Westley Richards Double Rifles: Refining the .500 Nitro Express

When carrying a rifle for hours in the heat of the African sun, every ounce added makes the exertion greater. Shouldering a heavy rifle demands a degree of strength, power and durability and the absorption of recoil and the recovery time required to fire a second shot can determine how well-suited to a particular sportsman may be to a particular rifle.

Of course, not all rifles are made the same. Ensuring that it is appropriately balanced, fitted and designed makes a huge difference to the shooting experience. An absence of issues is the mark of a well-considered package. A bruised face, skinned fingers, a wrenched shoulder or bicep, loss of sight picture, a struggle to align ramp and bead; all these suggest a poorly executed build. All of these potential pitfalls are eliminated when the customer opts for a Westley Richards double rifle.

We have unique expertise in building these big game stoppers, having completed our one hundredth double .577 a couple of years ago. We understand the essence of a properly proportioned stopping rifle, which explains the enduring demand for our rifles among the elite hunters of the world.

The .500NE sits in the middle of our three popular cartridges for specialist big game hunters. The .577 is the biggest, with its 750-grain bullet, the .470 with its 500-grain projectile is the smallest, driving it at 2,150 fps. Fitting in between is the .500 with its 570-grain bullet moving at the same pace as the .470.

One might argue that the .577 delivers the biggest shock but the counter-argument that ‘dead’ is an absolute concept and that a .577 does not make an animal ‘deader’ just because it is bigger, is compelling, especially given the weight penalty for carrying the larger rifle.

There is no doubt that the .500 is a more comfortable prospect to both carry and fire for the man of average stature and fitness. There is also no doubt that it kills big game with ruthless efficiency and some argue that its penetration is more reliable than the .577, which is of benefit when raking through the body of a fleeing beast.

At 11lbs 8oz, this rifle, a .500NE ordered in March 2024 and delivered in January 2026, is noticeably lighter than the typical 13lbs 8oz weight of a .577NE. That extra two pounds of heft is a lot to carry around and has to be considered carefully in light of the perceived advantages of the bigger rifle and its punchier payload.

No wonder the .500NE is so beloved of professional hunters: plenty of power, faster handling and more portable. When reaction time matters, that weight penalty might outweigh the power increase the .577 provides. The .470NE is a wonderful cartridge but the .500NE is sometimes considered to be the .470NE with a bit ‘extra’ and no real disadvantages. 

The rifle pictured is a classic African choice of hand-detachable-lock double rifle, regulated to shoot Hornady soft and solid 570-grain loads to within an inch of one another, right and left, at fifty yards. An extra pair of locks is supplied, should the unthinkable happen and one of the mainsprings break during the hunt. Better safe than sorry when hundreds of thousands of dollars have been invested in a safari.

The lock type is a favourite with serious big game hunters. It originated with a patent lodged by Leslie B. Taylor in 1897 and modified gradually into this final form, in 1907. Its rugged reliability is legendary and many vintage examples are still doing sterling service today. For good measure, a spare set of strikers has also been provided.

The full, deep, foliate scroll-work, executed by Wesley Tallett, on this rifle is especially attractive, highlighted by the super polish and dark-hatched black background. The oval on the floor plate with vignette of a large bull elephant, face-on, adds a degree of drama. The engraving extends to every surface, with limited use of gold lines, letters and numbers lifting the aesthetic without making it appear less purposeful.

More Westley Richards patents can bee seen in the photographs. The Deeley & Edge forend catch originated here and has been widely adopted by the wider gun trade, as has the top-lever, the bolted doll’s-head rib extension and the barrel-cocking arrangement. Two triggers provide valuable autonomy to the locks. Should one fail, the other, operated entirely separately by a second trigger, will work without encumbrance. When dangerous game hunting, such fail-safe devices occasionally become hugely important.

Readers may be noticing that every eventuality has been considered and mitigated. We don’t believe in leaving life and death moments to chance. In over a century of building breech-loading nitro-express double rifles, Westley Richards has perfected the art. Today’s sportsmen are reaping the rewards of the decades of experience and expertise embodied in our best rifles.

In many ways this rifle is a ‘standard’ best double rifle of its type, similar to many that have come before it. However, detailed examination will unveil the gradual but inexorable progression we have made as a company, driving our workforce to make ever-better rifles. Even the smallest improvement incrementally leads to an ever-higher level of attainment and our best rifles today are better than they have ever been.