318 Westley Richards and the Leslie Taylor capped bullet

[bruce moulds]

supposition by me.
this cartridge always had a good name as a killer of game.
I suspect much of this reputation came from the use of the l.t. capped bullet, which allowed it to perform well above its pay grade.
this bullet is often compared to the Winchester silvertip by the great unwashed, but the silvertip is a varmint bullet by comparison..
the cartridge is in fact a ballistic twin to the 338/06, but was known to take quite large game with absolute reliability.
could the l.t. bullet have been the secret.
I also suspect that the bullet was so good that some guys got killed in the belief that the 318 could kill much bigger game than ldeal.
any thoughts?
bruce.

 

[Red Leg]

supposition by me.
this cartridge always had a good name as a killer of game.
I suspect much of this reputation came from the use of the l.t. capped bullet, which allowed it to perform well above its pay grade.
this bullet is often compared to the Winchester silvertip by the great unwashed, but the silvertip is a varmint bullet by comparison..
the cartridge is in fact a ballistic twin to the 338/06, but was known to take quite large game with absolute reliability.
could the l.t. bullet have been the secret.
I also suspect that the bullet was so good that some guys got killed in the belief that the 318 could kill much bigger game than ldeal.
any thoughts?
bruce.

Nope. The .318’s reputation was built around the 250 gr Woodleigh solid by Kynoch. The literature is replete with many sources including Taylor and Hunter who thought it one of the most reliably deep penetrating calibers and bullets available - capable of penetrating the length of a elephant or rhino. Prior to WWII, the solids were standard loading for almost everything by those who regularly used the .318. The 250 gr solids would reliably drill through and through the heart lung of everything from a dik dik to elephant. I can personally testify that they work as advertised on whitetail and feral hogs.

Expanding bullets were generally loathed by most African hunters. They seemed to be dependable enough on European stags and boar, but the whole “shock” concept seemed too often to fall apart (pun intended) when launched against the larger antelope and particularly Cape buffalo. Leslie Taylor's capped bullet design was very accurate but actually most successful when applied to WR's paradox guns (20, 12, and 10 bore) where they provided some aerodynamics to the big bullets being fired from the partially rifled barrels. However frangible the aerodynamic tip, 740 gr of lead is going to penetrate.

I will admit, however, were I taking one of mine to Africa for PG, I would use the dependable 250 gr Woodleigh RN SP - though a couple of the solids would always be in the ammo slide.

 

[Red Leg]

supposition by me.

I also suspect that the bullet was so good that some guys got killed in the belief that the 318 could kill much bigger game than ldeal.
any thoughts?
bruce.

Many of the "guys" actually loved the .318 for the largest dangerous game because of how well the solid performed. James Sutherland, Anderson, Grogan, and of course Bell, all used the .318 (with the 250 gr solid) to take many of their elephants. Sutherland even penned a letter to WR extolling the virtues of the .318 (solid) for elephant in open country. I know of no sources who extolled the virtues of the LT bullet in that caliber.

 

[Wyatt Smith]

Bell said in “karamojo safari” that he thought the .318 was the perfect elephant round. But he experienced to many split case heads and high pressure problems. He then went back to his 7mm Mauser because it was, the ammunition that is, more reliable. He also said the military.303 ammo was reliable and commercial ammo wasn’t.
I think he used the 7mm a lot more than he did the .318 for that reason, and he never polluted the barrel of his rifle with a soft point.

 

[bruce moulds]

ah yes, the explora cartridge.
bruce.

 

[Red Leg]

ah yes, the explora cartridge.
bruce.

https://revivaler.com/westley-richards-explora-super-magnum-explora/

 

[Edge]

https://revivaler.com/westley-richards-explora-super-magnum-explora/

Very interesting! Thank you for the link.

 

[Nkawu]

Slightly off topic, but how does the 30-06 with 220gn projectiles compare to the 318 shooting the 250 gn? Case capacity is nearly identical I believe. Sectional density of the .308 220 gn is 0.331.

 

[318AE]

I’m a big fan of the 318. I have a few, and they’re amongst my favorite to hunt with. There is no doubt it penetrates well. The sectional density is essentially identical to the venerable 480 gr 450 NE. I think it’s shot placement first, penetration second, and everything else third.

