333 Jeffery vs 318 Wesley Richards

[Hunter-Habib]

I personally prefer the .333 Jeffery with the 300Gr bullet.

 

[Jefferry404]

here is the spec 338-06 A-Square:
Pressure limits:
MAP – 53,000 CUP 63,000 psi
MPLM – 54,300 CUP 64,600 psi
MPSM - 56,400 CUP 67,000 psi
Velocity
200 grain – 2,750 fps

A bit surprising only list 200gn bullet and certainly a bit more psi than the WR (47682psi) and nearly identical case capacity. The length to shoulder, diameter are nearly identical with a shallower shoulder angle.

So it is settled. My 338-06 will be the poor man’s 318 Wesley Richards
Steve

 

[Sarg]

here is the spec 338-06 A-Square:
Pressure limits:
MAP – 53,000 CUP 63,000 psi
MPLM – 54,300 CUP 64,600 psi
MPSM - 56,400 CUP 67,000 psi
Velocity
200 grain – 2,750 fps

A bit surprising only list 200gn bullet and certainly a bit more psi than the WR (47682psi) and nearly identical case capacity. The length to shoulder, diameter are nearly identical with a shallower shoulder angle.

So it is settled. My 338-06 will be the poor man’s 318 Wesley Richards
Steve




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It’s a great cartridge & on the heels of factory 338Win mag if reloaded, I was getting well over 3000fps with 185gr the 160grs Barnes would of been even better I think but I could never get any.

For here & most likely the US I prefer over the 9.3x62 but in Africa the 9.3 & 375 are better with the larger bullets, I have 275gr A frames & 300gr Woodies for the 338/06.

I really like it but still grab the 30/06 most of the time & the .458Win for the rest !

 

[BlueFlyer]

The 318WR 250gr load was mighty long and pointy, it has a .420BC per woodleigh. The 333 J 250gr is short and stubby by design, it has a .335 BC per woodleigh.

You are correct with the Ballistic Coefficient which relates to how efficiently it retains velocity in flight. But Sectional Density which has far more effect on penetration is also listed on the Woodleigh website. The 250grn for the 318 has an SD of .328 and the 250gr for the 333 has an SD of.322 so not much difference. The 333 300gr has an SD of .386. For reference the 416, 410gr projectile has an SD of .338.
Guess that's why the 333 with 300gr projectiles @ 2,200fps had such a good reputation.

 

[Tintin]

For anyone curious about the suiitability of the .318 Westley Richards for Vulpes, I conducted some empirical field testing this week.

The 250 grain projectiles proved effective, with emphatic one shot kills on 100% of the quarry.

 

[BFaucett]

.... <snip>....

So it is settled. My 338-06 will be the poor man’s 318 Wesley Richards
Steve

Most excellent! Years ago, when I had a Weatherby Mark V Ultra Lightweight in .338-06 A-Square, I always thought of the .338-06 as the modern version or reincarnation of the .318 Westley Richards. As can be seen from the cartridge dimensions, the two cartridges are very similar.

Here's one more pic, that I forgot to include in my previous post, that shows how similar the two cartridges are (since the 8mm-06 and the .338-06 are so similar in dimensions).

Nowadays, for me, my Ruger M77 Mk II in .338 Win Mag is my poor man's .318 Westley Richards. I handload a 250 gr down to around 2400 - 2500 fps when I want to emulate using a .318 WR or a .333 Jeffery. The reduced recoil is nice compared to factory .338 Win Mag 250 gr loads.

my Ruger M77 Mk II .338 Win Mag

Just my ramblings... Cheers! Bob F.

 

[F. Vaccaro]

BFaucett, thanks, those are interesting pictures.
The .318 & .333 are good ctgs. very historic as well. A very interesting thread, I'm staying tuned!

 

[BFaucett]

BFaucett, thanks, those are interesting pictures.
The .318 & .333 are good ctgs. very historic as well. A very interesting thread, I'm staying tuned!

You're very welcome. Here's a couple of articles about the .318 WR and a short one about the .333 Jeffery that I thought you might enjoy. ( They're pdf files).
Cheers! Bob F.

 

[F. Vaccaro]

The lead on those original rifles must have been long looking at how far out those bullets are seated? Of course seating the bullet that far out you don't take up powder space. Interesting cartridges.

 

[Huvius]

The lead on those original rifles must have been long looking at how far out those bullets are seated? Of course seating the bullet that far out you don't take up powder space. Interesting cartridges.

Beautiful, aren’t they?

Interestingly, Westley Richards developed a variant of the 318 that had an extremely sharp shoulder - almost a 90deg flat!
This, decades before the Ackley Improved cartridges were developed.

 

[BFaucett]

Beautiful, aren’t they?

Interestingly, Westley Richards developed a variant of the 318 that had an extremely sharp shoulder - almost a 90deg flat!
This, decades before the Ackley Improved cartridges were developed.

There's just something about long (high sectional density) round nose bullets that I find to be aesthetically pleasing. They may not have high ballistic coefficients, compared to spitzers, but I think they sure do look cool.

Cheers! Bob F.

 

[cajunchefray]

There's just something about long (high sectional density) round nose bullets that I find to be aesthetically pleasing. They may not have high ballistic coefficients, compared to spitzers, but I think they sure do look cool.

Cheers! Bob F.

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That’s a very interesting comparison of two classics.
I bet that 30-06 , 220 grain “played hell” in the animal ( my Dads expression).

 

[cajunchefray]

Regarding the OP, both seem effective, to me the 318 Westley Richards has the panache.
Others may have other opinions and that’s good.

 

[Sarg]

That’s a very interesting comparison of two classics.
I bet that 30-06 , 220 grain “played hell” in the animal ( my Dads expression).

When I first went to Africa a LONG time ago, I took a 30/06 with 220gr hot loaded, shot a lot of stuff from Big to small & all died with one shot each.

I guided on Sambar & lot of my clients used the same load (as I to did on Sambar) to take a lot of very large stags, most were bigger than our Wapiti, at least in weight ?

Better add North Is Sambar have year round consist more than ample feed & South Is Wapiti live in crappy cold inhospitable habitat, I haven’t weighed either & couldn’t carry either to the chiller !

So could be open to debate lol

 

[pjaln]

had this 333 jeffery years ago , great gun but a bit on the heavy side for the caliber , it was built on a SSB magnum mauser tho some lighter models were built on standard converted military actions jeffery also did this with the 404 using magnum as well as standard , the 318 won the popularity contest for sure but the 333 was certainly a great round