr bullet with a velocity of 2,700 fps, and the more widely-used 250gr load with a velocity of 2,400 fps, the calibre became immensely popular. This popularity was based on the phenomenal penetration that the long torpedo bullet with its high sectional density and moderate velocity was capable of achieving. Whilst the conventional round-nose 250gr bullet set the standard, it was the cleverly-designed pointed nickel-capped bullet (designed by Leslie B. Taylor, then Managing Director of Westley Richards) that created the greatest stir. A forerunner, perhaps, to modern ballistic tip bullets, it was capable of very rapid expansion and was known to be devastatingly effective on most non-dangerous game.



In skilled hands, the calibre was capable of taking the largest game found in both Africa and India, and was held in high regard by such hunting legends as Alan Black, Baron Bror Blixen, The Maharaja of Patiala, Count Alfred Potocki and Quentin Grogan, to name but a few.

Not only was the round devastating from a practical point of view, but the short nature of the round allowed it to be built into standard length Mauser 1898 actions. This action was cost effective to use in the manufacture of a bespoke rifle, thereby placing the .318 at the disposal of a much wider audience. More importantly, lightweight, compact rifles could be built that were quick handling and easy to carry.

Interestingly, just prior to the First World War, a supposed improved version of the calibre, referred to as the ‘Square Shoulder’ was offered. It was designed to overcome, amongst other things, issues with headspace and subsequent misfiring; the square shoulder locating solidly at the front of the chamber. As fate would have it, war intervened and the square shoulder concept disappeared into obscurity. Rifles chambered for this long forgotten variation are extremely rare indeed.



Moving forward, there has been renewed interest in the .318 Westley Richards, both from pre-owned vintage rifle collectors and those in the market for a new rifle. Collectors now appreciate the diverse variations in model, style and engraving produced by Westley Richards, not only in the bolt action rifle format, but also double rifle and single shot rifle formats. The round clearly must have been very popular to have warranted such diversity.

From a new hunter’s perspective, factory ammunition is now available, along with all the components necessary to keep the calibre very much alive and well. Bullet technology has moved on considerably with recent tests using Woodleigh hydrostatically stabilised bullets proving, once again, that the calibre still boasts formidable penetration.

For traditionalists, the classic round-nose bullet in 250gr is readily available in both solid and soft-nose format. Recently, Westley Richards completed several new rifles, all of which have unequivocably proved in the field that the calibre is as capable today as it was over 110 years ago.


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Westley Richards .318 Rimless Nitro Express – A Near Forgotten Classic of Once Legendary Status
Westley Richards .318 Rimless Nitro Express – A Near Forgotten Classic of Once Legendary Status
Read more

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mauserand9mm
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Re: .318 Westley Richards Rimless Nitro Express [Re: NitroX]
      #357986 - 10/11/21 12:19 PM

I wouldn't even have thought about the sighting options:






but then again I'm either a top-of-bead or centre-of-bead aimer.

Actually, I'm confused - what part of the bead are they aiming off? The 100yd shot has to be top-of-bead, and probably the others too.


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mckinney
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Re: .318 Westley Richards Rimless Nitro Express [Re: mauserand9mm]
      #357987 - 10/11/21 12:46 PM

I think this diagram is to demonstrate the trajectory as the three drawings are at 100, 200 and 300 yards.

Or…..I’m also confused;) Actually I probably am confused.

The hold on the 300 yard diagram doesn’t look nearly high enough to correct a 27” drop to me.

Elmer Keith wrote about taking fine beads, out of the “V” beads etc. It’s hard to make sense of it without doing a lot of shooting with iron sights, which I would like to do.



Edited by mckinney (10/11/21 01:37 PM)


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mckinney
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Re: .318 Westley Richards Rimless Nitro Express [Re: mckinney]
      #357989 - 10/11/21 12:59 PM

The bolt rifle in the photo looks very Germanic and very similar to Fred Adolph. I have a 1903 Springfield (unmarked) with the same checkering pattern. From what I understand Adolph farmed out some of his stock work to Germany. Maybe the British makers did the same. This might be the case with the rifle pictured as the bolt handle looks very WR but
the checkering German.

