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What is your favorite Nitro Express cartridge and what are the reasons it is your favorite? my favorite is probably the .450 Nitro Express 3.25'' because 45 cailbers are one of my alltime favorites and i think the .450 is one of the most useful Nitro Express cartridges.
 
Posts: 229 | Location: North Carolina | Registered: 09 August 2011Reply With Quote
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550 flanged ..

then 577 NE 3"
then 45/120 nitro -- okay, that might be my have
then 470 NE
then everything else


opinions vary band of bubbas and STC hunting Club

Information on Ammoguide about
the416AR, 458AR, 470AR, 500AR
What is an AR round? Case Drawings 416-458-470AR and 500AR.
476AR,
http://www.weaponsmith.com
 
Posts: 40240 | Location: Conroe, TX | Registered: 01 June 2002Reply With Quote
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450-400 NE in a Ruger #1 and a close second is a 470 NE in a Ruger #1. When you're good...you don't need 2 barrels.
 
Posts: 4115 | Location: Pa. | Registered: 21 April 2006Reply With Quote
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Of the DG calibers that I own, it would have to be the 450-400 Big Grin Effective on buffalo and other DG and plains game, and quite mild to shoot. I have a Searcy double in that caliber. Big Grin
 
Posts: 18590 | Registered: 04 April 2005Reply With Quote
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.500 NE, the cartridge all others aspire to be. Big Grin


Mike
 
Posts: 21992 | Registered: 03 January 2006Reply With Quote
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quote:
.500 NE, the cartridge all others aspire to be. Big Grin

+2
 
Posts: 20177 | Location: Very NW NJ up in the Mountains | Registered: 14 June 2009Reply With Quote
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Can any one guess which is my favorite?

465H&H
 
Posts: 5686 | Location: Nampa, Idaho | Registered: 10 February 2005Reply With Quote
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.600 nitro express
case closed
end of discussion
close the post
'nuff said?
Cal


_______________________________

Cal Pappas, Willow, Alaska
www.CalPappas.com
www.CalPappas.blogspot.com
1994 Zimbabwe
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1999 Zimbabwe
1999 Namibia, Botswana, Zambia--vacation
2000 Australia
2002 South Africa
2003 South Africa
2003 Zimbabwe
2005 South Africa
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2006 Tanzania
2006 Zimbabwe--vacation
2007 Zimbabwe--vacation
2008 Zimbabwe
2012 Australia
2013 South Africa
2013 Zimbabwe
2013 Australia
2016 Zimbabwe
2017 Zimbabwe
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2019 South Africa
2019 Botswana
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2021 South Africa
2021 South Africa (2nd hunt a month later)
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Posts: 7281 | Location: Willow, Alaska | Registered: 29 June 2009Reply With Quote
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Easy,

500/450....easier to load a bottle neck case and tons of choices of bullets.
 
Posts: 1312 | Location: Texas | Registered: 29 August 2006Reply With Quote
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quote:
Originally posted by cal pappas:
.600 nitro express
case closed
end of discussion
close the post
'nuff said?
Cal


Yup


NRA Lifer; DSC Lifer; SCI member; DRSS; AR member since November 9 2003

Don't Save the best for last, the smile for later or the "Thanks" for tomorow
 
Posts: 3465 | Location: In the Shadow of Griffin&Howe | Registered: 24 November 2007Reply With Quote
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476 WR in a Westley Richards droplock with one trigger.

BigB
 
Posts: 1401 | Location: Northwest Wyoming | Registered: 13 March 2001Reply With Quote
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My personal favorite is the 450 No2.

Not only the cartridge, but the rifle I have that fires it.

This rifle fits me better than any rifle I have ever handled. It is @ a 100 year old British Double, with 28" barrels.

I like those long barrels as with I shoots elephants at 6 yards it puts me 2" closer, helps with the accuracy... Big Grin

This double shoots 480gr Woodleigh Softs and Solids, 500gr Swift A Frames, 500gr Hornady Softs and Solids, the older ones, 450gr North Fork FP and CUP point bullets and 350gr Hornadys, into the same group at 100 yards.


