Just finished this 318 on a 1909 Argentine. Welded square bridges set up for ERA twist off rings with G9 Plus in the rear, bench-made front sight and sling studs by my son, stock by Noah Hathorne. Metalwork and rust blue by me.

Beautiful!

Absolute ripper. Action work looks awesome, long live the 1909!

Beautiful rifle. Hope it won't be a safe queen, deserved to be used for hunting.

Totally awesome.

Very, very nice !

Did the receiver require any type of attempt to increase hardness? Could you describe more about the metalwork?

The proportion of the stock to the barrel is interesting.

Very nice Wayne~~

I like it.

Gulp ... Truly beautiful !!!

Wayne, A home run for sure. You should be proud!

My favorite caliber on my favorite action, what is not to like? Who did the engraving? and the square bridges? Looks like someones Leopard gun. Thanks for sharing this beauty!

Attention to detail is sublime, functional art, well done sir.

Lovely!!

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My favorite caliber on my favorite action, what is not to like? Who did the engraving? and the square bridges? Looks like someones Leopard gun. Thanks for sharing this beauty!

Mike Gouse did the engraving. I did the square bridges. I made bridge blanks for front and rear then Tig welded them on. Trying not to mess up the factory lettering was the hard part, and cutting the pocket for the front ring insert after all welding and shaping was done; you get one chance. Receiver and bolt were sent to Blanchard in Utah for re-hardening.
I have a bunch of the square bridge blanks if anyone needs a set. If you're making one, you might as well make extras while you're at it.

Beautiful. What are you doing re ammo. Do you know who makes or has dies and bullets for the 318 WR, or even a swage for reducing 338 bullets down to .330?

I've been scrounging brass and bullets for a while. I was able to pick up some components from AR members, Huntington's Sporting Goods in Oroville, CA (importer for Woodleigh and Bertram) and other places. I've never tried the swage approach.

Some interesting old components I picked up from an AR member:

Beautiful, classic rifle. Congratulations!

Fabulous rifle Wayne. Well done!

Love the work. That grip cap is too cool!

Yep, love it!

Looks great Wayne!

Looks great! We needa pic of the cheekpiece too.

Damn... just when I say I don't need another custom rifle someone comes along and posts a rifle like this! Well done.

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Looks great! We needa pic of the cheekpiece too.

Very nice. Forend is spot-on.

What bottom metal you use?

Wayne,
Holy hell that is a beautiful rifle, everything done "just right".
John

Baxter, the bottom metal is a Blackburn.

. . . everything about that rifle is classy. I am not a huge fan of the grip cap engraving but to each their own. Otherwise, that rifle has the lines, engraving and look that any nice custom rifle should have. I like the longer barrel and shorter forearm which give the rifle a very svelte look.

Thanks Wayne - excellent.

That thing is just unbelievably gorgeous!

Ha! I love that grip cap. Thought it was very cool and something different.
But, why .318? Never heard of a .318.
Beautiful beautiful rifle.

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Wonderful! Is the action, floorplate and trigger guard just polished steel or some type of finish?
What is the barrel length

The metal finish is rust blue which is very black, as in the full-length photo of the rifle. The lighting and reflection makes it look silvery. It seems to me that the engraving and detail shows best when in lighting like this??? Someone who knows photography better than I might chime in and give the best answer. The screw heads are nitre blued.

The barrel length is 25"

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But, why .318? Never heard of a .318.

Because it's there?
Historical significance?
It's cool?
Filling a niche?
Customer has every other caliber known to man?
All the above.

Your metal looks silvery in certain photos because you have too much direct fill light coming from the front.

Try lighting from the rear of the piece and use reflectors from the front to bounce light back into the piece.

you can also use some gobos (light blockers) to block some of that fill light on the metal.

In other words, increase the contrast of your lighting.

And remember that shiny objects will reflect what is surrounding them. So if you have white walls or white paper near that action it will reflect the white in a photo.

Austinguy

Never ask “Why” if the customer wants one- what further justification is needed! No flies on a .318 100 years ago and the same applies today.

Wayne. Superb looking rifle and some tidy work gone into cutting the recess in that front base after welding in place!

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Originally posted by AustinGuy:
But, why .318? Never heard of a .318.

.318 Westley Richards Accelerated Express

That whole wonderful name was engraved on some of the older Westley Richards rifles in that caliber, or should I say, calibre.

One of the early, most effective, and now classic medium bore African cartridges.

Wayne: Sir, that is beyond awesome! Love the grip cap engraving. All of my African custom rifles have engraving of one of the African Big Five or Dangerous Seven on the grip caps and also on the floor plates. Love it!

That is everything I could want in a custom rifle.

Fantastic in every way.