.318 Westley Richards Project gun ideas

[Thomas Murray]

Recently purchased a bsa le1 which was meant to be chambered in ".318 nitro express"... aka .318 westley richards... its just not. appears to be .303... which means i now i own 4 x .303 with a desire to own 1...
so now i own a rough .303 sporter... again, im not sure you could even chamber a .318 in an enfield action

in any case i now own brass, projectiles and dies to load .318 just nothing too shoot it from, which funny enough the brass and dies were all available in my state...

was wondering what would be a good action to build one on?
would an old swedish mauser work?

has be control round feed, not a cz550 as iv already got enough of those...
and cheap ish...

swedish mausers are cheap in australia as are most sporter old mauser actioned guns... around $500 aud.

The other consideration would be a parker hale, they often come up, already in a neat sporter stock, decent action..what cartridge size would be a good start? 30-06 or something? im guessing 243winchester would be way to short and painful too convert.... less smithing the better
suggestions ?

uploaded some pictures of the turd bsa... very strange the way its marked..

 

[bruce moulds]

a good example of polishing a turd and rolling it in glitter.
looks like a pimps 303.
insufficient for 318.
mauser 96 might be ok, but best avoided in favour of a 98, m70, etc.
saami length for 30/06 is 3.34" and 318 is 3.4". (318 not saami)
bruce.

 

[bruce moulds]

might a chamber cast be in order?
just to make sure of the safety aspect.
bruce.

 

[Thomas Murray]

yeah pretty unhappy.

yeah think even a zastava..? or parker and hale at least its a sport to begin with.
yeah was getting around 3.3" for the .318

was thinking alog the lines of keep the bolt face pretty much the way it is and throw the barrel away in favour of a .318, open sights.

after purchasing it i was wondering why anyone would chambering .318 in an enfield... seemed hot.
after looking about seems im a sucker, but how do you know when your only just getting into a hobby, only been into safari stuff for less then 3 years and firearms for 4-5 years

a pair of fn mausers would be nice, one for .318 and another for a .404 jeff... see what happens.

thanks for the input.

 

[Shootist43]

I don't mean to sound like a smart a**, but you could hang that "thing" over a fireplace for a conversation starter and go buy something you can use as is, or build upon. For deer weighing up to 300 lbs. and hogs I really like my 6.5 x 55 Swedish Mauser. Like you said they are relatively inexpensive but they are also very rugged and accurate. I like my 404 Jeffery(s) one is on a CZ the other is on a Winchester. With those two rifles (the Swede and a 404) you can take just about anything that walks.

 

[Major Khan]

The BRNO ZKK - 600 would ( l believe ) be a very nice action to build a .318 Westley Richards calibre rifle on. Having recently created some hand loaded cartridges for my friend's 7 × 57 mm Mauser calibre Brno ZKK 600 ( pictured below ) , l have really taken a liking to their modified Mauser action.

Unlike most other conventional Mauser 98 action rifles which l have seen ( including those high end English pieces built by Westley Richards and Holland & Holland ) , the magazine floor plate release catch is not located inside the trigger guard , but rather outside the trigger guard. This means that you have practically no chance of the magazine floor plate popping open due to recoil .
In my 10 year career , l have seen more than a few Mauser 98 action rifles have their magazine floor plates pop open , due to the shooter's knuckle striking the magazine floor plate's release catch ( which was inside the trigger guard ) , due to recoil . While not a common occurrence by any means , l have personally witnessed it happen enough times in the shikar field to warrant caution ( a common method to solve this problem , during my time , was to have a gun smith put a pin through the release catch ) .
A BRNO ZKK 600 action, by design alone negates this problem . The best actions to use are the 1s from the early 1970s , as they have a folding diopter in the receiver ( like @Kawshik Rahman 's rifle )

 

[bruce moulds]

khan,
you are right about magazine latches.
the brno you mention and the win m70 simply and effectively avoid this problem by design.
bruce.

 

[Major Khan]

khan,
you are right about magazine latches.
the brno you mention and the win m70 simply and effectively avoid this problem by design.
bruce.

