Although by no means prolific, it is always great to see a new bolt action rifle in Westley Richards signature .318 calibre reach completion here at the factory. Once the medium bore calibre by which all others were judged, like so many of the great British calibre's, including .333 Jeffery and .350 Rigby, it slipped into semi obscurity after the Second World War.
In truth the .318 Westley Richards cartridge shooting a 250 grain bullet at 2250 feet per second is still a great and fun cartridge to use for general plains game hunting and even driven boar in Europe. The long torpedo bullet has phenomenal sectional density and with its moderate velocity (by modern standards) proves a deep penetrating round, at one time capable of tackling every type of big and dangerous game on the planet.
Peep sight located on the cocking piece.
The rifle you see here was built to a very traditional lightweight format with the addition of Westley Richards take-down system. The client had requested the rifle to be built primarily for open sight use, hence the sleek lines of the rifle. Westley Richards signature patent combination foresight was a given as no true Westley Richards magazine rifle is complete without one. It was then decided to fit a very traditional island rear sight base with one standing plus three leaf express sight regulated to 200 yards. A peep sight fitted to the cocking piece was also utilised so creating a very classic style of rifle.
As with all our guns and rifles a super piece of Turkish walnut was selected with which to stock the rifle. We came to the conclusion some time back that with the comparatively small number of guns and rifles that we build each year, we may as well use the very nicest wood that we can obtain.
Certainly destined for Africa, we are looking forward to hearing how this classic round performs in this new rifle.
Beautiful Turkish walnut stock.
The new rifle compared to a vintage example. Either rifle would be fun to use today in Africa.
Page from Westley Richards 'Centenary' catalogue detailing the .318 Westley Richards.
9 comments
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Trigger on May 2, 2018 at 7:28 am
Hi Jeff
Kynamco here in the UK make modern ammunition which shoots superbly.
Best regards
Trigger
Jeff Pence on May 1, 2018 at 2:18 am
Nice rifle – Now where do you find ammunition to shoot it?
Peter Buckley. on March 10, 2018 at 8:52 am
Hi Trigger
“Instant Classic”, “Instant Attraction”, who could fail to be drawn to own this superb rifle!
Such elegant sweeping lines, everything about it shouts quality in bucket loads! The blueing of the trigger wonderful touch!
Just love the more simplistic sight set up, the addition of the peep sight to the cocking piece giving a full length sight picture can only give the shooter more accuracy. I presume the white circular dial is for elevation? Is there just one aperture size on the peep sight?
When was the last time Westley Richards was asked for this type of sight?
Kicking around somewhere at home is one of the sunken flip up grip type of peep sights, I wondered who had built rifles using this particular sight.
Best regards. Peter
Keith Fahl on March 8, 2018 at 8:52 pm
Trigger,
What a classic! I know the proud owner of this great rifle will enjoy hunting with it. One has to use the .318 in the field to really appreciate why this caliber was so popular.
Best wishes and good hunting to the new owner,
Keith
Peter on March 7, 2018 at 10:29 pm
Hi Trigger.
Another true masterpiece!
Best regards,
Peter.