The .500 Black Powder Express was a series of
Black powder
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 ...
cases of varying lengths that emerged in the 1860s.
Development
The cartridge was offered in several case lengths including 1-inch, 2-inch, 2-inch, 2-inch, 3-inch and 3-inch,several were successful and endured others lasted only a short period.
The 3-inch and 3-inch .500 BPE cartridges have survived to the current day as the .500 3-inch Nitro for Black and the .500 3-inch Nitro for Black, the same cartridges loaded with mild loadings of modern smokeless powder, carefully balanced through trial to replicate the ballistics of the Black powder version.
The two cartridges offer almost identical ballistic performance to each other, and are very similar to the
.50-140 Sharps.
Nitro Express loadings
The 3-inch and 3-inch cartridges were later loaded with 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 ...
to create the
.500 Nitro Express, with the 3-inch version becoming the most popular.
Parent case
In the 1870s the 3-inch cartridge was necked down to .45-inches to create the
.500/450 Magnum Black Powder Express which in turn, when loaded with cordite, became the
.500/450 Nitro Express. After the British government's
1907 ban of .450 caliber ammunition to India and Sudan, the
.500/465 Nitro Express and the
.470 Nitro Express were formed from this cartridge.
Dimensions
Use
The .500 BPE was considered a good cartridge for medium-sized non dangerous game
[McCarthy.] and can still be used for such.
The .500 BPE was never highly regarded for hunting in
Africa,
yet it was a popular cartridge in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, considered a good general purpose rifle cartridge popular for hunting
tiger
The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on ...
s.
[Wieland, ''Nitro Express: The Big Bang of the Big Bang''.] Jim Corbett
Edward James Corbett (25 July 1875 – 19 April 1955) was a British hunter, tracker, naturalist, and author who hunted a number of man-eating tigers and leopards in the Indian subcontinent.
He held the rank of colonel in the British Indi ...
was a user of a .500 BPE rifle prior to switching to a
.400 Jeffery Nitro Express double rifle,
[Wieland, ''Dangerous-game rifles''.] shooting cordite Nitro for Black loadings this rifle was used to dispatch the first
man-eater he shot, the
Champawat Tiger.
[Corbett.]
See also
*
Express (weaponry)
*
List of rifle cartridges
*
13 mm caliber
References
Footnotes
Bibliography
* Barnes, Frank C. & Amber, John T., ''Cartridges of the World'', DBI Books, Northfield, 1972, .
* Corbett, Jim, ''Man-Eaters of Kumaon'', Oxford University Press, Bombay, 1944.
Kynoch Ammunition, ''Big Game Cartridges'' kynochammunition.co.uk''McCarthy, Daniel, ''Mini Compendium of Big Bore Cartridges'' 2004, archived 26 March 2009.
* Wieland, Terry, ''Dangerous-game rifles'', ed 2, Down East Books / Shooting Sportsman Press, 2009, .
Wieland, Terry, ''Nitro Express: The Big Bang of the Big Bang'' retrieved 14 Nov 15.
External links
.500 Black Powder Express 3"* , vídeo
Pistol and rifle cartridges
British firearm cartridges
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