Anyway, lovely rifles and a lovely cartridge. It is also an elegant looking cartridge when loaded with the 250 gr round
nose bullet.

Would love to have a Type A in this chambering. I’d prefer it even over an original WR.


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DarylS
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Re: .318 Westley Richards Rimless Nitro Express [Re: mauserand9mm]
      #357991 - 10/11/21 02:32 PM

Quote:

I wouldn't even have thought about the sighting options:






but then again I'm either a top-of-bead or centre-of-bead aimer.

Actually, I'm confused - what part of the bead are they aiming off? The 100yd shot has to be top-of-bead, and probably the others too.




Those are the different sight pictures using one blade, the 100 yard blade, to show how little elevation of the front sight was needed for shooting to 300yards.
Centre of the bead is where the ball(bullet) strikes.

--------------------
Daryl


"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V


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mauserand9mm
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Re: .318 Westley Richards Rimless Nitro Express [Re: DarylS]
      #357995 - 10/11/21 02:56 PM

Quote:

Quote:

I wouldn't even have thought about the sighting options:






but then again I'm either a top-of-bead or centre-of-bead aimer.

Actually, I'm confused - what part of the bead are they aiming off? The 100yd shot has to be top-of-bead, and probably the others too.




Those are the different sight pictures using one blade, the 100 yard blade, to show how little elevation of the front sight was needed for shooting to 300yards.
Centre of the bead is where the ball(bullet) strikes.




Thanks. I understood the change in sight alignment with the front bead increasing in height but it looked like the actual point of aim (center of bead) against the animal was changing because the bead looks to be at different positions on the animal. They haven't scaled correctly the size of the animal - the 200yd animal should be half the 100yd, and 300yd a third the 100yd. The bead is meant to be on the same point on the animal in each case.


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DoubleD
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Re: .318 Westley Richards Rimless Nitro Express [Re: mauserand9mm]
      #358002 - 11/11/21 01:36 AM

Who you guys kidding, none of you old farts can see well enough to sight like this. Well at least not before your cataract surgery.

Ahahahahahahah!

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pjaln
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Re: .318 Westley Richards Rimless Nitro Express [Re: mckinney]
      #358032 - 11/11/21 01:08 PM

A typeA came up about 8 years ago lasted about 5min on guns int. never seen one since....Paul

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NitroXAdministrator
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Re: .318 Westley Richards Rimless Nitro Express [Re: pjaln]
      #358034 - 11/11/21 06:36 PM

WDM Bell regarded the .318 WR with a 250 gr solid/FMJ as an ideal elephant killer.

A .318 WR bolt and a .450 double rifle make a great classic African rifle battery. Add a stutzen stocked 6.5x54 M-S for perfection.

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Re: .318 Westley Richards Rimless Nitro Express [Re: NitroX]
      #358039 - 11/11/21 06:56 PM

We need more makers of 180 gr .330 projectiles.

Bertram makes them, a basic bullet.

Good controlled expansion spitzers in 180 grs are needed.

Anyone know of any makers - 180 gr .330 controlled expansion bullets? 180 grs or there abouts.

--------------------
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szihn
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Re: .318 Westley Richards Rimless Nitro Express [Re: NitroX]
      #358057 - 12/11/21 01:42 AM


I have never even fired a 318 WR. In fact I bet I have only seen 4-5 of them in gun shops in my life, and never seen a single one in the field.

But I have made about 30 338-06 rifles and I kept 2 of them for myself in years past. I have killed game with them and seen a lot of other men kill game with them. They fire a .338 bullet of between 200 and 250 grains (I used some old Speer 275 grain bullets in one of my own for killing elk)and all I have read of the effects of the 318 is the same as what I saw with the 338-06. So knowing the only difference in the bullets fired from the 2 cartridges is .008" of diameter, I have to assume the 2 shells are identical in the game fields. The 338-06 is an EXCELLENT game killing tool. So I am 100% sure the reputation of the 318WR is well deserved.