Pre-war, cartridges, bullets and manufacturers were more tightly coupled or proprietary (ie Rigby made their 350 instead of a 375 H&H). Soft points were often of dubious reliability. I have some of the old Kynoch LT capped 250 grain 318 softs. They are more similar to an explora round than a Winchester silver tip in design. I agree with your premise - they were probably better than many of the other soft points of the day, which likely helped the cartridge’s reputation. However, I think 250 grains in .33 caliber at the right velocity may have made the biggest impact. I’d hunt buffalo with confidence with one today, in the countries where it’s legal, such as Mozambique. I’d just be very selective about that first shot.

 

[Wyatt Smith]

I will point out that the modern equivalent (338-06) is fairly popular and well known as a good killer.

 

[bruce moulds]

318ae,
very interesting.
I was sure lt capped were available in normal rifle calibres.
would you be able to post a picture of one?
have you shot anything with one, and hopefully recovered it?
bruce.

 

[fourfive8]

I've found the 338-06 to be an excellent medium game cartridge. Easy to load and no surprises. Fine bullet options also, I assume because the 338 Win Mag has been established for quite a while. I wouldn't use it as a DG caliber now given the choices available, but things were much different before the modern plethora of calibers, bullets and quality ammo.

And that is exactly right in one of the previous posts by Wyatt Smith about Bell's thoughts and writings of the time. Legend and history could have easily been different and we could be telling and re-telling stories of Bell killing a thousand or more elephants with a 318 instead of a 7x57. By circumstance, not by superiority of design or capability of the 7x57 over the 318, the most reliable ammo available to him at the time was the 7x57. So fate becomes logical after all.

One story about his ability as an instinctive rifle shot goes something like- some witnesses recounted seeing him shooting passing cormorants, IIRC, in a wetland or marsh of some sort. The witnesses were astounded to discover that he was shooting them on the wing with a rifle not a shotgun. He stated he was just using up some unreliable rifle ammo.

 

[bruce moulds]

i'll bet he did a lot of dry firing.
john taylor admits to doing a lot of it as he walked around.
bruce.

 

[HWL]

Today, the easiest way to duplicate the performance of the .318 Westley Richards is, to load a 8mm06 or a 8x64 S with a .323 dia.! 250 gr Woodleigh soft point round nose bullet.

Both of this cartridges work at higher pressure, have greater case volume, develope more energy and fire a bullet with even better sectional density.

Rifles, barrels, cases and bullets are much easier to come by.

So, no reason to mourn for the .318.....



HWL

 

[rookhawk]

Today, the easiest way to duplicate the performance of the .318 Westley Richards is, to load a 8mm06 or a 8x64 S with a .323 dia.! 250 gr Woodleigh soft point round nose bullet.

Both of this cartridges work at higher pressure, have greater case volume, develope more energy and fire a bullet with even better sectional density.

Rifles, barrels, cases and bullets are much easier to come by.

So, no reason to mourn for the .318.....



HWL

Except that the WR takedown is beautiful and many (but not all!) the 8x64s, 8x68s, and nearly all the 8-06 rifles are ugly!

I miss my WR and am casually looking for another. I buy pretty guns and tolerate their calibers, not the reverse.

 

[Wyatt Smith]

i'll bet he did a lot of dry firing.
john taylor admits to doing a lot of it as he walked around.
bruce.

Bell dry fired all the time, according to his books. He said it was the best thing a new sportsman could do for practice.

 

[7x57Joe]

Bell dry fired all the time, according to his books. He said it was the best thing a new sportsman could do for practice.

That is why I like set triggers. I can set them and get the trigger feel without ever having the firing pin drop.

 

[318AE]

More than a little late in my reply - These are the four most common vintage Westley Richards 318 rounds I’m aware of. I believe the third from the left to be the LT capped bullet. I’ve fired some of these, but only at paper. They are not reliable enough to still use on game in my opnion. I could fire them into some other type of media, but that will need to wait for another day.

 

[nztimb]

Nice store of original ammo

 

[HWL]

Except that the WR takedown is beautiful .....

This is an argument, nobody can resist!



HWL