The .318 Westley Richards is a rimless bottlenecked cartridge intended for big game hunting throughout the British Empire.

[3] In 1907 British authorities banned military-calibre sporting and hunting rifles in India and Sudan, including ones chambered in .375/303 Westley Richards Accelerated Express.

Kynamco resumed manufacture of the Kynoch range of cartridges in the 1980s meaning the ammunition is again commercially available, although no firearms manufacturers make factory rifles in .318 Westley Richards today with the exception of Westley Richards themselves..[citation needed] While the cartridge is not intended for dangerous game, it has been used successfully on all African game species up to and including elephant.

[7] In his African Rifles and Cartridges, John "Pondoro" Taylor wrote that the 250 gr (16 g) .318 Westley Richards is "fully capable of driving its bullet the full length of a big elephant's body.

"Karamojo" Bell wrote that the .318 Westley Richards was a more reliable killer for certain shots on bull elephant than his favoured .275 (7×57mm Mauser) but that he had trouble with misfires with the sporting .318 ammunition.