DOUBLE RIFLE SHOOTERS SOCIETY
 
Posts: 16134 | Location: Texas | Registered: 06 April 2002Reply With Quote
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My second favorite Double rifle cartridge is the 450/400. 3" or 3 1/4" does not matter.

I have a 3 1/4".
I think the 450/400's are the most useful of the Nitro Express cartridges.

I have taken deer, wild pigs, beaqr, caribou, black bear, hunted brown bear [did not shoot one], some african plains game, and cape buff, lion and elephant.

For most people it should be the first big bore double rifle cartridge you buy, and as you get old, the last one you hunt with.

You can never go wrong with a 450/400.

Just today I was at the range with a buddy getting ready for his multiple elephant and cape buff hunt. He was shooting a Heym 450/400 3".

He is a "young" guy in his 30's and he was shooting it like a "sniper rifle".

We were field shooting at some relistic cape buff targets,off hand, kneeling and off sticks. they were of a reduced size, [after all who makes a single sheet of paper as BIG as a real cape buff???], His second shots came very quick, as the recoil of the 450/400 is very controlable.


DOUBLE RIFLE SHOOTERS SOCIETY
 
Posts: 16134 | Location: Texas | Registered: 06 April 2002Reply With Quote
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My favourite is the 450/400 NE because (as a kid) I read about Jim Corbett hunting with one. Then in 2008 I got to shoot Sam's Webley action rifle I just loved it. as a novice DR shooter I smoked an orange clay bird at 25 yards on the mound.


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Posts: 11420 | Location: New Zealand | Registered: 02 July 2008Reply With Quote
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I like the 450 NE in my #1
In the future I would like a 500NE double


"though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression."

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Posts: 1093 | Location: Eau Claire, WI | Registered: 20 January 2011Reply With Quote
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Slightly off-topic...my favorite BPE is the .400 Black Powder Express with .395 bullets that RIP and I have on Ruger #1s. We load "nitro" as in modern powders for this to become the .400/.395 Nitro Express. Thank you, thank you.
(no tomatoes please)


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DRSS, po' boy member
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Posts: 3490 | Location: Colorado Springs, CO | Registered: 04 April 2003Reply With Quote
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The tried and true .470.


Mike

Wilderness is my cathedral, and hunting is my prayer.
 
Posts: 13838 | Location: New England | Registered: 06 June 2003Reply With Quote
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.375 Belted Rimless Nitro-Express

Big Grin


Frank



"I don't know what there is about buffalo that frightens me so.....He looks like he hates you personally. He looks like you owe him money."
- Robert Ruark, Horn of the Hunter, 1953

NRA Life, SAF Life, CRPA Life, DRSS lite

 
Posts: 12828 | Location: Kentucky, USA | Registered: 30 December 2002Reply With Quote
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.600NE- Bigger is ALWAYS better! Everything else is just an excuse on the way to to owning a .600NE. After that you just have to have a .600OK!-Rob


Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large numbers to do incredibly stupid things- AH (1941)- Harry Reid (aka Smeagle) 2012
Nothing Up my sleeves but never without a plan and never ever without a surprise!
 
Posts: 6314 | Location: Las Vegas,NV | Registered: 10 January 2001Reply With Quote
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quote:
Originally posted by prof242:
Slightly off-topic...my favorite BPE is the .400 Black Powder Express with .395 bullets that RIP and I have on Ruger #1s. We load "nitro" as in modern powders for this to become the .400/.395 Nitro Express. Thank you, thank you.
(no tomatoes please)


Ditto.
And in a Ruger No.1 we go beyond the Nitro Express level for the "400/.395 Nitro Express Super."
I have stopped calling it the "Aboriginal" Nitro Express.
It is a "Super" Nitro Express.
This mighty mite surpasses the traditional loadings of all the other Nitro Express "400's."
Or you can just load it down to 400 Nitro for Black Powder 3" levels.
 
Posts: 28032 | Location: KY | Registered: 09 December 2001Reply With Quote
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Grew up shooting a 450/400 3 1/4"; single shot Farqy, nothing I hit with it needed to be shot again. Lovely little rifle. Smiler
 
Posts: 780 | Registered: 08 December 2009Reply With Quote
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Second plug for the 450#2. and third would be for the 450/400. Both are great rounds and I have two original Jeffery's to fire them in. What could possibly be better than that?-Rob


Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large numbers to do incredibly stupid things- AH (1941)- Harry Reid (aka Smeagle) 2012
Nothing Up my sleeves but never without a plan and never ever without a surprise!
 
