Favorite Darling Small-Mid Bore Double?

[318AE]

Some of the best when it comes to getting ammo and easily using the rifle would be 7x57R, 8x57JRS, 7x65R, and 303 Brit.

Harder to source components, but still excellent calibers would be 280 Flanged, 318WR Flanged, 333 Jeffery Flanged, 350 Rigby #2.

The stinkers if you will, that are often loaded in not-so-great double rifles would be 30-40 Krag and 45-70. The latter can be especially annoying because they are usually loaded at slow velocities and low pressures making the rifle rather lethargic.

I’ve never even heard of a 318 WR flanged. I’m not sure Westley Richards has either.

 

[50Gunner]

Alright degoins old buddy pics sent, many Thanks in advance for posting them.

303 British against tree with 40 round soft/solid culling belt, along with a 5" Damascus skinner and sheath to fit wide culling belt my old dearly departed knife maker buddy Bill Bagwell made for me, grab your favorite shooting sticks and a bino and you're ready for business.

The little 303 ammunition photo is flanked with it's safe mates in case some heavy lifting is needed.

L to R, 500-450 Nitro, 500 Nitro, 303 British solid and soft in the middle followed by 577 Nitro and 8 Bore in a giant speedloader I had to go to the plumbing supply store to make.

 

[318AE]

Great post. I have a 280 Westley Richards double, which is the British 7mm, ie .287. It was likely retailed in India. It’s far left below.

View attachment 730136
My favorite is my 318 WR drop lock. In any caliber, a double is a true sporting rifle.

Whew- finally able to get a field phot of my 318 to load with airport internet.

 

[degoins]

Alright degoins old buddy pics sent, many Thanks in advance for posting them.

303 British against tree with 40 round soft/solid culling belt, along with a 5" Damascus skinner and sheath to fit wide culling belt my old dearly departed knife maker buddy Bill Bagwell made for me, grab your favorite shooting sticks and a bino and you're ready for business.

The little 303 ammunition photo is flanked with it's safe mates in case some heavy lifting is needed.

L to R, 500-450 Nitro, 500 Nitro, 303 British solid and soft in the middle followed by 577 Nitro and 8 Bore in a giant speedloader I had to go to the plumbing supply store to make.

 

[rookhawk]

I’ve never even heard of a 318 WR flanged. I’m not sure Westley Richards has either.

The 318 Westley Richards (not its real name, its accelerated express) had a rimmed version, aka flanged, aka #2.

Getting brass for it would be absolute hell.

Postscript, WR made a few rimmed versions of the 318's ballistics.

The obscure 318 Flanged, both regular (really rare) and "square shoulder" (really, really rare.) These were occasionally called .322 Swift.

On top of those, there was a Westley Richards .375/303 Accelerated Express that was rimmed and used the same .330 bullet as well.

 

[318AE]

The 318 Westley Richards (not its real name, its accelerated express) had a rimmed version, aka flanged, aka #2.

Getting brass for it would be absolute hell.

Have you any pictures of such a round? I’m quite familiar with the 318 by its eponymous maker (I have 4) and know well it was called 318 accelerated express when used by others.

 

[Wildwillalaska]

Uh-Oh degoins old buddy, that's where the wheels fall off with me, pretty much a .com dummy here, have never figured out how to post pics, if you'll PM me a cell I'll be glad to fire you off some pics for posting, I lost your old number when my poor flipper phone died.

Got a new I-phone something or another, was a half a tic off a loaded 45, a gallon of bourbon and playing on the train tracks when I first got that thing!

50Gunner, I hear you on some sites, like the **NOT**PERMITTED**, I cannot sort how to post photos. They have this place set up for us simpler-folk. It’s just as easy if not more so than texting photos to a friend. Click the bottom left button of the message box when finished writing a response or post. That “attach files” button should bring up a short list with top two options of “photo library” or “take photo”. The photo library should bring up your iPhone’s photos. Click the ones you want and that’s about it. To make them larger in your post or message, click insert in upper left portion of the image you selected and can then select full size.

It’s amazingly simple here, so much more so than other forums.

 

[rookhawk]

Have you any pictures of such a round? I’m quite familiar with the 318 by its eponymous maker (I have 4) and know well it was called 318 accelerated express when used by others.

