Hornady 500 Nitro Express 3″ 570 Grain DGX Bonded (Dangerous Game eXpanding) Ammunition (20 Rounds)

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$187

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Description

Product Overview

The 500 Nitro Express is a rifle cartridge designed for hunting large and dangerous game animals in Africa and India. This cartridge was primarily designed for use in double rifles though various single shots were produced on the Farquarson action and at least one major company (Heym) produced it in bolt-action configuration.

The nomenclature 500 Nitro Express refers to one of three specific loading of the 500 Nitro Express case. The other loadings are now called (for the sake of clarity) the .500 Black Powder Express (BPE) and .500 Nitro for Black Powder (Nitro for BPE). The names given to these loadings are of more modern origin to help one differentiate between them. The original cartridge was simply known as the 500 Nitro Express. The cartridge is one of the original Express cartridges which originated in the black powder era and made the transition into the smokeless powder era.

The .500 Black Powder Express, as the name indicates was designed for use with black powder. It is unknown as to who or which company originally designed the cartridge except that it was designed sometime in the 1860s in the United Kingdom. Several manufacturers of firearms produced rifles and loaded ammunition for the cartridge type, however significant differences and variations existed between manufacturers. For the most part, due to the relatively low working pressures of these rifles and ammunition there was little to no danger associated with the use of these cartridges in a particular rifle.

The Pistol for Black Powder cartridge used the same general case type as the .500 Black Powder Express but was loaded with cordite instead of black powder and appeared on the scene sometime in the 1890s. The cartridge was intended for firearms designed to fire the .500 Black Powder Express and pressures were kept low enough so as to operate safely in these older black-powder firearms yet provided a substantial increase in performance over the black-powder–loaded cartridge.

500 Nitro Express

 

As the working pressure of the .500 Nitro Express cartridge was significantly higher than the black-powder cartridge, variations between manufacturers of the same ammunition would result in damage to the firearms and injury to the shooter. For this reason there is an acknowledged standard between manufacturers for the .500 Nitro Express cartridge but not for the earlier black-powder cartridge.

Since cordite contained guncotton (nitrocellulose) and nitroglycerine, cartridges loaded with this formulation were often prefixed by “nitro” as a means of differentiation. The suffix “Express” denotes the comparatively higher velocity of the cartridge drawing from the analogy of the express trains from that period of time.

After World War II as many of colonies of the United Kingdom gained independence the popularity of the Nitro Express cartridges began to wane. Renewed interest in dangerous game hunting in Africa has in turn renewed the interest in the Nitro Express cartridges including the .500 Nitro Express.

Both the 3.00 in (76 mm) version and the 3.25 in (83 mm) version of the cartridge are loaded to the same performance level .

500 Nitro Express

Design and specifications

The large capacity of the 500 Nitro Express Rifle case is due to the cartridge originally being designed to use black powder as a propellant. The 3.00 in (76 mm) case has a case capacity of 138 grains of H2O (8.96 cm3) while the 3.25 in (83 mm) case has a capacity of 158 grains of H2O (10.30 cm3).

The CIP regulates the 3.00 in (76 mm) version of the cartridge but not the 3.25 in (83 mm) version.

500 Nitro Express Cartridge Schematic

The CIP recommends 7 groove barrel with a twist rate of 1:15. The barrel is to have a groove Ø of 13.00 mm (0.512 in) and a bore Ø of 12.70 mm (0.500 in) with a groove width of 3.61 mm (0.142 in). Maximum average peak pressure for the cartridge is 2,800 bar (41,000 psi) for the 3.00 in (76 mm) version of the cartridge. While the CIP does not regulate the 3.25 in (83 mm) version of this cartridge this cartridge is loaded to a lower pressure of 2,700 bar (39,000 psi). Except for case length and overall length, the 3.25 in (83 mm) version has similar dimensions as the 3.00 in (76 mm) cartridge.

Additional Information