.500 Black Powder Express
.500 Black Powder Express | ||||||||
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Type | Rifle | |||||||
Place of origin | United Kingdom | |||||||
Production history | ||||||||
Designed | 1860s | |||||||
Specifications | ||||||||
Case type | Rimmed, straight | |||||||
Bullet diameter | .510 in (13.0 mm) | |||||||
Neck diameter | .535 in (13.6 mm) | |||||||
Base diameter | .580 in (14.7 mm) | |||||||
Rim diameter | .660 in (16.8 mm) | |||||||
Rim thickness | .055 in (1.4 mm) | |||||||
Case length | 3.01 in (76 mm) | |||||||
Overall length | 3.39 in (86 mm) | |||||||
Primer type | Kynoch # 31A | |||||||
Ballistic performance | ||||||||
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Test barrel length: 28 Source(s): Barnes & Amber[1] and Kynoch [2] |
The .500 Black Powder Express was a series of Black powder cases of varying lengths that emerged in the 1860s.[1]
Development
The cartridge was offered in several case lengths including 11⁄2-inch, 2-inch, 21⁄4-inch, 25⁄8-inch, 3-inch and 31⁄4-inch, several were successful and endured others lasted only a short period.[1]
The 3-inch and 31⁄4-inch .500 BPE cartridges have survived to the current day as the .500 3-inch Nitro for Black and the .500 31⁄4-inch Nitro for Black, the same cartridges loaded with mild loadings of modern smokeless powder, carefully balanced through trial to replicate the ballistics of the Black powder version.[2] The two cartridges offer almost identical ballistic performance to each other, and are very similar to the .50-140 Sharps.
Nitro Express loadings
The 3-inch and 31⁄4-inch cartridges were later loaded with smokeless cordite to create the .500 Nitro Express, with the 3-inch version becoming the most popular.
Parent case
In the 1870s the 31⁄4-inch cartridge was necked down to .45-inches to create the .500/450 Magnum Black Powder Express which in turn, when loaded with cordite, became the .500/450 Nitro Express. After the British government's 1907 ban of .450 caliber ammunition to India and Sudan, the .500/465 Nitro Express and the .470 Nitro Express were formed from this cartridge.
Dimensions
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/500_Black_Powder_Express_cartridge_dimensions_horizontal.jpg/500px-500_Black_Powder_Express_cartridge_dimensions_horizontal.jpg)
Use
The .500 BPE was considered a good cartridge for medium-sized non dangerous game[3] and can still be used for such.
The .500 BPE was never highly regarded for hunting in Africa,[1] yet it was a popular cartridge in India, considered a good general purpose rifle cartridge popular for hunting tigers.[4] Jim Corbett was a user of a .500 BPE rifle prior to switching to a .400 Jeffery Nitro Express double rifle,[5] shooting cordite Nitro for Black loadings this rifle was used to dispatch the first man-eater he shot, the Champawat Tiger.[6]
See also
- Express (weaponry)
- List of rifle cartridges
- 13 mm caliber
References
Footnotes
Bibliography
- Barnes, Frank C. & Amber, John T., Cartridges of the World, DBI Books, Northfield, 1972, ISBN 0-695-80326-3.
- Corbett, Jim, Man-Eaters of Kumaon, Oxford University Press, Bombay, 1944.
- Kynoch Ammunition, Big Game Cartridges kynochammunition.co.uk
- McCarthy, Daniel, Mini Compendium of Big Bore Cartridges, 2004, archived 26 March 2009.
- Wieland, Terry, Dangerous-game rifles, ed 2, Down East Books / Shooting Sportsman Press, 2009, ISBN 978-0-89272-807-7.
- Wieland, Terry, Nitro Express: The Big Bang of the Big Bang, retrieved 14 Nov 15.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- .500 Black Powder Express 3"
- 500 BPE (Black Powder Express) - Ammosmith Reloading on YouTube, vídeo
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