425 westley richards

It depends on the stock - bedding, recoil lugs etc. You'd also have to consider feeding as it is a rebated rim and the body diameter is larger than the /06 family. Not to mention finding brass and dies. There was an article many moos ago about a chambering they called the .30 Warthog (I think). It was a short, fat .30 cal based on a shortened .425 W-R case. This was well before the WSM and RSAUM. There may be some good info in that article, if you can find it.
 
Other rebated rimmed rounds work so why not this one lol. I've been reading about it and apparently some mausers were converted. No specific details but African animal culling was mentioned. I'm betting recoil would be brisk in a light weight sporter.
 
While it sounds interesting there is a problem. Brass is almost unavailable and what brass there is isn't very good. A few that have rifles in this calibre get around this problem by getting another bolt for the rifle with a boltface that will fit either the 404 or the Rum cases. 425 cases with the larger head are then formed from the 404 or the Rum brass. Bullets are not all that available either. If you want a powerfull rifle why not build a 416 Ruger (375 ruger necked up to 416) or a 416 Taylor (458 necked down to 416). Both would be comparable in power to the 425 but with easily available components.
 
rokoro has very good points. On a pure specs basis, it wouldn't be a particularly difficult project, and I can't foresee much trouble getting it to feed. I had to read the specs, but it's the same length as an -06, with a base forty thou larger than a .284 Win, and no bolt face modifications required. Case appears very feed friendly in profile as well. Would be a neat project if brass and bullets can be solved.
 
I have a 425 WR in a Montana 99, Tradex has lots of Woodliegh bullets. The only brass I've been able to get is Bertram and it is expensive garbage. I've been waiting 2 years for Quality to do a run of brass. It is a nice cartridge but it's a challenge to keep shooting.
 
A pricey cartridge to work with though it is do-able. New brass can be had from Bertram, .435" bullets from Woodleigh and loaded ammo from Kynoch.(A pack of 5 is $73.oo US!...:sok2 ) The biggest hurdle is sourcing
all this stuff, including reloading dies, in Canada.

Westley Richards will build you a standard sporting rifle in .425 starting at around 16,000 Pounds.

The .416 Ruger definitely makes more sense as a big bore cartridge as it gives up nothing in terms of performance over the .425WR and is readily available & affordable.
 
I recently had the great pleasure to shoot one. That is the reason I want one. I couldn't afford a Rigby. I've been thinking of building a 416 Taylor but the 425 WR just seems so much cooler. I don't have a need for either one which doesn't bother me.
 
The shoulder on the W-R is only .003" smaller that the base, so it has virtually no taper. In comparison the .284 has a .026" difference, plus it is a much shorter case so it has quite a bit more taper (plus a larger rim and smaller base than the W-R). I am sure you can make it work - as other have in the past - but I still suspect that some rail and follower work may be needed for slick feeding. Some time ago I looked into all of this and ended up wussing out and going with a plain old, boring .416 Rem Mag. Unless my memory is failing me both the W-R and the .500 Jeffery take some work to make feed well.

On a different note, Horneber makes brass. Reimer-Johannsen lists it for 72.60 Euros for 20 (which is about $5 each). In other words, the same as .26 Nosler brass. :)

Keep us posted on your project, it certainly sounds very interesting. Maybe you will make a companion for it chambered in .318 W-R.
 
rokoro said:
While it sounds interesting there is a problem. Brass is almost unavailable and what brass there is isn't very good. A few that have rifles in this calibre get around this problem by getting another bolt for the rifle with a boltface that will fit either the 404 or the Rum cases. 425 cases with the larger head are then formed from the 404 or the Rum brass. Bullets are not all that available either. If you want a powerfull rifle why not build a 416 Ruger (375 ruger necked up to 416) or a 416 Taylor (458 necked down to 416). Both would be comparable in power to the 425 but with easily available components.
Click to expand...

Get out. Now.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom