Westley Richards .318

Have any fellow members used this calibre in Africa recently? What has been their experience with it?

I ask because several of these rifles are for sale in India though mostly at very exhorbitant prices.

Regards.

I have a WR takedown in .318 which I love. It has a Griffin & Howe mount with modern scope. It likes the traditional 250 gr bullet with the unbelievable ballistic coefficient. It is a wonderful plains game round and were it legal, I would not hesitate to shoot a buff with it.

I had read your earlier post about having bought a Westley Richards .318. It is heartening to note your satisfaction with it as a plains game round and your unhesitating endorsement of it for use on buffalo.

Regards.

One shooter near me has used a .318WR on lion in South Africa. It was a drive up, get out and shoot the lion. The rifle and calibre seemed to work ok. Projectiles were 250 Woodleighs.

Lothar Walther in Germany can supply special order pre-chambered and threaded barrels for Mauser '98 actions. I assume it would be a straight re-barrel.

The .318WR is slightly shorter than a .30-06 with a slightly smaller rim dia..

Brass is available from Bertram Brass in Australia and RCBS (?) can supply forming dies to form .30-06 cases to .318WR.

I believe 8x60 brass can also quite easily be substituted after a F/L Resize. (Reference required).

FWIW 'Karamojo' Bell liked the .318WR and said that when shooting elephants the unexplained misses he had with the 7x57 stopped. For some one who was a crack shot I've drawn my own conclusions .....