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.470 Nitro Express

Rifle cartridge

Field	Value
image	Munit01.jpg	image_size = 300px
origin	England
type	Rifle
designer	Joseph Lang
design_date	1907
production_date	1907–present
parent	[.500 Nitro Express in](500-nitro-express)
case_type	Rimmed, bottlenecked
bullet	.474
land	.467
neck	.504
shoulder	.531
base	.573
rim_dia	.655
rim_thick	.040
case_length	3.25
length	3.98
case_capacity	146.0
rifling	1-20 in
primer	Boxer
max_pressure	39160
max_cup	35,000
bw1	500
btype1	SP, FMJ
vel1	2150
en1	5133
balsrc	"Cartridges of the World"

The .470 Nitro Express / 12.7x83mmR is a rifle cartridge developed by Joseph Lang in England for dangerous game hunting in Africa and India. This cartridge is used almost exclusively in double rifles. It is in wide use in the Southern and Central-East African region, favoured by hunting guides, primarily while out for hunting Cape buffalo and elephant.

Overview

The .470 NE was originally designed by Lang's as a replacement for the .450 Nitro Express, after the .450 NE was banned in several British colonies including India in 1907 (its bullets could theoretically be removed from loaded rounds for use by natives in stolen .577/.450 Martini Henry rifles). Due to the heavy bullet and powder charge, the gun has significant recoil but this is mitigated by the low velocity, resulting in recoil being delivered as a strong push rather than a violent blow. Rifles chambered for this cartridge tend to be heavy double-gun style, and are typically quite expensive.

The .470 NE continues to be the most popular of all the Nitro Express cartridges. Ammunition and components are readily available.

Handloading

Like other 'dangerous game' cartridges, ammunition is expensive compared with standard hunting cartridges, often costing up to 10 times more per shell than typical cartridges such as the .30-06. Because of this many shooters choose to handload the .470 NE. Brass can be obtained from a variety of sources, and like most reloading components varies in quality. Lighter loads for practice can be created that are more enjoyable and cheaper to shoot.

In popular culture

Author and adventurer James S. Gardner provides a realistic, detailed account of the capabilities of a Nitro Express during an ill-fated safari, and again in a graphical account of a desperate firefight against men and a helicopter in his book, The Lion Killer.

References

Cartridge capacity:

References

Max chamber pressure - saami specs. Return to the index to LASC. (n.d.). Retrieved May 1, 2023, from http://www.lasc.us/SAAMIMaxPressure.htm
Barnes, Frank C.. (1997). "Cartridges of the World". DBI Books.
"[http://www.nrapublications.org/sh.%20illustrated/twintube.asp Twin-Tube Dreamin'] {{Webarchive. link. (2007-06-02 " by Ted Hatfield, in American Rifleman)
(April 1999). "450 Nitro Express". African Hunter.
"[http://www.african-hunter.com/lead_bullets_in_a__470_nitro.htm An Adventure with Lead Bullets In The .470 Nitro Express] {{Webarchive. link. (2007-11-07 " by Leo Grizzaffi)
James Gardner. (2009). "The Lion Killer". Sterling House Pub.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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