Enjoy discussions and gunsmithing topics on building double rifles. This was more a case of the .450-.470 nitro calibers being new and fashionable, and the .577 and .600 nitro calibers being seen as something like a shoulder fired cannon capable of stunning an elephant even if the brain was missed. We carry Hormady Ammunition. The primary use for this accessory is to provide knuckle protection By comparison a factory Winchester Model 70 Safari Express weighing 9lb and firing Hornady factory ammo with a 500 grain bullet at 2.140fps produces recoil of 65ft/lb. The Nitro Express can rarely be found in the Bayou. All Rights Reserved. - https://kentuckyballistics.com/ In today's video we try out the world's biggest elephant gun! Single factory loaded . The .500 NE has a maximum average pressure of 40,611 psi. In a good double rifle, the .450 Nitro makes a great choice for elephant, hippo and buffalo, effectively taking all three for well over a century. Extractors only (no ejectors). A bullet may be listed as .450NE (Nitro Express) or a rifle as a .577 BPE. The Rhino Express Double Rifle chambered in .416 Rigby .470 Nitro and .500 Nitro is one of Rizzini's finest products to come out of their shop. If you are able to send your used brass, we may be able to produce this product for you. All Rights Reserved. Continental makers included Merkel and Francotte. . This was the contemporary smokeless load for the 9.3x72R with a 196 gr copper jacket bullet at 2020 fps . David Baker thinks you only really know a gun when you have shot with it, taken it to pieces and researched its story. The .470 Nitro Express was designed in 1900 by Joseph Lang of England. Attempts to perfect the concept can be divided into three eras: The percussion era, when muzzle loading placed certain constraints on rifling and bullet size relative to the bore, as well as favouring or hindering certain types of rifling. The Merkel 140-2 features a sliding tang safety. Like many double rifles, the Watson has a dolls head extension of the rib, locking into the top of the breech. It threw a 502 grain conical bullet at 1,530 fps from a double rifle, while the .500 Nitro Express, loaded with Cordite and a heavier, .570 grain bullet managed 2,150 fps. The addition of the word "Nitro" stemmed from the propellant used in these cartridges, cordite, which is composed of nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine . However, to the Edwardians, a much wider variety of calibre options existed and, because many of the rifles our gunmakers produced a century ago are still available, in functional condition, on the used market, we occasionally find ourselves looking at a nicely made, high quality non-standard rifle and have to ask ourselves, Will it do the job?. 44 Africa books The factory loads mentioned feature various 570-grain solid and expanding bullets at 2,100 fps, and most of them produced actual velocities that were close to that figure. Peter, the current owner has had it for some years and his most recent quarry was cape buffalo. The HEYM "Express" is the most well-designed and well-built big-bore bolt action available today. The casehardened back action sidelocks have gold lined cocking indicators, gold inlaid border lines, and are respectively finely inlaid and low relief engraved with a cape buffalo and a rhinoceros in gold. A good indication of the performance improvement cordite provided is the .577 Magnum Express (Black Powder) rifle, one of the most powerful BPE cartridges ever devised. If you are in the business of selling rifles then selling two is much better than selling just one. ! WILKINS & CO. ENGLAND signed in gold, and dolls head extension engraved with a shell. The targets used are the standard 50m ISSF (i.e. Though the Nitro Express has a short range, its shot is incredibly powerful, with an . The cartridge was released to the commercial market in 1907 for large and dangerous game hunting in warm climates. NitroExpress.com's electronic magazine. They claimed they would never make another, so the price burst higher. The term "Express" was coined by James Purdey in 1856, derived from the express train, to publicise the bullet velocity of his double rifles and became common parlance for many rifle cartridges. Twin-hammer action with Universal Trigger System and Combi-Cocking Device Set trigger integrated in the front trigger Slim compact steel action with reinforced sidewalls for extra strength Small Arabesques engraving Ergonomically shaped Kickspanner manual cocking device providing safe and simple operation Today we, perhaps, favour the most recognised calibres, such as that brilliant all-rounder, the .375 H&H Magnum, which is versatile enough to employ as a stalking rifle for red deer in the UK but will also handle everything an African safari can put in front of you. 9 lubricating oil, and an aluminum rod with a knob, slotted ends and brush to keep your gun clean and shooting properly.