I recently acquired this rifle, which is a "light cordite" .577 Express 3" made by Westley Richards. The barrels are made from beautiful Damascus and the Metford bores look like new. According to the condition of the breech face, this gun has been shot very little. The gun weighs 10 pounds, 2 ounces and was probably hell on tigers.

I've asked Westley for the ledger page, which should tell me more about the gun, but I'm confident that it went to India. I'm in the process of acquiring dies and will need to cast at paper patch some bullets before I can shoot it; I have a supply of 650gr. Woodleigh FMJs also.

Wow!!
A dream rifle to be sure.
And, one of a pair. Some one long ago had taste!
I have some 650-grain cast bullets sized to .585.
They are powder coated with grease grooves, not patched. If they will work for you I can send you a handful.
Cal
PS. When I look at a treasure such as this Westley I wonder how the words "custom shop" come into play with a plastic stock and CNC machine work.

If you blow your left nut off, I'll trade you mine for that beauty.

Absolute heart stopping classic! Drool imoji needed!

Lovely rifle.

Can you post a picture of the flats? I'd like to see the proof marks.

Thanks for all of the kind words, guys. I am over the moon.

Cal- I will take you up on that as my mould is sized .575” for patching. Happy to pay you for them.

Will post photos of the flats as soon as I’m back to my computer.

PM sent with my email.
I've looked at your .577 so much I will take down my Farrah Fawcett poster and put up the pics of your Westley.
Cal

quote:

Originally posted by cal pappas:
PM sent with my email.
I've looked at your .577 so much I will take down my Farrah Fawcett poster and put up the pics of your Westley.
Cal

Westley Richards is my favorite maker, and I like Damascus barrels as well, but I sure like Farrah Fawcett as well. I might have a problem making that choice, but like you she might have to go because I'm creeping up on 82 years of age! OK I could still use the rifle!

…………………………………………………….

quote:

Originally posted by cal pappas:
PM sent with my email.
I've looked at your .577 so much I will take down my Farrah Fawcett poster and put up the pics of your Westley.
Cal

What about Janet Reno?

I look forward to your shooting the rifle!
Wanted to bid on the Westley too but I was enlisted to help a brother pick up a 1959 Karmann Ghia.
A hundred miles in a '59 Ghia takes more time than one would think...

Anyway, glad someone here got it so we can see how it works.

One thing I wonder about a rifle such as this, is just how well a NfB load can work in some Metford barrels.
Two Metford rifles I have - 461 Gibbs and a W.R. 1881 450No.2 Musket - don't work well due to the chambers not allowing a bullet sized to the grooves. Tight necked as they say which is the way to go in a BP rifle using bore sized bullets which will "bump up" to fill the grooves.
A chamber cast will clearly show if this is the case with your Westley - you can see the groove depth run straight into the wall of the chamber.
Of course, this can be "fixed" by reaming out the chamber neck area to allow a larger bullet but I cringe at the thought - and this has been done quite a bit to these grand old rifles!

Your double, I would expect by the serial number, damascus barrels and the Metford rifling, was a black powder rifle later reproved for a light cordite load.
Regardless, a super classy rifle and a 577 to boot! Lovely condition too!

Here are the flats:

Lovely rifle in a great caliber!

Strictly a personal opinion but I have done a fair bit of work on damascus barrels, they are much softer than steel barrels, I would be hesitant to put many FMJ's through it if I owned it. Enjoy it in good health!
Steve

Beautiful.

Dave

Wonder where No 1 is?

Beutiful rifle!

I'm interested in knowing how your pp projectiles work with smokeless. I've shot thousands of rounds using black but never had good luck with smokeless.

Lovely old girl.

quote:

Originally posted by cal pappas:
PM sent with my email.
I've looked at your .577 so much I will take down my Farrah Fawcett poster and put up the pics of your Westley.
Cal

You might need a large freeway hoarding to accommodate the images, though.

Yes, 'tis a beautiful rifle and in a version of the .577 I might even consider shooting.

That's a beautiful rifle. I would be inclined to shoot it with black powder and paper patched lead bullets.

There is a swaged lead bullet available that works perfectly in my .577 Alexander Henry. You can find this "store bought" bullet here: Montana Precision Swaging Cast Bullets 58 Caliber (577 Diameter) 560 Grain Lead Straight Sided Paper Patch (Unpatched) Round Nose Cup Base Box of 50

Years ago I wrote an article about loading paper patched bullets in my .577 Henry. You can see it here: A Few Tricks With Paper Patched Bullets ~ and ~ Loading For The .577 2.75" BPE

And if you want to take a peek at my Henry, look here: Alexander Henry .577 2 3/4" BPE

You should do chamber casts to make sure you know your chamber lengths. Should be 2-3/4".

At the weight of your rifle it is going to be quite a thumper!

Curl

Notwithstanding the need to use softer lead bullets as mentioned by others with more knowledge than I, 75 grains of Cordite and a 650 grain bullet is still one heavy load.

I know this is not the full nitro load, but powerful none the less.

As for the rifle, beautiful is not enough. I am simply not a good enough poet.

quote:

Originally posted by Roscoe Stephenson:
That's a beautiful rifle. I would be inclined to shoot it with black powder and paper patched lead bullets.

There is a swaged lead bullet available that works perfectly in my .577 Alexander Henry. You can find this "store bought" bullet here: Montana Precision Swaging Cast Bullets 58 Caliber (577 Diameter) 560 Grain Lead Straight Sided Paper Patch (Unpatched) Round Nose Cup Base Box of 50

Years ago I wrote an article about loading paper patched bullets in my .577 Henry. You can see it here: A Few Tricks With Paper Patched Bullets ~ and ~ Loading For The .577 2.75" BPE

And if you want to take a peek at my Henry, look here: Alexander Henry .577 2 3/4" BPE

You should do chamber casts to make sure you know your chamber lengths. Should be 2-3/4".

At the weight of your rifle it is going to be quite a thumper!

Curl

Thanks, I actually read your paper patching article while I was waiting impatiently for the rifle to arrive. The chamber length is actually 3". Hopefully the info from Westley will shed a bit more light on the gun.

Your bullets are in the post via priority mail. Arrival should be Friday. I was at work but my mom (she's 90) saw the box and went to the post to mail it).
Cal

Thanks so much, Cal! Your book will go out this week.

I just looked at a 577 BPE hammer rifle today that was pretty cool.....Tempting....

thats a work of art I'd be afraid to shoot it. Beautiful