In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.

The biggest honking rifle cartridge I've ever seen

BullzeyeBullzeye Member Posts: 3,560
edited December 2001 in General Discussion
Ladies and Gentlemen, the .700 Nitro ExpressYes, thats .700 caliber. As best I can figure, it was and is still the biggest traditional (by traditional I suppose they mean not fired by a 3-man crew) rifle caliber ever made.It was developed in Britain, and would apparently kill any elephant (or anything else for that matter), no matter how large, nearly instantly.The site even claims that big-game safari hunters disliked the rifle because it's use was often overkill, and the slug would often go through the elephant's skull, through the ribcage, all through his internal cavity, and exit the body somewhere near his rearsection.That and the dislocated shoulders.[This message has been edited by Bullzeye (edited 12-28-2001).]
· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • Richie RichRichie Rich Member Posts: 439 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Yep had a magazine with a write-up on awhile back. It is a very spendy gun to have made, if I recall it shoots a 1100 gr bullet and the shells are 75.00 each loaded. That is the thing to have when semi's attack.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • BullzeyeBullzeye Member Posts: 3,560
    edited November -1
    lol Good one richieMight prove useful if you ever need to knock down a brontosaurus with one shotBut in all honesty, how in the hell can a person TAKE that kind of recoil?The round is rather old, and I'm fairly sure the elephant guns in those days didnt have any new-fangled muzzle brakes or composite recoil pads.Wouldn't the recoil from a 1100 grain round shatter every bone in your shoulder?[This message has been edited by Bullzeye (edited 12-28-2001).]
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • 7mm_ultra_mag_is_king7mm_ultra_mag_is_king Member Posts: 676 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I want one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And hey there dude, when the semi's attack you wont need a gun! All your gonna need is a big ol stock pile of grocery's. We attack by shutting down! Someday it will happen.Soon. Then we will teach you to mess with us on the roads cause ya'll wont be going anywhere with no gas. ha ha he he he
    when all else fails........................
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • 218Beekeep218Beekeep Member Posts: 3,033
    edited November -1
    I am gettin a headache...seriously!! Makes me love my bees even more!").218
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • BullzeyeBullzeye Member Posts: 3,560
    edited November -1
    lol Sorry BeeThey say sometimes good things come in small packages.Then again, that person probably never saw a .700 Nitro Express
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • RembrandtRembrandt Member Posts: 4,486 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Seem to remember there was a 20mm anti-tank rifle in our military arsenal....I think Clint Eastwood used one in a movie to blow a bank vault door (Thunderbolt & Lightfoot?)....700 Nitro must be in the same ball park. [This message has been edited by Rembrandt (edited 12-28-2001).]
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • BullzeyeBullzeye Member Posts: 3,560
    edited November -1
    If you can find a picture of it, post it!I think it must be a recoiless rifle, though, and those dont really count as traditional rifles, being as that they are neither recoiless nor really rifles.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • BullzeyeBullzeye Member Posts: 3,560
    edited November -1
    I stand corrected. Due to someone's ingenuity (or insanity), there is another......I found some guy's website where he describes how he took a WWI-WWII era PTRD self-ejecting single-shot anti-tank rifle in 14.5 x 114mm, and replaced the original barrel with a barrel from a 20mm Vulcan assault cannon.The guy was apparently so concerned about recoil he propped the butt against a 2x4 mounted inside of a bucket filled with concrete, which was put inside a hole in the ground. By the time he had fired 5 shots, the entire bucket had moved 4 inches backwards in the ground.He used solid blocks of concrete for targets. The rounds literally leveled them and scattered chunks of concrete several hundred yards in every direction.Original PTRD in 14.5x114mm:Altered PTRD with 20mm Vulcan cannon barrel:
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • IconoclastIconoclast Member Posts: 10,515 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Well, the .700 Nitro is undoubtedly the most powerful factory cartridge ever loaded - and it is a relatively recent chambering, BTW - but it is by no means the largest. There are early British BP 2 bore & 4 bore cartridges (read 'gage' for 'bore' to translate to American) that dwarf it. I have more respect for my body than to try shooting any of them! If you can find a .700 for $75, grab it; typically they sell for $100+. Very few were loaded and it's my understanding that no more will be.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • ndbillyndbilly Member Posts: 1,573 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    If any of you have access to old Outdoor Life mags, there was an article about this cartridge written, I believe, by Jim Carmichael. Has to be at least five years ago, probably longer. Carmichael went to the factory in England where the rifle was manufactured and fired two rounds (double gun). The accompanying photos said it all. He wasn't able to keep the rifle at his shoulder and almost dropped the thing after the first shot.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • jonkjonk Member Posts: 10,121
    edited November -1
    Yes, as someone indicated, 4 bore is much bigger. It is an English rifle cartridge. Interestingly, Old Western Scrounger actually has them for sale for $75 each, I think. Primed, but needs powder, with a 2000 grain solid copper bullet.
    "...hit your enemy in the belly, and kick him when he is down, and boil his prisoners in oil- if you take any- and torture his women and children. Then people will keep clear of you..." -Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher, speaking at the Hague Peace Conference in 1899.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • TxsTxs Member Posts: 17,809 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    There used to be a company called Pauza Specialties located outside Houston. I believe they went out of business 3-4 yrs. ago. They primarily made .50 BMG rifles, but they also had a 20mm bolt action rifle for "long range precision shooting". I've wondered what kind of ranges one would expect to reach accurately with one of these.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • gunboobgunboob Member Posts: 203 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I mentioned this a while back.I went to a ctg. show in St. Louis about a year or so ago....I seen some humongus straight brass in a grey cardboard 5 rd. box.It was plainly marked "Holland & Holland .800Bob
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Judge DreadJudge Dread Member Posts: 2,372 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I prefer 20mm Sniper gun similar to the 1940 prototype pictured avove,rounds can go as low $5.00 and you get a variety of choices from 2500g DU235 to hi explosive rounds,the more modern versions use a 6ft B with gas venting and spring-oil counteraccelerators for recoil damping (even a kid can shoot them) "10y Afgans against soviet armor"
    Ignis Natura Renovatur Integram
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Richie RichRichie Rich Member Posts: 439 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    okay,I found the book with it in.sept 1998 guns magazine. was a dbl rifle from Searcy Enterprises, it weighs 22 lbs. boxlock-30k,sidelock-40k$$$$$$$ H&H makes one that starts at 140k and they say with the right options can run into $200,000.it is 1000 gr bullet,muzzle energy is 9,050ft/lbs,case dies 650.00 ammo is 75.00 Or h&h at 125.00 brass is 35.00 each oh yea it uses 160 grains of reloader 15 holy sheeat batman.none the less their you go! for more info onthis matter call your therapist. Rich
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Sign In or Register to comment.