With 250 grain bullets both will give MVs of 2400 FPS, I can't see how a diameter difference of .008" is going to be noticed by anyone.
I doubt I'll ever see anyone using a 318 here in America. They are very rare here with brass and bullets being very hard to find and very expensive if you did, American will gravitate to the 338-06 case because.338" bullets are quite common and 30-06 brass is inexpensive.

So I think of the 318 WR and the 338-06 as non-identical twins. They don't look exactly alike, but from what I've read about the 318 and what I've seen with the 338-06 they ACT alike in all ways.


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Re: .318 Westley Richards Rimless Nitro Express [Re: szihn]
      #358058 - 12/11/21 05:22 AM

Specifications
Case type Rimless, bottleneck
Bullet diameter .330 in (8.4 mm)
Neck diameter .358 in (9.1 mm)
Shoulder diameter .436 in (11.1 mm)
Base diameter .464 in (11.8 mm)
Rim diameter .464 in (11.8 mm)
Case length 2.368 in (60.1 mm)
Overall length 3.349 in (85.1 mm)
Case capacity 69.1 gr H2O (4.48 cm3)

It is very close, a little bit shorter and lower capacity due to bullet dia. and smaller shoulder, .436" vs. .441" of the .338/06.

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Daryl


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CarlsenHighway
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Re: .318 Westley Richards Rimless Nitro Express [Re: DarylS]
      #360638 - 18/01/22 05:19 PM

Walter Bell settled on the .318 WR as his elephant rifle around 1909/10 and used one of them thereafter. Despite his fame with the 7x57, he moved to the .318 and that is the chambering he recommended in his books, with a 250 grain solid. (That and the 8x557 Mauser)

I always wanted one and I have a .30/06 and a 9.3x62, in the same spirit of things, but never have seen a .318 for sale. I cant find anyone who makes a .330 bore barrel or a reamer in NZ or I would build one.

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NitroXAdministrator
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Re: .318 Westley Richards Rimless Nitro Express [Re: mauserand9mm]
      #360647 - 18/01/22 06:55 PM

Quote:

I wouldn't even have thought about the sighting options:






but then again I'm either a top-of-bead or centre-of-bead aimer.

Actually, I'm confused - what part of the bead are they aiming off? The 100yd shot has to be top-of-bead, and probably the others too.




Anyone else think they are shooting this stag too high?

I would aim centre of chest to slightly lower. In line with the rear of the front leg, allowing for the body angle etc.

The image might be high lungs or above the heart. Below the spine. IMO.

Secondly I would raise the front bead this way. I would raise the whole sighting system. Keeping the head top of the V as one should, but aim higher.

Doesn't anyone actually use the method shown in the image?

It appears to me an excellent method to shoot badly with. Especially as the range increases and more precise aiming is required. I note the stag stays the same with the ranges in the illustration.

I think it is a 1920s marketing idea for the tyro buyer.

--------------------
John aka NitroX

...
Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
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NitroXAdministrator
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Re: .318 Westley Richards Rimless Nitro Express [Re: NitroX]
      #360648 - 18/01/22 07:04 PM

How much easier to make the 300 yard shot holding a top of the shoulder line point of aim.

The image does simulate the same effect of the use of express rear sight leaves.

--------------------
John aka NitroX

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DarylS
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Re: .318 Westley Richards Rimless Nitro Express [Re: NitroX]
      #360671 - 19/01/22 06:22 AM

For me, this bead is way too large for the V. I prefer a wide V.
Regardless, the bead is still way too large for that V, or the V is way too small. I do prefer the flattened V, with the bead sitting in the bottom of the valley, as it does on my 14 bore rifle.

The manner in which my rifles with beads are sighted, the bullet or ball impact is ALWAYS in the centre of the bead.

Bear in mind, I do not have any rifles sighted as in the picture. Wrong size V and bead.

Yes - it appears to me, the aiming/point of impact is too high on that stag.

A high lung shot is supposed to bleed them out more quickly, but I do not agree with that premise. I much prefer a shot through both lungs and aorta above the heart, as I do like to eat a heart that is not damaged by the passage of a bullet or ball.

