The capped bullet designed and patented by Leslie B. Taylor of Westley Richards was considered avery big deal in the first quarter of the twentieth century.
It consisted of a solid lead shank with a brass, tin, or copper head, intended to increase accuracy as well as control expansion. It was available for magazine rifles like the .425 WR and the .318 Accellerated Express but also for the Westley Richards Explora and Fauneta gun/rifles; the Westley Richards equivalents of the Holland & Holland 'Paradox'.
The latter are often called 'shot & ball guns' but in reality, increasingly specialised conical bullets and projectiles made from not just lead, but with brass or copper sections were used.
The supply of ammunition like this appears to have ceased after the Second World War and has since been unavailable to users of vintage rifles, Exploras and Faunetas.
Today, however, we can reveal the results of some experiments that have been taking place in Australia by an enthusiast who has been using modern machinery to re-crreate the original components, which are then had-fitted and completed into live rounds.
He has used them in his vintage Explora 'Ovundo' on a variety of big and medium game with very good results.
The bullet is composed of a hollow conical head, a two-piece hollow brass centre and a solid lead base. Some consider teh L-T capped bullet to be the original ballistic tip. Westley Richards certainly gave a lot of space to extolling its virtues in its Great War era catalogues.
There is no suggestion, as yet, that these bullets will be available commercially any time soon but it is encouraging that there are enthusiasts out there doing this kind of work. We hope to see further progress and a viable version of the L-T bullet appear for either home-loaders or mainstream cartridge manufacturers.
Published by Vintage Guns Ltd on