I do not, but there was an article in Double Gun Journal about these obscure WR calibers. If you can find the issue that has it, I can take photos of the article and PM it to you. On the DGJ website store there is a "free" item that is their index of topics per issue. If you download and review that index as part of the leg work, I'll get you the content.

Cheers.

 

[rookhawk]

Have you any pictures of such a round? I’m quite familiar with the 318 by its eponymous maker (I have 4) and know well it was called 318 accelerated express when used by others.

Some info I found on the net:

"History note
Introduced c. 1906 by Westley Richards as a sporting rifle cartridge, essentially a rimmed version of the .318 Accelerated Express and intended for double rifles, single shot rifles and Lee bolt action rifles, it was in the same performance league as the .300 Holland & Holland Belted Magnum. ‘Axite’ was a propellant advertised as less erosive and corrosive than cordite. The cartridge attracted the attention of long range match rifle shooters, concerned with accuracy at 1,000 yards plus, and this specimen is such a target cartridge. It is known that Kings Norton produced .375/.303 Palma Match cartridges for L R Tippins of Mistley in Essex, and this may be an example. Luke Tippins, a former headmaster and keen rifle shot with strongly-held opinions on the sport, had become a gunsmith specialising in target rifles, and wrote three books on rifle shooting between 1900 and 1910: ‘The Service Rifles’, ‘The Rifleman’s Companion’ and the influential ‘Modern Rifle Shooting in Peace, War and Sport’. His son John had joined him in the business. John was one of the outstanding shots of his generation, having represented England many times between 1905 and 1913, including at the Olympics, and had also been a member of the Empire Team. A Territorial, he went to war with the 2nd Volunteer Battalion The Essex Regiment, and was killed on 26 November 1914 (while serving a machine gun in place of his Sergeant, who had been killed) by which time he had been credited with 20 kills with his rifle. (Reference: Barnes, F C : 1972 : Cartridges of the World : Digest Books Inc : : p 216)"

 

[318AE]

I’ve just never heard of these cartridges go by 318 flanged or 318 #2. I’m not even certain these have a .330 bore. The author referring to these as “essentially a rimmed 318” is taking quite a liberty. I’ve never seen a 318 flanged listed in any vintage Westley Richards catalog or catalog from another maker.

 

[Kharn]

7x57R?

 

[rookhawk]

I’ve just never heard of these cartridges go by 318 flanged or 318 #2. I’m not even certain these have a .330 bore. The author referring to these as “essentially a rimmed 318” is taking quite a liberty. I’ve never seen a 318 flanged listed in any vintage Westley Richards catalog or catalog from another maker.

I'm not a know it all, I certainly can be wrong. If you'd like to keep the convo going, lets PM each other. I promise you, on my honor, I have seen a 318 rimmed double rifle. Now to the question of what the hell did WR call that? Different story. I believe they did sell some as a 318 Accelerated Express "insert word to denote rimmed". They also had a square shouldered rim, they also had the .322 swift, they also had the 375/303 WR. You can imagine the pain of loading all of these since original berdan primed brass is unobtainable and a total pain to reload, plus its about impossible to form brass that would have the right rim. (we'd need a rimmed 35 whelen and a sizing die, neither of which exist)

P.S. - Its such a shame that Simon Clode passed away, he would set us straight in a way no other human could on this complex topic of WR rimmed calibers.

 

[Wyfox]

The buckhammer, the legend, and all the other latest darlings (fads) are because of the requirement to use straight wall cartridges in certain States.

None of those cartridges is a rimmed cartridge, so you're forced to create a custom double rifle WITH ejectors...it'd cost you 5-figures and of course these calibers will be extinct in 10 years when the laws change, allowing normal rifle cartridges which has been the trend.

The 360 Buckhammer is rimmed, it's a straight walled 30-30 that shoots .358 bullets. Ballistically identical to the 358 Winchester. It would make a great whitetail double rifle.

 

[Esoteric Junkie]

303 MacNaughton

 

[Sideshow]

303 MacNaughton
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Interesting regulator set up on the barrel end. Lovely rifle!

On a side note who opened this can of worms!

Trying to save for my first African hunting safari and you go and do this! Really come on

 

[Pondoro]

MacNaughton even built at least one .600 like that .303.. Bill Feldstein (who had the first .700 double made) owned one and shot a 100 pounder in Ethiopia in 1989 (I think..).