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Favorite Nitro Express cartridge
Favorite Nitro Express cartridge
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.
16 April 2012, 05:36
jeffeosso550 flanged ..
then 577 NE 3"
then 45/120 nitro -- okay, that might be my have
then 470 NE
then everything else
16 April 2012, 05:42
Woodrow S450-400 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.
16 April 2012, 05:56
Use Enough GunOf the DG calibers that I own, it would have to be the 450-400
Effective on buffalo and other DG and plains game, and quite mild to shoot. I have a Searcy double in that caliber.
16 April 2012, 06:09
MJines.500 NE, the cartridge all others aspire to be.
Mike
16 April 2012, 06:14
Biebsquote:
.500 NE, the cartridge all others aspire to be. Big Grin
+2
16 April 2012, 06:26
465H&HCan any one guess which is my favorite?
465H&H
16 April 2012, 06:32
cal pappas.600 nitro express
case closed
end of discussion
close the post
'nuff said?
Cal
_______________________________
Cal Pappas, Willow, Alaska
www.CalPappas.comwww.CalPappas.blogspot.com1994 Zimbabwe
1997 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
2005 Zimbabwe
2006 Tanzania
2006 Zimbabwe--vacation
2007 Zimbabwe--vacation
2008 Zimbabwe
2012 Australia
2013 South Africa
2013 Zimbabwe
2013 Australia
2016 Zimbabwe
2017 Zimbabwe
2018 South Africa
2018 Zimbabwe--vacation
2019 South Africa
2019 Botswana
2019 Zimbabwe vacation
2021 South Africa
2021 South Africa (2nd hunt a month later)
______________________________
16 April 2012, 06:38
470EvansEasy,
500/450....easier to load a bottle neck case and tons of choices of bullets.
16 April 2012, 06:48
CCMDocquote:
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
476 WR in a Westley Richards droplock with one trigger.
BigB
16 April 2012, 07:18
N E 450 No2My 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...
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
16 April 2012, 07:28
N E 450 No2My 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
16 April 2012, 08:02
NakihunterMy 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.
"When the wind stops....start rowing. When the wind starts, get the sail up quick."
16 April 2012, 09:29
thecanadianI 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."
---Thomas Jefferson
16 April 2012, 09:58
prof242Slightly 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)
.395 Family Member
DRSS, po' boy member
Political correctness is nothing but liberal enforced censorship
16 April 2012, 19:31
Michael RobinsonThe tried and true .470.
Mike
Wilderness is my cathedral, and hunting is my prayer.
16 April 2012, 20:33
Fjold.375 Belted Rimless Nitro-Express
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
16 April 2012, 21:07
Robgunbuilder.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!
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.
16 April 2012, 22:37
EsskayGrew up shooting a 450/400 3 1/4"; single shot Farqy, nothing I hit with it needed to be shot again. Lovely little rifle.
16 April 2012, 23:17
RobgunbuilderSecond 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!
16 April 2012, 23:48
BaxterBDon;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.
I don't own one. I'm deprived.
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?
17 April 2012, 01:45
boom stickWhen 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.
17 April 2012, 02:44
oldunIt'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.
17 April 2012, 10:23
AK Hunter.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.
17 April 2012, 10:26
drewhenrytnt475No2
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
N.R.A Life Member
TDR Cummins Power All The Way
Certified member of the Whompers Club
17 April 2012, 14:08
buckeyeshooterDon't own one, but would love to. .577 NE is my favorite.
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
17 April 2012, 17:41
sroseI like them all but I would have to say my favorite would be the 577 followed by the 450-400 and the 500.
17 April 2012, 18:08
BiebsBig 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
17 April 2012, 18:59
Dave BushWhatever double I happen to have in my hands from the 9,3X74R to the 600 NE
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).
23 April 2012, 02:55
Bill/OregonI 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
23 April 2012, 03:35
pagosawingnutMine is .470 Nitro. I have 2 of them and haven't had the opportunity to shoot any of the other calibers.
23 April 2012, 06:17
Todd WilliamsNo 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.
29 April 2012, 08:38
MacD37Well 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.
.....................................................................................................................
....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
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.
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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!
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.
quote:
Originally posted by Robgunbuilder:
.600NE- Bigger is ALWAYS better
what are your thoughts on the .700NE?