.318 RIMLESS NITROEXPRESS RIFLES, AND HOW THEY WERE MADE

THE .318 RIMLESS NITRO-EXPRESS

The .318 Rimless Nitro-Express cartridge was introduced by Westley Richards in 1909 and fired a 250-grain bullet at about 2 400 fps (the actual bullet diameter was .330”). It was mostly chambered in handy, reliable, lightweight bolt-action rifles using Mauser actions. The 250-grain bullet had a very high sectional density and the long parallel sides resulted in excellent penetration. It immediately gained a reputation as an outstanding medium-bore cartridge and was one of Westley Richards’ most popular cartridges. John Taylor writes in African Rifles and Cartridges that it was “undoubtedly the most popular and most widely-used British medium bore”.

Also commonly known as the “.318 Westley Richards” or the “.318 Accelerated Express”, it is certainly a classic and famous cartridge and has been praised by many hunters who used it. Taylor further said, “there was nothing to compare with it” and “you could not wish for a better or more satisfactory general-purpose medium bore”. W.D.M. Bell is always associated with the .275 Rigby, but in fact in Karamojo Safari he also recommends to the novice that “the 250gr .318, although far from perfect, approaches most nearly the big game hunter’s ideal bullet”.

Westley Richards experimented with various bullet weights, including a 180-grain bullet, but the most widely used was the 250-grain soft-nose and the 250-grain solid bullets with their thick jackets as loaded by Kynoch –these loads earned the .318 its enviable reputation. One bullet that was only marginally successful was the patented hollow LT pointed-capped bullet, which was really intended for thin-skinned