</p> Currently Shopping by. This week, we talk about one of my new favorite guns in Hunt: Showdown, the Nitro Express Rifle. Whilst the .450 cartridges could not be loaded into a MartiniHenry rifle, it was feared the bullets could be pulled and used to reload expended .577/.450 cartridges.[1]. This is a cartridge that has been described as A real killer on practically anything and it has been a favored choice amongst both professional hunters and sportsmen for well over a century. We began this post considering the delightful problem of choosing a suitable cartridge for the double-rifle you might be considering purchasing. Recoil of the .500 NE is not nearly as severe; however, it is certainly not for everyone. The barrels are hammer forged and feature a 1:15 rifling twist. However, it was not until the 1850s that the term express was used to describe a rifle and the coiner of the phrase was not John Dickson, but James Purdey, the second of his name, (to borrow a Game of Thrones line). Unlike the previous missable weapon, this doesn't require solving a small . A truly stunning rifle. Experiments with bullets included varying the hardness of the lead (or alloy), altering the shape and length bullets and even casting them to fit the grooves in the rifling. Why not use it for boar shooting or elk for example? We use techniques and processes that rival hand loads, with the ultimate goal of making . 522 online hunting and shooting books and articles! Boasting its own specialty ammo, it has the capability to kill a healthy hunter in a single shot within close to medium ranges. Published by Vintage Guns Ltd on 1st March 2021. The Full-Length Sizer Die brings the case to SAAMI minimum cartridge dimensions. LIMITED TIME deal on Barnes Banded Solid Rifle Bullet, .600 Nitro Express, 900 Grain, Solid Flat Nose 30714 at Dvor.com! It was clearly intended for close work. The next version is the .500 Nitro for Black Powder that was loaded with cordite and first appeared in the 1890s. Though the Nitro Express has a short range, its shot is incredibly powerful, with an equally powerful recoil. These stunning rifles boasts classic Rigby design features including robust, ergonomic stock shape with higher comb for better fit and absorption of recoil, plasma nitride finish to all metal surfaces resulting in a resilient, anti-glare and rust-resistant finish, Rigby express sights dovetailed directly onto the rib with a single fixed V and 2 . The .500 Nitro Express ammo is a little more expensive but is certainly not going to break your bank account, especially if your bank account is capable of surviving a double-rifle size dent being made in it. It was created by W.J. Extremely easy to miss and found after a major required boss battle. Using Special Ammo, resupplying it is more difficult and in incredibly small quantities. It was a boxlock ejector in .475 (No.2) nitro express. Alexander Henry .450 3 1/4 Double Rifle GI#: 102228580 But if you were in Africa hunting the Big Five on foot then a .500 Nitro Express may well have been a much better choice. Jon Branch is the founder and senior editor of Revivaler and has written a significant number of articles for various publications including official Buying Guides for eBay, classic car articles for Hagerty, magazine articles for both the Australian Shooters Journal and the Australian Shooter, and he's a long time contributor to Silodrome. Check it out and enjoy untold thousands of pages of reading. A .500 Nitro Express double rifle is typically built to weigh 10.5lb-11lb. The .450 Black Powder Express certainly paved the way, but John Rigby & Company released the smokeless version in 1898, a rimmed affair driving a 480-grain bullet of .458-inch diameter to a muzzle velocity of 2150 fps via a charge of 70 . Ask questions too! Black Powder Express RiflesLeap forward in time and percussion gives way to breech-loading. They specialized in rifle production during the 1990s. Nicely figured walnut pistol grip stock with raised cheek- .Click for more info Seller: Cabelas Buda Area Code: 512 $10,999.99 NEW THIS WEEK! It is worthy of note that the .500 Nitro Express is the favorite big game rifle of Geoff McDonald, the founder of Woodleigh Bullets, his having taken many buffalo, elephant and other game over a 30 year period with it. If you enjoy big game hunting around the world and safaris, enjoy the stories and photos and share your own. The Watson Bros rifle under discussion is a quality piece. Sort By: 1 Item(s) Show. It also features a casehardened trigger plate, blued triggers, articulated front trigger, blued trigger guard with gold inlaid serial number, and casehardened pistol grip cap with hinged trap cover. 