.500/450 No. 1 Black Powder Express

The .500/450 No. 1 Black Powder Express, known in its day as the .500/450 No. 1 Express, was a centerfire rifle cartridge developed by Westley Richards and introduced in the late 1870s.

.500/450 No. 1 Black Powder Express
Page from the 1884 Kynoch catalogue
TypeRifle
Place of originUnited Kingdom
Production history
DesignerWestley Richards
Designed1870s
Produced1870s
Specifications
Case typeRimmed, bottleneck
Bullet diameter.458 in (11.6 mm)
Neck diameter.485 in (12.3 mm)
Shoulder diameter.530 in (13.5 mm)
Base diameter.577 in (14.7 mm)
Rim diameter.660 in (16.8 mm)
Case length2.75 in (70 mm)
Overall length3.38 in (86 mm)
Case capacity121.3 gr H2O (7.86 cm3)
Primer typeKynoch # 40
Ballistic performance
Bullet mass/type Velocity Energy
260 gr (17 g) 1,900 ft/s (580 m/s) 2,160 ft⋅lbf (2,930 J)
530 gr (34 g) UNK UNK
Source(s): Cartridges of the World[1] & Imperial War Museums.[2]

Overview edit

The .500/450 No. 1 Black Powder Express was a rimmed, bottlenecked cartridge designed for use with black powder. The cartridge was originally designed as a deer stalking round with a 260 gr (17 g) bullet, although later a 530 gr (34 g) loading was produced for target shooting.[1][2]

The .500/450 No. 1 Nitro for Black was the same cartridge loaded with mild loadings of cordite, carefully balanced to replicate the ballistics of the black powder version. Unlike other similar black powder cartridges, such as the .450 Black Powder Express and .500/450 Magnum Black Powder Express, the .500/450 No. 1 Express never became a Nitro Express cartridge.[2]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b Frank C. Barnes, Cartridges of the World, 15th ed, Gun Digest Books, Iola, 2016, ISBN 978-1-4402-4642-5.
  2. ^ a b c Imperial War Museums, "Eley: .500-.450 No. 1 Black Powder Express soft point", iwm.org.uk, retrieved 20 October 2017.

External links edit