.475 Nitro Express
Encyclopedia
The .475 Nitro Express is a British
rifle
cartridge
.
One of several rounds (including the .470
, .475 No. 2
, and .476
) designed and introduced between 1905 and 1910, after the British Army
banned the .450, all with comparable performance, the .475 was intended for both single and double rifles.
A good general purpose round, it is suitable for all big game, and was preferred by experienced hunters for elephant
, lion
, or Cape buffalo at close range, though somewhat more than needed for anything in North America. Its performance is little different from the others, and its ballistics resemble the .458 Winchester Magnum
, with a larger diameter bullet; whether this is an advantage remains in dispute.
The weight and bulk of the rifle and ammunition have made the round less attractive in the face of smaller calibers with performance approaching the .475's, and slugs for handloading
it are only available from Britain (though Fred N. Barnes did offer a 600 gr {38.9 g} variety at one time), and the Berdan primer militates against this, as well.
Two or three wildcat
s have been based on the .475. The factory load used 75 gr (4.86 g) of cordite
over a 480 gr (31.1 g) slug; 70 gr (4.54 g) of 3031 will duplicate the factory ballistics.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
rifle
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
cartridge
Cartridge (firearms)
A cartridge, also called a round, packages the bullet, gunpowder and primer into a single metallic case precisely made to fit the firing chamber of a firearm. The primer is a small charge of impact-sensitive chemical that may be located at the center of the case head or at its rim . Electrically...
.
One of several rounds (including the .470
.470 Nitro Express
The .470 Nitro Express is a cartridge developed in England for very large or dangerous game hunting. This cartridge is used almost exclusively in single shot and double express rifles for hunting in the tropics or hot climate...
, .475 No. 2
.475 No. 2 Nitro Express
The .475 No. 2 Nitro Express is a British rifle cartridge.One of several rounds designed and introduced between 1905 and 1910, after the British Army banned the .450, in India and the Sudan, all with comparable performance, the .475 No. 2 was used in a number of double rifles...
, and .476
.476 Nitro Express
The .476 Nitro Express is a British rifle cartridge.Introduced by Westley Richards around 1907, it follows on the heels of the .470, .475, and .475 No. 2 Nitro Express rounds. While it was available in single and double rifles, it was less popular than other comparable rounds...
) designed and introduced between 1905 and 1910, after the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
banned the .450, all with comparable performance, the .475 was intended for both single and double rifles.
A good general purpose round, it is suitable for all big game, and was preferred by experienced hunters for elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
, lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
, or Cape buffalo at close range, though somewhat more than needed for anything in North America. Its performance is little different from the others, and its ballistics resemble the .458 Winchester Magnum
.458 Winchester Magnum
The .458 Winchester Magnum is a belted, straight-taper cased, dangerous game rifle cartridge. It was introduced commercially in 1956 by Winchester and first chambered in the Winchester Model 70 African rifle. It was designed to compete against the .450 Nitro Express and the .470 Nitro Express...
, with a larger diameter bullet; whether this is an advantage remains in dispute.
The weight and bulk of the rifle and ammunition have made the round less attractive in the face of smaller calibers with performance approaching the .475's, and slugs for handloading
Handloading
Handloading or reloading is the process of loading firearm cartridges or shotgun shells by assembling the individual components , rather than purchasing completely assembled, factory-loaded cartridges...
it are only available from Britain (though Fred N. Barnes did offer a 600 gr {38.9 g} variety at one time), and the Berdan primer militates against this, as well.
Two or three wildcat
Wildcat cartridge
A wildcat cartridge, or wildcat, is a custom cartridge for which ammunition and firearms are not mass produced. These cartridges are often created in order to optimize a certain performance characteristic of an existing commercial cartridge.Developing and using wildcat cartridges does not...
s have been based on the .475. The factory load used 75 gr (4.86 g) of cordite
Cordite
Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in the United Kingdom from 1889 to replace gunpowder as a military propellant. Like gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burning rates and consequently low brisance...
over a 480 gr (31.1 g) slug; 70 gr (4.54 g) of 3031 will duplicate the factory ballistics.
Sources
- Barnes, Frank C., ed. by John T. Amber. ".475 Nitro Express", in Cartridges of the World, pp. 228–9 & 236. Northfield, IL: DBI Books, 1972. ISBN 0-695-80326-3.