47 African Sporting Gazette articles. The big question however will not be how much energy your chosen caliber can deliver, nor how much shock power or knock-out value it has. He considered the .475 a very effective round for elephant in all its variants. The Nitro Express Rifle is actually named for its cartridge, called as such because of the bullet velocity, which is fast as an express train, according to James Purdey, who coined the term, and because the propellant used is cordite, which is made of nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin. Ammo is limited, with the player having a maximum ammo count of six rounds. There are currently no customer product questions on this lot. Advertisement: swisswaffen.com. (Note: Modern experience has tended to demonstrate that elephants are not always stunned if the brain is missed, even when using a .600 Nitro Express). This 450x400 Express 3" Two-Die Full Length Die Set is intended for reloading bottleneck cases, and consists of a Full-Length Sizer Die with an Expander-Decapping Unit, and a Seater Die with Bullet Seater Plug. There is no such thing as overkill, there is only underkill. By comparison, the .458 Winchester Magnum with a 500-grain bullet at 2,010 fps has a TKO value of 65.75, and the big .460 Weatherby Magnum pushes a 500-grain bullet at 2,600 fps for a TKO of 85.05. It has Birmingham nitro proof marks. Over the following two weeks, 20 to 30 rounds were fired each day without any real discomfort. Register your details here for invitations to events and special offers from The Vintage Gun Journal, Vintage Guns Ltd 2023. From left to right: 1.17 HM2,2.17 HMR, . (You will find the full article about the pair of rifles pictured above if you click here). The notion of this kind of performance has long been with sportsmen and gunmakers. Seen primarily in double rifles, it was adopted by most of the big British gunmakers of the day. However, it must always be respected. Designed by Jeffery in 1903, the .600 Nitro Express was the largest and most powerful commercial hunting calibre in the world until 1988, when it was surpassed by the staggeringly powerful .700 NE. The regulation of some rifles will ultimately cause bullets to cross paths downrange, and then begin to diverge beyond normal hunting ranges. (You will find the sale page for the double-rifle pictured above if you click here). The former fired a 380 grain bullet at just over 1,600 fps and penetrated 19 boards at 40 yards (according to the 1883 Field Trials). The .700 Nitro Express is a big game rifle cartridge made by Holland & Holland, London, England. The bullet diameter is 0.411 inches. Atkin sidelocks are a variation of the Beesley/Purdey. Several .500 Nitro Express factory loads were checked for velocity and accuracy. Ask questions too! Peter mentioned that despite the relatively light weight, it was comfortable to shoot in the field, though repeated firing at the range was typically brutal, as it is for any rifle delivering this kind of power. A good indication of the performance improvement cordite provided is the .577 Magnum Express (Black Powder) rifle, one of the most powerful BPE cartridges ever devised. Govt get out of our lives NOW! The difference in performance made obsolete the old bore rifles and calibres once considered best suited to deer, like .450 became dangerous game killers. The more expensive the ammo for your chosen rifle is the less likely you are to train with it enough to gain the mastery you need. In other words, one load may cause bullets to cross then diverge while other loads may produce parallel groups or begin to diverge soon after leaving the muzzle. The term Nitro Express came to be applied to many of these rimless cartridges also. So if you plan on going out after dangerous game you need to practice, and that practice needs to simulate as far as possible what you can expect to face in the field. Although still a challenge, more hunters can master the recoil of the .500 NE than the heavy stopping cartridges such as the .577 and .600 NE, making it a practical choice. The Merkel 140-2 is a well-built rifle that offers reliability, power and accuracy at a reasonable price. German-based Merkel has been building fine sporting guns since about 1898. Brass, Bullets and reloading dies the 470 Nithro Express. 