The .461 No 1 Gibbs and the .461 No 2 Gibbs are two obsolete proprietary rifle cartridges developed in 19th century Britain.
Design
The .461 No 1 Gibbs and the .461 No 2 Gibbs are both
rimmed, bottlenecked
centerfire
Two rounds of .357 Magnum, a centerfire cartridge; notice the circular primer in the center
A centerfire cartridge is a firearm metallic cartridge whose primer is located at the center of the base of its casing (i.e. "case head"). Unlike rim ...
rifle
cartridges designed for use with
blackpowder
Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). Th ...
. Both cartridges were offered with two loadings, when loaded with the lighter both cartridges were considered
expresses
Expression may refer to:
Linguistics
* Expression (linguistics), a word, phrase, or sentence
* Fixed expression, a form of words with a specific meaning
* Idiom, a type of fixed expression
* Metaphorical expression, a particular word, phrase, ...
.
[
]
.461 No 1 Gibbs
The .461 No 1 Gibbs, also known as the .461 No 1 Gibbs inch, in express form it fired a projectile driven by of black powder, in its heavier loading it fired a projectile driven by of powder.[
]
.461 No 2 Gibbs
The .461 No 2 Gibbs, also known as the .461 No 2 Gibbs inch, was based on the No 1 cartridge case with a lengthened neck. It fired either a or a bullet driven by 90 gr of powder.[
]
History
Both cartridges were developed by Bristol gunmaker George Gibbs for use in his Gibbs–Farquharson–Metford single shot rifles built on the Farquharson falling block action, although Gibbs also built double rifles with Metford barrels chambering these cartridges. The .461 No 1 Gibbs was designed around 1879–1880, whilst the .461 No 2 Gibbs was designed around 1890.[
Both cartridges were subsequently loaded with mild loadings of smokeless ]cordite
Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in the United Kingdom since 1889 to replace black powder as a military propellant. Like modern gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burn ...
, carefully balanced to replicate the ballistics of the original black powder versions, to become the .461 No 1 Gibbs Nitro for Black and the .461 No 2 Gibbs Nitro for Black, but unlike other similar black powder cartridges of their era, neither became a Nitro Express The Nitro Express (NE) series of cartridges are used in large-bore hunting rifles, also known as elephant guns or express rifles, but later came to include smaller bore high velocity (for the time) British cartridges.
Name
The term "Express" was c ...
cartridges.[
]
Use
Both the .461 No 1 Gibbs and the .461 No 2 Gibbs were designed as match rifle cartridges for long range target shooting although both cartridges gained popularity as hunting cartridges.[
]Frederick Selous
Frederick Courteney Selous, DSO (; 31 December 1851 – 4 January 1917) was a British explorer, officer, professional hunter, and conservationist, famous for his exploits in Southeast Africa. His real-life adventures inspired Sir Henry R ...
used a Gibbs–Farquharson–Metford rifle chambered in .461 No 1 Gibbs extensively in Africa. With this rifle he shot elephant, lion, giraffe, buffalo, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, zebra and numerous species of antelope.[
Frederick Vaughan Kirby hunted extensively in southern Africa with several .461 Gibbs rifles, including at least one Gibbs–Farquharson–Metford rifle chambered in .461 No 1 Gibbs and a Gibbs–Metford double rifle chambered in .461 No 2 Gibbs regulated for the 570 gr loading. With these rifles he shot rhinoceros, buffalo, hippopotamus, lion, leopard and various antelope, stating that the .461 Gibbs was "perhaps as perfect a weapon for lion-shooting as one can desire". Kirby also shot elephant with these rifles, although stated elephant should only be killed with small bore rifles under special circumstances.][
]
Notes
See also
* Express (weaponry)
The term ''express'' was first applied to hunting rifles and ammunition beginning in the mid-19th century, to indicate a rifle or ammunition capable of higher than typical velocities. The early express cartridges used a heavy charge of black po ...
* List of rifle cartridges
List of rifle cartridges, by primer type, calibre and name.
File:Cartridge Sample 2.jpg, 350px, From left to right: 1 .17 HM2,2 .17 HMR, 2.5 .17 wsm, 3 .22LR, 4 .22 WMR, 5 .17/23 SMc, 6 5mm/35 SMc, 7 .22 Hornet, 8 .223 Remington, 9 .223 WSSM, ...
* 11 mm caliber
This is a list of firearm cartridges which have bullets in the to caliber range.
*''Length'' refers to the cartridge case length
*''OAL'' refers to the overall length of the cartridge
*''Bullet'' refers to the diameter of the bullet
All measu ...
References
External links
Cartridgecollector, ".461 No. 1 Gibbs ", ''cartridgecollector.net''
retrieved 23 October 2017.
Cartridgecollector, ".461 No. 2 Gibbs ", ''cartridgecollector.net''
retrieved 23 October 2017.
{{DEFAULTSORT:461
Pistol and rifle cartridges
British firearm cartridges
George Gibbs cartridges