Posts: 6314 | Location: Las Vegas,NV | Registered: 10 January 2001Reply With Quote
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Don;t have any but I think tops would be the 450 NE just because it's old and cool and second the 470 NE because it's been there and done that very well for a long time.

With them I'd load CEB's and forgettaboutit.
 
Posts: 7832 | Registered: 31 January 2005Reply With Quote
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I don't own one. I'm deprived. Frowner
 
Posts: 1292 | Location: I'm right here! | Registered: 01 July 2004Reply With Quote
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OK,
I'll play alternate choice also.
Gotta have a backup.
470 NE:
Any possible deficiencies of this cartridge can be corrected by handloading
with a flat-nose, monometal copper, driving-banded solid of traditional weight
(GSC or North Fork, safe in any antique) with a full case of H4831:
No filler, no air space, least temperature sensitivity,
most accurate, best penetration, recoil tolerable by anyone.
It will still shoot to regulation with fine tuning.
Still allows the "in-a-pinch" use of factory ammo,
and that is the most common factory fodder out there.
What's not to like about a 470 Nitro Express?
 
Posts: 28032 | Location: KY | Registered: 09 December 2001Reply With Quote
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When I think of NE carts I think of Africa.
When I think of NE carts and Africa I think of hunting DG
When I think of NE carts and Africa and DG I think big stoppers.
When I think of a stopping NE round I think of the 577.
577 3" is number one.
450 3.25" is number two.


577 BME 3"500 KILL ALL 358 GREMLIN 404-375

*we band of 45-70ers* (Founder)
Single Shot Shooters Society S.S.S.S. (Founder)
 
Posts: 27620 | Location: Where tech companies are trying to control you and brainwash you. | Registered: 29 April 2005Reply With Quote
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It's been a few years since I sold a Rigby in .577, I doubt I'll own another, but that old thumper was the best and Nitro Express to come my way.
These days the 375 Ruger is the bigest calibre I own.
 
Posts: 1374 | Location: New Zealand | Registered: 10 February 2005Reply With Quote
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.450/400 3"

Versatile-not just a DG caliber. I don't shoot enough jumbo to warrant a .500. I want to use it more.

Great in lighter guns.
 
Posts: 224 | Location: Alaska | Registered: 13 August 2005Reply With Quote
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475No2

Cuz there ain't many of them around and it is one of the coolest looking ctgs in my collection!

Andy


We Band of Bubbas
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Posts: 2973 | Location: South Texas | Registered: 15 January 2008Reply With Quote
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Don't own one, but would love to. .577 NE is my favorite.
 
Posts: 5727 | Location: Ohio | Registered: 02 April 2003Reply With Quote
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quote:
Originally posted by CCMDoc:
quote:
Originally posted by cal pappas:
.600 nitro express
case closed
end of discussion
close the post
'nuff said?
Cal


Yup


I will add my vote to the 600 Nitro Express too.

todd


Blessed; not lucky
 
Posts: 49 | Location: SC | Registered: 24 May 2011Reply With Quote
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I like them all but I would have to say my favorite would be the 577 followed by the 450-400 and the 500.
 
Posts: 2840 | Location: NC | Registered: 08 July 2006Reply With Quote
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Big enough to be a stopper + Light enough to carry all day = 500 NE :-)


BUT!!! If you find capable trackers wanting to carry your cannon for $5/day = 577 NE
 
Posts: 20177 | Location: Very NW NJ up in the Mountains | Registered: 14 June 2009Reply With Quote
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Whatever double I happen to have in my hands from the 9,3X74R to the 600 NE Smiler


Dave
DRSS
Chapuis 9.3X74
Chapuis "Jungle" .375 FL
Krieghoff 500/.416 NE
Krieghoff 500 NE

"Git as close as y can laddie an then git ten yards closer"

"If the biggest, baddest animals on the planet are on the menu, and you'd rather pay a taxidermist than a mortician, consider the 500 NE as the last word in life insurance." Hornady Handbook of Cartridge Reloading (8th Edition).
 
