I have been reading a lot of old threads on the Ol' 318WR but have noticed most of them are pretty old. I am new to the site and may be searching wrong?

What I would like to know is if OLDSARGE is still posting on this site or anyone else that can send me some reloading tips and data for the 318 Westley Richards. I need to buy some brass, bullets and dies. I would like to know if making my own cases would be worth the effort and cost of equipment or should I just buy the correct headstamped cases and a FL die set.

I was lucky enough to have picked up a 1925 Westley Richards bolt action at a gun show last weekend. I had not heard of the 318 until I seen this gun, but when I walked by it at the gun show I heard a voice that said HEY GOOD LOOKING, it reminded me of the first time I met my Wife! She has been a good one for 17 years, so I think the rifle was meant to be as well!

Shawn Massey

Shawn:

Welcome to AR. What a great old caliber. Brass, bullets, and dies can be found at www.custombrassandbullets.com and www.huntingtons.com www.midwayusa.com might have some of the components as well. RCBS and CH4D both make dies with the latter about half the price of RCBS. www.ch4d.com

Looks like Woodleighs might be the bullet of choice. Not sure about making cases from other brass.

You might want to post this on the big and medium bores and reloading forums here. A search of those forums might turn up something.

Also, check out www.nitroexpress.com There might be some help there as well on their Mauser, big bore and reloading forums.

Good Luck.

RCG

I/

Thanks Guy's! I am so excited about this rifle! I just hope it shoots well. I'll check out the cheaper dies, midway is 145.00

Shawn Massey
www.masseysfineguns.com

ALF

I ordered a set of the CH4D dies this morning. Do I need to do anything before loading the cases other than run the 30-06 cases through the dies and trim them to 2.4 inches?

Also the rifleing in the bore is odd looking, what should it look like. It also looks like a tight rate of twist.

Thanks for all the help!
Shawn

When I am finished with my 416 Rigby I am building a 318WR. They are scarcer than chichen teeth in RSA, I will have to build it myself.

Shawn, I just neck down and trim 35 Whelan brass, same result just seems a bit easier to me.

As for load data, take a look at loads for the 338-06 as a good starting point. I don't recall the exact numbers, but I measured the case volume of each from the base of the bullet (250 grainers) and it was extremely close to being identical. If your goal is only the original ballistics (2400 fps from a 28" barrel with a bit of kynoch's blue sky factored in, so 2300-2350 from a 24"?) it should be fine. I use IMR4831 and have tried RL15 in mine.

Bob

Sounds like a very interesting and classy project. Do you have photos of the gun? If you need help posting any, I would be happy to assist.

PM to you.

The reason for 30-06 is that I have a lot of it. If it gives me too much trouble I'll try the 35 Whelen brass.

I'll get some pics of my rifle and post them soon, it's old but I am proud of it!

Shawn

Quite a few years back I got hold of John Taylors book and fell in love with the WR318. Being new to gun addiction I couldn't find one anywhere so I thought I would build one. Barrel was a problem so with research I found that the bullet dia of a 318 was actually 0.330 so I figured that a 0.338 would do. The end result is a 318/338 that I am actually quite proud of. I bought a bunch of 318 brass from "The Old Western Scrounger" I think, had some dies built and the damn thing actually works quite well!
I also used 30-06 brass necked up to 35 Whelen and then put through my custom dies. I have the "recipe" for the load written down somewhere at home if anyone is interested.
My addiction has now progressed to the point that I know where to look for a real 318, but haven't got one........yet.

Shawn:

With respect to loading for your .318, there's a few things you should be aware of. The standard .318 load was a 250 grain bullet that did 2400 fps in a 28" barrel. I've chronographed some late run original Kynoch .318 from 24" barrels that didn't come up to 2300. It was a very low pressure load, as rimless magazine rifle cartridges of that day went. I'm sure it's a standard length Mauser, so it's a good strong action, although it's 83 years old.

Yes, the .318 is dimensionally very close to the .338/06, but standard loadings are substantially different. In an old Mauser you'd likely be fine with it, but if you wish to respect standard pressures, you can't use .338/06 data, as even recommended starting loads will usually be over the .318's max. For example, Winchester lists their starting load for a 250 grain .338/06 at 53,900 PSI, with their max load at 62,200 PSI. Standard max pressure for the .318 is 47,862 PSI, and that's the load that your rifle was proved for.

Don't know if it's important to you, but I thought you should be aware of the difference.
-----------------------------------------------
"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

Congratulations on your purchase. I think it is one of the best rounds you could possibly own and use.
According to Donnelly- Cartridge conversions:

Make from 30-06. Taper expand neck to about .330dia. Full length size in .318 die with expander removed. Trim to length Full length size and fireform.
Load to 2400 with 58.0 grains of 4831 powder.

Of course build up to that slowly.


I was fortunate to have purchased a bunch of Kynoch ammo in both solid and soft when I bought my rifles but this is the process I have been been using so as not to shoot up all the original.
As 400 NE says above I also found the chrono to show Kynoch velocities from 2200 to 2350 with 26 inch barrels.
I have not felt the need to push the above load which is consistently 2260 to 2290.
I have only killed one deer with mine and it was not a real test of any killing power.
I loaned my dies to Mike Davis who is also developing loads for a WR .318 which he recently purchased. Hopefully he will forward some info as well.

Tell me more about your rifle or send photos if you have any.
Is yours an LT series or prior to that?
Frank

Yes, mine is the LT series. I'll try to post some pics.

Frank, how do you taper expand the neck if you remove the expander from the die.


Shawn

I am going to try the picture thing.

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc27/dblgun1/DSCN1409.jpghttp://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc27/dblgun1/DSCN1414.jpg

/

It's working so here are more pics.http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc27/dblgun1/DSCN1408.jpghttp://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc27/dblgun1/DSCN1406.jpg

How did you get the picture right on the thread

I'm catching on now!

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc27/dblgun1/DSCN1414.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc27/dblgun1/DSCN1409.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc27/dblgun1/DSCN1408.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc27/dblgun1/DSCN1406.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc27/dblgun1/DSCN1403.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc27/dblgun1/DSCN1401.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc27/dblgun1/DSCN1391.jpg

I have to make a new horn knob for the bolt handle as you can see in this picture.

quote:

Originally posted by Shawn Massey:
Yes, mine is the LT series. I'll try to post some pics.

Frank, how do you taper expand the neck if you remove the expander from the die.


Shawn

I used a 32-20 expander and then a .32 special expander in the .318 die to open it up a bit before fireforming. Anneal first.
Frank

Thanks to all for your help! I recieved my CH4D dies today and have made 30 cases and have fired 5 of them!

Thanks for the tip about the CH4D folks, they are great people and thier dies work great!

I just lubed my cases and run them right into the 318 dies and it expands and sized all in one easy step, no split cases or trouble of any kind!

Also bought a box and a half of Kynoch factory loads on gunbroker!

Thanks again!
Shawn