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, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...
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 Britain since 1889 to replace black powder as a military firearm propellant. Like modern gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burni ...
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
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
,
yet it was a popular cartridge in
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, considered a good general purpose rifle cartridge popular for hunting
tiger
The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...
s.
[Wieland, ''Nitro Express: The Big Bang of the Big Bang''.] Jim Corbett
Edward James Corbett (25 July 1875 – 19 April 1955) was an Anglo-Indian hunter and author. He gained fame through hunting and killing several man-eating tigers and leopards in Northern India, as detailed in his bestselling 1944 memoir '' M ...
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
Tiger attacks are a form of human–wildlife conflict which have killed more humans than attacks by any of the other big cats, with the majority of these attacks occurring in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Southeast Asia.
Reasons for attacking
...
.
[Corbett.]
See also
*
Express (weaponry)
The term ''express'' was first applied to hunting weapon, 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 cha ...
*
List of rifle cartridges
List of rifle cartridges, by primer type, Caliber, calibre and name.
File:Cartridge Sample 2.jpg, 350px, From left to right: 1 .17 Hornady Mach 2, 2 .17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire, 3 .22 Long Rifle, 4 .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire, 5 .17/23 SMc, 6 5mm ...
*
List of rimmed cartridges
Below is a list of rimmed cartridges (R). Although similar, rimmed cartridges differ from rimfire cartridges (list). A rimmed cartridge is a cartridge with a rim, whose primer is located in the center of the case head; the primer is detonated by ...
*
13 mm caliber
This is a list of firearm cartridges which have bullets that are to in caliber.
*''Length'' refers to the cartridge case
Case or CASE may refer to:
Instances
* Instantiation (disambiguation), a realization of a concept, theme, or design
* ...
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.ukMcCarthy, 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
Rimmed cartridges
British firearm cartridges
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