Double Rifle Question

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05 August 2004, 08:47

Keith Atcheson

Double Rifle Question

I have a close friend that recently asked me about a Wesley Richards double in the 500- .465 caliber. I know it is probably way more pricey than other options out there but $$ is not his first concern. Complete reliabilty is. He is worried about chamber pressure etc..... I told him it is not my specialty but I know some guys that do know. I don't imagine anyone out there has an opinion on this?

05 August 2004, 08:51

Will

Doesn't Taylor's book(s) have the pressures listed for all the old calibers? Why is pressure of concern with the old high volume, low pressure cartridges? It is a non-issue to me.

05 August 2004, 09:09

Brett

Dear Keith,

Welcome home! FYI, a co-worker stopped in at Milpark to ask about Nikki. I thought you might like to know that the staff was buzzing about her. Said she was tough and a real character (by anyoneï¿½s standards). Glad things worked outï¿½

I must concur with Will regarding pressures in this chambering. If money is no object and reliability is, be sure to get a ï¿½drop lockï¿½ WR. Best of the best of the best IMHO.

Best regards;
Brett

05 August 2004, 09:12

500grains

The 500/465 has a max average pressure of 35,559.

In comparison the 470 NE has 39,187 and the 416 Rigby has 47,170.

05 August 2004, 09:24

MacD37

Quote:

I have a close friend that recently asked me about a Wesley Richards double in the 500- .465 caliber. I know it is probably way more pricey than other options out there but $$ is not his first concern. Complete reliabilty is. He is worried about chamber pressure etc..... I told him it is not my specialty but I know some guys that do know. I don't imagine anyone out there has an opinion on this?

Keith, the 500/465NE is a 14 ton pressure round, that pushes a 480 gr bullet at 2150 fps, produceing 4930 fpe at muzzle. it is a 73.0 gr cordite load, and is faily low pressure round, close to the pressure of the 470NE.

A Westley Richards, origenally chambered for this round is a fine rifle, though brass, bullets for handloading will be easy, factory ammo will not!

By the way, How is Niki?

05 August 2004, 18:29

Russ Gould

Don't shoot it, waaay to dangerous, just put it in a case and mail it to me and I will put it with all the other dangerous old guns and make sure nobody gets hurt!

06 August 2004, 00:51

<eldeguello>

Quote:

I have a close friend that recently asked me about a Wesley Richards double in the 500-.465 caliber. I know it is probably way more pricey than other options out there but $$ is not his first concern. Complete reliabilty is. He is worried about chamber pressure etc..... I told him it is not my specialty but I know some guys that do know. I don't imagine anyone out there has an opinion on this?

I don't understand his concern. I am sure Westley Richards didn't make rifles that were not strong enough for the ammo for which they were chambered.

All those cavernous old British Nitro-Express rounds were made large so they would produce the needed velocity with very low pressures. Cordite, which is the propellant that was used in these back when, was pretty sensitive to heat. Consequently, they loaded them to low pressures so the round would not go over the top pressure-wise when fired in hot climates like Africa!

The question I WOULD have, however, is how difficult is it to get ammo for it these days??

06 August 2004, 07:42

Keith Atcheson

Thanks Guys. I'll pass it on to him. To be honest I've never really worried to much about pressure either. The pressure that gets my attention is when I have a wounded buffalo bearing down on me and having to kill it before it kills someone. That is pressure.

MacD37, Niki is doing fantastic. I put a post on a few days ago with a little more detail but the bottom line is she is well on her way to full recovery and it truly is an amazing thing considering what I saw that buffalo do to her. Shortly after it tossed her I put a .416 solid thru it's brain as it came for me. It fell backwards right on top of Niki. A scene I do not want to repeat.