If I was asked to name just one of the classic Westley Richards rifles, a .425 magnum take down bolt action would have to be on the short list. Here is a .425 rifle that has just been completed in our workshops and is now destined for Botswana, to the experienced hands of a young hunter who travels Africa in search of his game.
Presented in a classic, green canvas and leather case, this is a no frills rifle, a practical rifle and one which is destined to hunt hard. For those of you unfamiliar with the calibre the .425 has 'neck and neck' ballistics with the .416 Rigby. Rigby would no doubt claim more power but we would object, strongly! The WR cartridge was designed to fit straight into a standard size Mauser action and originally the cartridges were sold in a 5 shot clip, you would load from the clip directly into the 5 shot drop magazine you see here on this rifle.
As you will see from the advertisement at the bottom of the post which is from our 1912 catalogue, we have reproduced the classic lines of the rifle faithfully, the drop box with horn nose which covers the hinge mechanism and the raised side panels with drop points both give this rifle its signature and masculine look.
As I imagine not everyone looks at the comments, I have added this response to the post. It says what I should have said, better than I could have!
Dear Simon, thank you, Exquisite, absolutely.
Sorry, but no 416 can come close! As you say this really is a classic rifle. The late Captain FC Selous would have been impressed. Wonderful to see this superb classic calibre making a comeback. So, we await posts highlighting new bespoke doubles with detachable locks chambering the .425. An earlier post here from your records listed a total of 33 double rifles built in .425 in just over a century.
It is timely to remember that Pondoro Taylor spoke well of this round, in fact he much desired more than just one gun in .425. This he made clear in arguing for a pair of bespoke rifles built to share a single calibre: one a double, the other a magazine, with custom barrel lengths, respectively. Poignantly, Taylor considered Westley Richard’s.425 the ideal calibre for this pair of rifles. It is worth recounting what he wrote in Big Game and Big Game Rifles (pg 207):
“I have often thought that a battery consisting of an open-sighted double .425 (26-inch barrels) and a ‘scope-sighted .425 magazine (25-inch barrel) would take an immense amount of beating for general all-round work amongst dangerous game, and am seriously considering just such a battery when it is possible for me to order a new one.” And one reads the near identical statement on pg 20 in African Rifles and Cartridges. Tragically, Taylor never realized his dream.
I like to term this nucleus of the Ideal Battery – quoting a Taylor chapter title – “Pondoro’s Pair”. Something to save for!
Further, with respect to similar big bores, we should remember the .425’s .435″ diameter bullet – at 410gr – outperforms the .423″ bullet of the highly respected and exhaustively tested .404 Jeffery; arguably, the .425 comes close to the .458s, with 90% of the latter’s cross-sectional area (CSA) and ~15% lighter bullet. But the .425 has the benefits of higher velocity and less recoil, and avoids the foibles of the too-short .458 Winchester “magnum” shell (with propellants etc) – albeit problems solved by the .458 Lott. Obviously, one is then dealing with a full-bore .450. And it is worth reflecting that the widely popular .416 has 8% less CSA.
Okay, I will stop this reply here….and not start on refuting all the silly speak by armchair critics about the rebated rim/barrel length/magazine-springs etc of the .425. This ignorant badmouthing a calibre they are unqualified to judge has been ridiculed by real experts who actually proved the .425 under challenging conditions.
Most grateful thanks to you for enlivening the easter weekend 🙂
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Ndlovu on April 14, 2019 at 8:39 pm
Dear All
I am that most fortunate of men – although of moderate income, I own a .425 Westley Richards, which cost me nothing! My father acquired the rifle, complete with carrying case and a fair amount of solid and LT Capped expandingcartridges in 1940, while on active service in Abyssinia with the South African Army. And thereby hangs a tale … About 40 years ago I contacted WR for some background information, but all they could tell me was that it was sold in 1912 but the records have been lost or destroyed. It doesn’t come close to the splendid take-down model you illustrate – it is a standard rifle, I assume of the widely used type. But it is in fine condition and has a most interesting side-mounted Zeiss scope. I have never hunted with it, but enjoyed firing it from time to time till the cases started splitting in the late 1960s – sheer old age, I imagine. So the old beauty hasn’t spoken for a long time. But my current hobby project is getting it talking again; I have acquired new cases and bullets from Australia, and as soon as I can afford to import a set of loading dies (thanks to our currency’s present horrendous exchange rate, this is something to save up for) the old WR will be heard from. And yes, it’s a sweetheart to shoot, and it has a nice long stock which fits me like a glove (I am a six foot six-incher). BTW, please forgive me for using a pseudonym (it’s Zulu for “elephant”), but the crime rate here is pretty bad, and that includes targeted home invasions.
A tip of the hat to all
Ndlovu
Ndlovu on April 14, 2019 at 9:24 pm
Dear All
Forgot to mention, in case you don’t know – many years ago Jack Lott – another .425 lover – got over the problem of finding the rebated rim cases by acquiring a Mauser bolt of appropriate quality and opening up the face to take a 404 Jeffery base. He then resized Jeffery cases into 425. Problem solved.
cheers
Ndlovu
Trigger on February 4, 2019 at 9:05 am
Hi Shaiaz
This cartridge is certainly efficient for elephant and was used by Game Departments for the cropping of elephant way back.
Best regards
Trigger
Shaiaz Shah on February 3, 2019 at 12:50 am
How efficient is this cartridge for elephant ?
Alec Swan on August 10, 2018 at 9:43 am
Late in to this conversation, and from the start I’ve never used any big bore cartridge.
The .425 is certainly a most curious cartridge. The rebated rim – how on earth do they get them to extract on doubles? The relatively small case when we compare it to the .416. The fact that the round was – and may well still be – revered by many. …. and this all leaves me wondering if we don’t – initially anyway – choose a cartridge by eye appeal rather than by it’s tested ballistics. Do we look at the great big fat and sexy .416 and so do we dismiss the more modest, by appearance, .425?
I do have some experience with hand loading rifle cartridges, and so using them and I would always prefer a case which can be filled to near capacity before one which is half empty of powder. Providing that the case with little spare room has a barrel of adequate length to assist with the burning of the charge, then that would be the way to go, I suspect.
The bolt action rifle at the head of this discussion is exquisite and no other work will do. Another Westley success!