Recently Robert Wegele a cartridge collector in the USA contacted me asking what I knew about the square shoulder round. Â As usual I responded that we had no information about it and that the round was a rare modification. Â Robert thanked me for my kind response and that was that. Â However a couple of months later and Robert kindly forwarded me the attached pamphlet which in turn came from another collector Bill Fleming.
The pamphlet is self explanatory so I don't need to labour on about its content. Â What it does establish for me is why the design probably never became hugely popular. Â It came to the market in 1914 the year the Great War began. Â Westley Richards moved massively into War production and so the 'improved' case came at a time when other interests were of far more importance. Â After the Great War it was probably forgotten as industry slumped.
Hopefully for those of you lucky enough to own a square shoulder .318, this pamphlet from our friends across the pond goes a long way to clearing up the mystery.
ICL on July 6, 2016 at 5:33 pm
It looks like there were two Patents:
https://worldwide.espacenet.com/searchResults?DB=&ST=singleline&bcId=1&locale=en_EP&page=0&query=square+shoulder+cartridge+case&return=true
I've taken the liberty of linking your post
https://www.shootersforum.com/wildcat-cartridges/125417-square-shouldered-cases-early-20th-century.html#post1146857
The comments in the Pamphlet about the cartridge makers' tolerances for headspace are alarming.