Ah , yes Bruce . The pre 64 Winchester Model 70 , will always be my favorite bolt rifle of all time ( especially considering that l actually saw them being used during my career. ). I learnt a fascinating thing about the new Winchester Model 70 Safari Express rifles . The new .375 Holland & Holland magnum calibre models actually hold 1 cartridge less than the pre 64 models of my time .
The .375 Holland & Holland magnum calibre pre 64 Winchester Model 70 used to hold 4 cartridges in the magazine + 1 in the breech. The new Safari Express models hold 3 cartridges in the magazine + 1 in the breech .
Not that l consider it a practical disadvantage , though.

 

[Thomas Murray]

I don't mean to sound like a smart a**, but you could hang that "thing" over a fireplace for a conversation starter and go buy something you can use as is, or build upon. For deer weighing up to 300 lbs. and hogs I really like my 6.5 x 55 Swedish Mauser. Like you said they are relatively inexpensive but they are also very rugged and accurate. I like my 404 Jeffery(s) one is on a CZ the other is on a Winchester. With those two rifles (the Swede and a 404) you can take just about anything that walks.

think id rather it in the fire place....

 

[Thomas Murray]

brno 600 is a very good suggestion.

 

[Shootist43]

An actual 1896 Swedish Mauser is one heck of a good rifle. It is as strong as any of the newer 6.5 x 55 rifles. The Swedes are relatively easy to Sporterize. In fact in the States you can buy a sporterized version cheaper than you can one in Military guise. BRNO(s) are excellent rifles, that would be my first choice if a Swede wasn't available.

 

[bruce moulds]

mauser 96 = long locktime + cock on closing + less failure backup than more modern actions = not as good.
I doubt it would be as strong as a brno 600, rem 700 or a ruger77 etc.
the 96 was pretty advanced when introduced, compared to say the dreyse needle gun,, but it was a time of rapid development and things changed 2 years later with the 98 action.
to convert one to 318 would be a big expensive chore for second prize.
why do it to yourself?
an old mkx sporter in 30/06 or 270 is sometimes available priced reasonably, and the mag might well not need any work at all.

bruce.

 

[sestoppelman]

The BRNO 600 series or ZG 47 would be good choices for this proyect as my dad used to call it. Though I hate to see good BRNO rifles cobbled up into something else as they are getting scarce nowadays, stateside anyway. There are lots of suitable 98 Mauser actions floating around for sensible money to choose from.

 

[bruce moulds]

there were mauser 98 military rifles made by f.n. post war that had excellent actions made of more modern steel with excellent heat treatment.
military actions do however need more money thrown at them than those specifically made as sporters in the first place.
my own 9,3x64 is built on a mkx action I bought for $200.00 au.
it has a good trigger and the bolt handle was ready to go, as well as drilled and tapped for scope mounts.
a Lothar walther prechambered barrel also fitted a budget experiment which turned into a handy tool.
bruce.

 

[nztimb]

there were mauser 98 military rifles made by f.n. post war that had excellent actions made of more modern steel with excellent heat treatment.
military actions do however need more money thrown at them than those specifically made as sporters in the first place.
my own 9,3x64 is built on a mkx action I bought for $200.00 au.
it has a good trigger and the bolt handle was ready to go, as well as drilled and tapped for scope mounts.
a Lothar walther prechambered barrel also fitted a budget experiment which turned into a handy tool.
bruce.

Got a pic of that one?? The 318 is one of the iconic chamberings and paired with a period stock is one of the more desirable projects

 

[bruce moulds]

garry,
I don't know how to do pics.
believe me it is not a pretty sight!
bruce.

 

[Wyatt Smith]

garry,
I don't know how to do pics.
believe me it is not a pretty sight!
bruce.

As long as it works.

 

[bruce moulds]

wyatt,
it is as ugly as a hatffull of ar***oles, but it works well.
bruce.

 

[nztimb]

wyatt,
it is as ugly as a hatffull of ar***oles, but it works well.
bruce.

A whole hatfull is serious ugly. Maybe if it was just shy of a whole hatfull we might walk you through how to post pics

 

[bruce moulds]

garry
let's say a bowler hat full or a 10 gallon hat 3/4 full.
bruce.