recently aquired a nice .425 Westly Richards with a 24" barrel built on a Mauser 98 Action.

There is very limited loading data but I did find a reference on the web for 80.0 gr of IMR 4895 using a 410gr. Barnes Original bulltes. I was hoping to develop a load using one of the Hodgdon Extreme powders as they claim to be less temperature sensitive than other powders on the market. In hopes of making the world a better place I post the following loading data from a recent visit to the range:

Bullet - 410gr Barnes original (also tried 410gr Woodliegh Solid with no difference in velocities)
Primer - Federal 215M
Cases - Bertram Brass as well as some cases made by "masterifleman" out of 375 RUM (No difference)
Altitude - 5,025 feet above sea level
Temp - 90 degrees
Humidity - 27%
Chronograph - Crony C

75.0 gr H4895 produced an average velocity of 2,468 fps with a slight feel to the bolt ... I never did bother to try 80 grs of 4895!

74.0 gr of VARGET - produced an average velocity of 2,342 fps

75.0 gr of VARGET - produced an average velocity of 2,408 fps. (note the first shot was 2,369 fps and the rest were 2,402 - 2,414 fps.

There were no extraction problems whatsoever with any of the VARGET loads even when the rifle got hot.

Hope this helps ...

I found that the two sources of brass carried by Huntington were a bit soft and yielded hard bolt handle lift. Bertram was one of them. Did you machine a rebated rim into the 375RUM? roger

I confess, I did it for induna jr. I ground a 1/4" tool bit and set it up in my lathe to turn the rebated rims. Worked out pretty good. The first one I did, the lathe bit backed it out of the chuck and turned about a 1/4" long extractor groove in it. I took a piece of 1/4" hardwood dowell and turned the end so that it fit in the primer pocket then put it in the tail stock. I chucked each case and ran the dowell into the primer pocket then adjusted the carriage to bring the tool into the proper alignment in the X axis, turned the lathe on and turned the crossfeed in to the pre-set depth. Not all the cases are 100% alike but the variances are insignificant. It took about 30-40 seconds for each case. We (induna jr.) and I then sized the cases in a .425WR FL sizer in one pass using Imperial Sizing Die wax then chucked them in my Forster case trimmer with my cordless drill motor attached and trimmed to length. For 100 cases, I don't think it took much over two hours. Compared to the cost of Bertram brass vs. 375RUM cases, it was a no brainer to do the labor.

quote:

Originally posted by Masterifleman:
Compared to the cost of Bertram brass vs. 375RUM cases, it was a no brainer to do the labor.

When I switched to .375 Rum I had to lapp the chamber as the difference in head diameter was just too great. I also opened up the face of my bolt. roger