THE .425 MAGNUM EXPRESS CARTRIDGE
Designed and patented by Leslie Taylor, the .425 Magnum Express cartridge was introduced by Westley Richards in 1909 (some sources say 1908) and fired a 410-grain bullet at an advertised 2 350 fps. With an actual bullet diameter of .435” and delivering over 5 000 foot-pounds of energy, it was the most powerful magazine rifle in the world for a short while. Mostly chambered in bolt-action rifles using Mauser actions, Westley Richards also built a few double rifles in this calibre. It was a proprietary cartridge and very few other manufacturers ever built rifles in this calibre.
The .425 was comparable to the .404 Jeffery and .416 Rigby, and these three always competed in the “battle of the .400s”. All three were designed to duplicate the ballistics of the famous rimmed .450/400 Nitro-Express that fired a 400-grain bullet at about 2 150 fps, but in a bolt-action rifle. The .404, with its bullet diameter of .423”, used a 400-grain bullet at a slightly lower muzzle velocity of 2 125 fps. It required a Magnum action, although many were indeed built on modified standard-length actions. The .416 also required a Magnum action and launched a .416”, 410-grain bullet at 2 371 fps. This article does not intend to compare the merits of these three cartridges, as this is a long-lasting and ongoing debate. (The purpose of this article is to take a detailed look at how the .425 rifle was made, especially the five-shot model.)
All three cartridges are classic and worthy,