--------------------
Daryl


"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V


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CarlsenHighway
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Re: .318 Westley Richards Rimless Nitro Express [Re: DarylS]
      #360694 - 19/01/22 02:30 PM

We must remember that the pictures are an illustration to get across a sighting concept. The illustrator himself may not have been a hunter.

I would assume that the sighting is to go through the centre of the bead, this is how nearly any reference in the old literature seems to have the V and bead used. The idea of the point of impact being at the top of the bead, or a "six oclock" hold is an Americanism from military style competitive target shooting in the 1920's using a peep sight and blade front sight; I think Townsend Whelen most responsible for it.

For hunting with express sights, shooting through the centre of the bead is much more natural when under stress and I sight all my rifles that way, with point of impact through the centre of the bead. For people who think that the bead will blot out the target at a distance, these sights should be used with both eyes open.

The sighting method above using different positions within the V for the bead is a 19th century convention leftover from black powder rifles (like the buckhorn sight) order to handle the high parabola of the trajectory for those old cartridges.

I remember WDM Bell counselling not to "monkey around with the from bead" by taking a fine sight etc, because in lower light the shooter will show more of the bead in the V simply because he can see it better...

I have done a lot of experimentation with open sights. (It was illuminating when I discovered the flat top rear sight was just as accurate as a shallow V or notch. You simply balance the bead over the top of the flat rear sight, so that it is in the middle. There is no notch or v at all, just a straight bar of the same width. You wouldn't think it would work at all, but I recall my first three shots at 100 metres made a one inch triangle group. Which was what that rifle would do with a four power scope.)


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NitroXAdministrator
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Re: .318 Westley Richards Rimless Nitro Express [Re: CarlsenHighway]
      #360696 - 19/01/22 02:54 PM

Quote:

We must remember that the pictures are an illustration to get across a sighting concept. The illustrator himself may not have been a hunter.





Yep, as I said, a marketer.

--------------------
John aka NitroX

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"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
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NitroXAdministrator
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Re: .318 Westley Richards Rimless Nitro Express [Re: NitroX]
      #360700 - 19/01/22 03:14 PM

on the .318 WR, many here know I have long wanted one. To build a classic styled Mauser custom rifle in one.

Of three minds on the subject however.

My heart says, yes I want one, an English classic styled Mauser 98 rifle in .318 Westley Richards. My spirit and soul says yes.

My brain says, however, a rifle in .338/06 would be far more useful, easier to load and find components for, and this modern reinventing the wheel wannabe cartridge, would do everything just as well. With a greater range and availability of bullets work even better.

My wallet says, WTF! You have an 8x68S and it will do it all anyway. With better sectional density and greater velocity. Use it more and forget these .330 and .338 bore cartridges.

All three would be nice however.

A .338/06 or 8.5x63 (I think it was, the Euro version of the .338/06) barrel for the Mauser M03 would be useful.

--------------------
John aka NitroX

...
Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"


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Rothhammer1
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Re: .318 Westley Richards Rimless Nitro Express [Re: NitroX]
      #360782 - 20/01/22 09:48 PM

Quote:

on the .318 WR, many here know I have long wanted one.




Westley Richards .318 Take Down Model:





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Citizen of the Cherokee Nation


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93x64mm
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Re: .318 Westley Richards Rimless Nitro Express [Re: Rothhammer1]
      #360783 - 20/01/22 10:14 PM

Rothhammer you know how to bait a hook don't you............any minute now!

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sbs470
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Re: .318 Westley Richards Rimless Nitro Express [Re: 93x64mm]
      #360817 - 21/01/22 09:08 AM

that's the model i have . cased .

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Rothhammer1
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Re: .318 Westley Richards Rimless Nitro Express [Re: sbs470]
      #360846 - 21/01/22 04:23 PM

Quote:

that's the model i have . cased .




I have Grand Dad's cased M1910 Mannlicher Schoenauer of same Take Down System.




DWM 531 - 9.5X57 - .375 Nitro Express Rimless 2.25"


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Rothhammer1
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Re: .318 Westley Richards Rimless Nitro Express [Re: Rothhammer1]
      #360849 - 21/01/22 05:35 PM


Another Westley Richards .318 ad:



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Citizen of the Cherokee Nation


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