Posts: 3728 | Location: Midwest | Registered: 26 November 2006Reply With Quote
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I admit to a fondness to my Ruger No. 1 in .450-400, but would love to a have a nice old double in .577 3-inch BPE. Alas, it is not a nitro but comes close with nitro-for-black loads. To me, thi thing just oozes class and history ...


There is hope, even when your brain tells you there isn’t.
– John Green, author
 
Posts: 16700 | Location: Las Cruces, NM | Registered: 03 June 2000Reply With Quote
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Mine is .470 Nitro. I have 2 of them and haven't had the opportunity to shoot any of the other calibers.
 
Posts: 4214 | Location: Southern Colorado | Registered: 09 October 2011Reply With Quote
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No question. The 500 NE. A significant step up from the 450 - 470 class in terms of energy and frontal area, without a significant step up in rifle weight or recoil. The absolute best of both worlds.
 
Posts: 8537 | Registered: 09 January 2011Reply With Quote
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Well folks I’ve been lucky enough , or reckless enough with money to own almost all nitro chamberings in double rifles and single shots over the last 54 years since I bought my first double rifle in 1958, and if I could have only one double rifle then it would be a 450-400NE 3 inch in a ten pound rifle. The reason for that choice is that cartridge is a very good all around cartridge for a double rifle, and no matter if you are an elephant hunter or not you will hunt and shoot more game with that rifle than anything larger.

Now because I don’t just own one double rifle the one I’m lacking is a 500NE and that is my favorite rifle if I needed a dedicated elephant rifle. I’ve owned two 577NE doubles and simply do not need anything larger than a 500NE.
So for the hunting I do or am likely to do in future I would say I could live quite nicely with a 450/400NE 3 inch 10 pound double rifle.

..................................................................................................................... old


....Mac >>>===(x)===> MacD37, ...and DUGABOY1
DRSS Charter member
"If I die today, I've had a life well spent, for I've been to see the Elephant, and smelled the smoke of Africa!"~ME 1982

Hands of Old Elmer Keith

 
Posts: 14634 | Location: TEXAS | Registered: 08 June 2000Reply With Quote
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quote:
Originally posted by MacD37:
Well folks I’ve been lucky enough , or reckless enough with money to own almost all nitro chamberings in double rifles and single shots over the last 54 years since I bought my first double rifle in 1958, and if I could have only one double rifle then it would be a 450-400NE 3 inch in a ten pound rifle. The reason for that choice is that cartridge is a very good all around cartridge for a double rifle, and no matter if you are an elephant hunter or not you will hunt and shoot more game with that rifle than anything larger.

Now because I don’t just own one double rifle the one I’m lacking is a 500NE and that is my favorite rifle if I needed a dedicated elephant rifle. I’ve owned two 577NE doubles and simply do not need anything larger than a 500NE.
So for the hunting I do or am likely to do in future I would say I could live quite nicely with a 450/400NE 3 inch 10 pound double rifle.

..................................................................................................................... old


in my original post i chose the .450 3.25'' but since i'm fixin to own one the 450/400 3'' is hands down my favorite now! Big Grin dancing and honestly it was already one of my very top choices. now the .470 NE would be my 2nd fave and .450 3.25'' my 3rd fave, .577NE is 4th and .600NE rounds out my top 5 Nitro Express cartridges. also really like .450 No.2 and .500NE. those are most of the ones i'm more familiar with and are my favorites but i really like a lot of other NE cartridges too. oh yeah, haven't seen it mentioned but i would love to have a rifle in .700NE just for the heck of it and because i love ultra big bores so much too. maybe i'll get a .700NE rifle one day if i can find something halfway affordable in it. anyway there can be no denying the class and history of the Nitro Express family of cartridges.
 
Posts: 229 | Location: North Carolina | Registered: 09 August 2011Reply With Quote
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quote:
Originally posted by Robgunbuilder:
.600NE- Bigger is ALWAYS better


what are your thoughts on the .700NE?
 
Posts: 229 | Location: North Carolina | Registered: 09 August 2011Reply With Quote
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