2023 Rock Island Auction Company. and other photographs. It sizes the outside of the case, de-primes and . Ballistic performance is very similar to the .450 N.E but the bigger bullet offers a little more punch. Mechanically excellent. per page . It comes in a brass cornered and leather wrapped takedown case with dark green lining on the fitted interior, two snap caps, a Westley Richards & Co. oil bottle, and a takedown cleaning rod. Caliber/Gauge:.500 . Would the .500 Nitro Express be a good choice? Become a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/homereel Join my Discord: https://discord.gg/5uTj5ez8qhConnect with Me! Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/HomeReel Twitter: https://twitter.com/HomeReelYT#HuntShowdown Today, if you order a new rifle from Westley Richards or Holland & Holland for the purpose of hunting elephant or buffalo, it will be a Nitro Express in .470, .500 or .577. Purdey likened it to an express train because it went straight and fast to its destination. However, since foot-pounds is not a particularly good method of measuring the actual effectiveness of a big-bore cartridge, it is noteworthy that by using Taylors Knock-Out (TKO) formula, it earns an impressive 89.29. When purchased, the serial number was stamped into the stock, an indication that it may have been in a game department armoury in Africa in the past. As we have seen, the .500 Nitro Express delivers about 30% more power (as measured in energy) by comparison with a .458 Winchester Magnum, and does it with almost the same recoil, in a rifle that is only 1lb heavier. To complicate matters further, the No.2 Eley and No.2 Jeffery differ enough to not be interchangeable, the Jeffery using a slightly larger diameter bullet. Swiss Schmidt-Rubin Straight-Pull Rifle Database. The .475 cartridge for which the rifles were chambered is an effective one, but not a widely adopted one. A break-action, double-barreled rifle ideal for hunting large game, the Nitro Express was often used by British colonials on elephant hunting expeditions. The weapon is also mounted with a bulky peep sight, greatly restricting the players vision when they use the weapons irons. Yes we want to publish them. This in addition to the weapon being a side-by-side severely punishes the player for any missed rounds. per page . So, by comparison with the Weatherby, the recoil of the .500 Nitro Express and the .458 Winchester Magnum should seem as gentle as a maidens caress! He called the No.2 an eminenty satisfactory shell and a certain killer. 170 Vintage hunting books and articles endearin. The debate around the best calibre for Africa has raged since the nitro express rifles we recognise today first burst onto the scene, as the nineteenth century turned into the twentieth. Jeffrey, a man who would go on to design some of the best cartridges and the rifles to fire them in, such as the .404 Jeffrey and the .500 Jeffrey, both of which are back in production. 170 Vintage hunting books and articles Find reloading information on Nitro Express cartridges, reloading for double rifles and other rare firearms as well as modern cartridges. Specialized craftsmen hand-fit and finish every part of a HEYM rifle"Lock, Stock and Barrel"in house to painstaking tolerances. Many double rifles today are regulated to sixty five yards or more. The real game changer was Cordite, which arrived in the late 1880s and revolutionised the nature of sporting rifles; express rifles included. The .500 Nitro Express has a lineage that dates back to its black powder ancestor, the .500 Black Powder Express, which appeared sometime during the 1860s. 9 hours ago.more Mike Harrell -----John aka NitroX . Add to this the .500 Nitro Express operates at slightly lower pressures so it extracts more easily, something that is important if you are using a double-rifle. Customer product questions on this lot the 9.3x72R with a bulky peep sight greatly... Well-Built rifle that offers reliability, power and accuracy at a reasonable price its destination with! Be considering purchasing the rib, locking into the top of the rib locking. 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