The .425 Westley Richards is one of the classic African big-game rounds. It is a cartridge invented by Leslie Bown Taylor of Westley Richards, a gunmaking firm of BirminghamEngland in 1909 as a proprietary cartridge for their bolt-action rifles.
Since before 1912 Rigby were Mauser agents in the UK and managed to persuade Oberndorf to develop and produce special Magnum actions for them, other British companies who wanted to compete with their .400/350 Nitro Expressbig five game hunting rifles had to improvise and use standard-length Gewehr 98 actions, which only allow approximately 84 mm cartridges to fit into the magazine (a bonus was having a shorter bolt throw).
The round was the first in Great Britain (and the first major in the world[2]) to have a rebated rim, one that is smaller in diameter than the case body, an invention which Taylor patented in 1908.[3] This allowed it to be used in converted G98 rifles with standard bolt faces and not have them weakened by widening.[4]
However, it complicated the magazine design: when the cartridge is pushed forward and the bullet rides up the feed ramp, smaller diameter rim dives down and tends to slip under the bolt face (especially in absence of special measures to ensure reliable feeding), which may cause a serious jam. To solve this problem, Taylor developed (and patented in 1909[5]) a proprietary single-stack magazine akin to Belgian Mauser, which similarly extended below the stock. However, many rifles were and are nevertheless produced with standard G98-type flush double stack, double feed magazine, which works quite well as long as the spring remains strong enough.[4]
The rebated rim also allows government game officers and authorized hunters to use standard stripper clips for rapid reloads when culling rogue animals.[4]
^Barnes, Frank C. (2006) [1965]. Skinner, Stan (ed.). Cartridges of the World (11th ed.). Iola, WI, USA: Gun Digest Books. pp. 396, 408, 411. ISBN0-89689-297-2.
westley, richards, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, january,. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources 425 Westley Richards news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2013 Learn how and when to remove this template message The 425 Westley Richards is one of the classic African big game rounds It is a cartridge invented by Leslie Bown Taylor of Westley Richards a gunmaking firm of Birmingham England in 1909 as a proprietary cartridge for their bolt action rifles 425 Westley RichardsTypeRiflePlace of originEnglandProduction historyDesignerWestley RichardsDesigned1908SpecificationsCase typeRebated rim bottleneckBullet diameter 435 in 11 0 mm Neck diameter 456 in 11 6 mm Shoulder diameter 540 in 13 7 mm Base diameter 543 in 13 8 mm Rim diameter 467 in 11 9 mm Case length2 64 in 67 mm Overall length3 30 in 84 mm Ballistic performanceBullet mass type Velocity Energy410 gr 27 g SP 2 350 ft s 720 m s 5 010 ft lbf 6 790 J Source s Cartridges of the World 1 Since before 1912 Rigby were Mauser agents in the UK and managed to persuade Oberndorf to develop and produce special Magnum actions for them other British companies who wanted to compete with their 400 350 Nitro Express big five game hunting rifles had to improvise and use standard length Gewehr 98 actions which only allow approximately 84 mm cartridges to fit into the magazine a bonus was having a shorter bolt throw The round was the first in Great Britain and the first major in the world 2 to have a rebated rim one that is smaller in diameter than the case body an invention which Taylor patented in 1908 3 This allowed it to be used in converted G98 rifles with standard bolt faces and not have them weakened by widening 4 However it complicated the magazine design when the cartridge is pushed forward and the bullet rides up the feed ramp smaller diameter rim dives down and tends to slip under the bolt face especially in absence of special measures to ensure reliable feeding which may cause a serious jam To solve this problem Taylor developed and patented in 1909 5 a proprietary single stack magazine akin to Belgian Mauser which similarly extended below the stock However many rifles were and are nevertheless produced with standard G98 type flush double stack double feed magazine which works quite well as long as the spring remains strong enough 4 The rebated rim also allows government game officers and authorized hunters to use standard stripper clips for rapid reloads when culling rogue animals 4 See also editList of rifle cartridges 11 mm caliberReferences edit Barnes Frank C 2006 1965 Skinner Stan ed Cartridges of the World 11th ed Iola WI USA Gun Digest Books pp 396 408 411 ISBN 0 89689 297 2 425 Westley Richards Rifle System RifleMagazine GB 190827166A note that the illustration features a 425 WR cartridge a b c The 425 Westley Richards 11 July 2019 GB 190900100A External links editA picture of a cartridge Archived 2007 03 12 at the Wayback Machine nbsp This ammunition related article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 425 Westley Richards amp oldid 1161761389, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
