Quote:
Originally Posted by john70t
Saw a short of a grown man getting knocked on his butt backwards. Makes sense now
(can't link the wiki article because some unknown filter don't like someting)
.577_Nitro_Express
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None of those are the .577 Nitro Express. Top photo shows a modern wildcat round known as the .577 T-Rex (made for use in bolt action rifles, note the lack of the rim required for use in doubles) compared to the .308 Winchester.
Bottom photo is the .700 Nitro Express, a fairly modern day contrivance when compared to the traditional old Nitro Express calibers. No more than an exercise in pure ego and silliness that was, surprisingly, agreed to by Holland and Holland. More of a publicity stunt than anything else, really. A very wealthy customer just had to have "the biggest". So they built him one. I believe they have since made a few more. Equally useless one and all. Hell, the rifles weigh over 25 pounds - who on earth would carry one of those around?
As far as the "real" Nitro Express calibers, nobody actually hunts with the the bigger bores like this .577, nor the .600. They are a last ditch "stopping" rifle for when the client well and truly screws up the situation. The idea is to hit the critter hard enough to at least stun it long enough to finish killing it. Real "hunting" Nitro Express rifles are things like the .470 (the most popular of the bunch by far), the .450, and calibers in that range.
I've fired several .577 Nitro Express rifles over the years. Shooting one is most definitely not fun - recoil energy tops 120 foot pounds or so, even with rifle weights typically in the 15-18 pound range. Compare that to a sporter weight .30-'06 at about 18 ft lbs, a 3" magnum 12 gauge at almost 40 ft lbs, or something like my .458 Winchester Magnum at about 70 ft lbs.
Ammo is frightfully expensive for these things. Kynoch quit making it about the time I was born (the .458 Winchester Magnum filled the void that left), but Holland and Holland will supply it. I've seen it for about $80 per round. How they justify that is beyond me, there is nothing special about it in any way. Anyway, here is a real .577 Nitro, along with an 8mm Mauser (about like our .30-'06) for comparison. Not nearly as big as some would have us believe.
