.50 BMG, History
The development of the .50 BMG round is sometimes confused with the German 13.2 mm TuF, which was developed by Germany for an anti-tank rifle to combat British tanks during WWI and against aircraft. According to the American Rifleman: "Actually, the Browning .50 originated in the Great War. American interest in an armor-piercing cartridge was influenced by the marginal French 11 mm design, prompting U.S. Army Ordnance officers to consult Browning. They wanted a heavy projectile at 2700 feet per second (f.p.s. ), but the ammunition did not exist. Browning pondered the situation and, according to his son John, replied, 'Well, the cartridge sounds pretty good to start. You make up some cartridges and we'll do some shooting.'"


.50 BMG, History
The American Rifleman further explains that development was "[r]eputedly influenced by Germany's 13.2x92 mm SR (.53-cal.) anti-tank rifle" and that then "Ordnance contracted with Winchester to design a .50-cal. cartridge. Subsequently, Frankford Arsenal took over from Winchester, producing the historic .50 BMG or 12.7x99 mm cartridge. The Army then returned to John Browning for the actual gun. Teamed with Colt, he produced prototypes ready for testing and, ironically, completed them by Nov. 11, 1918—the Great War's end."


.50 BMG, History
The round was put into use in the M1921 Browning machine gun. This gun was later developed into the M2HB Browning which with its .50 caliber armor-piercing cartridges went on to function as an anti-aircraft and anti-vehicular machine gun, capable of penetrating 0.9 inches (23 mm) of face-hardened armor steel plate at 200 meters (220 yd), 1 inch (25 mm) of rolled homogeneous armor at the same range, and 0.75 inches (19 mm) at 547 yards (500 m).


.50 BMG, History
During World War II the .50 BMG was primarily used in the M2 Browning machine gun, in both its "light barrel" aircraft mount version and the "heavy barrel" (HB) version on ground vehicles, for anti-aircraft purposes. An upgraded variant of the M2 Browning HB machine gun used during World War II is still in use today. Since the mid-1950s, some armored personnel carriers and utility vehicles have been made to withstand 12.7 mm machine gun fire, restricting the destructive capability of the M2.


.50 BMG, History
It still has more penetrating power than lighter weapons such as general-purpose machine guns, though it is significantly heavier and more cumbersome to transport. Its range and accuracy, however, are superior to light machine guns when fixed on tripods, and it has not been replaced as the standard caliber for Western vehicle-mounted machine guns (Soviet and CIS armored vehicles mount 12.7×108mm NSVs, which are ballistically similar to .50 BMGs).


.50 BMG, History
Decades later, the .50 BMG was chambered in high-powered rifles as well. The Barrett M82 .50 caliber rifle and later variants were developed during the 1980s and have upgraded the anti-materiel power of the military sniper. A skilled sniper can effectively neutralize an infantry unit by eliminating several targets (soldiers or equipment) without revealing his precise location. The long range (over one mile) between firing position and target allows time for the sniper to avoid enemy retaliation by either changing positions repeatedly, or by safely retreating.


.50 BMG, Power
A common method for understanding the actual power of a cartridge is comparison of muzzle energies. The .30-06 Springfield, the standard caliber for American soldiers in both World Wars and a popular caliber amongst American hunters, can produce muzzle energies between 2,000 and 3,000 foot-pounds force (3,000 and 4,000 J). The .50 BMG round can produce between 10,000 and 15,000 foot-pounds force (14,000 and 20,000 J), depending on its powder and bullet type, as well as the weapon it is fired from. Due to the high ballistic coefficient of the bullet, the .50 BMG's trajectory also suffers less "drift" from cross-winds than smaller and lighter calibers, making the .50 BMG a good choice for high-powered sniper rifles.


.50 BMG, Cartridge dimensions
The .50 BMG (12.7×99mm NATO) cartridge has a capacity of 290 gr (19 g). The round is a scaled-up version of the .30-06 Springfield but uses a case wall with a long taper to facilitate feeding and extraction in various weapons.


.50 BMG, Cartridge dimensions
The common rifling twist rate for this cartridge is 1 in 15 in (380 mm), with eight lands and grooves. The primer type specified for this ammunition is a boxer primer that has a single centralized ignition point (US and NATO countries). However, some other countries produce the ammunition with Berdan primers that have two flash holes.


.50 BMG, Cartridge dimensions
The average chamber pressure in this round as listed in TM43-0001-27, the U.S. Army Ammunition Data Sheets — Small Caliber Ammunition, not including plastic practice, short cased spotter, or proof/test loads, is 54,923 psi (378,680 kPa). The proof/test pressure is listed as 65,000 psi (450,000 kPa).


.50 BMG, Military cartridge types
The .50 BMG cartridge is also produced commercially in a wide range of specifications, including armor piercing, tracing, and incendiary.


.50 BMG, Military cartridge types
DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) contracted with Teledyne Scientific Company to develop the EXACTO program, including a .50-caliber guided bullet. Videos published by DARPA show the guided bullet diverting to strike a moving target.


.50 BMG, Links used for feeding machine guns
Two distinct and non-compatible metallic links have been used for the .50 BMG cartridge, depending upon the machine gun which will be firing the cartridges. The M2 and M9 links, "pull-out" designs, are used in the Browning M2 and M3 machine guns. Pull-out cloth belts were also used at one time, but have been obsolete since 1945. The M15-series "push-through" links were used in the M85 machine gun.


.50 BMG, Legal issues
The specified maximum diameter of an unfired .50 BMG bullet is 0.510-inch (13.0 mm); while this appears to be over the .50 inch (12.7 mm) maximum allowed for non-sporting Title I firearms under the U.S. National Firearms Act, the barrel of a .50 BMG rifle is only .50 inch (12.7 mm) across the rifling lands and slightly larger in the grooves. The oversized bullet is formed to the bore size upon firing, forming a tight seal and engaging the rifling, a mechanism which in firearm terms is known as swaging.


.50 BMG, Legal issues
Subject to political controversy due to the great power of the cartridge (it is the most powerful commonly available cartridge not considered a destructive device under the National Firearms Act), it remains popular among long-range shooters for its accuracy and external ballistics. While the .50 BMG round is able to deliver accurate shot placement (if match grade ammunition is used) at ranges over 1,000-yard (910 m), smaller caliber rifles produce better scores and tighter groups in 1,000-yard (910 m) competitions.


.50 BMG, Legal issues
In response to legal action against the .50 BMG in the United States and Europe, an alternative chambering was developed. The .510 DTC Europ uses the same bullet, but has slightly different case dimensions. .510 DTC cases can be made by fire-forming .50 BMG cases in a .510 DTC chambered rifle. The new round has almost identical ballistics, but because of the different dimensions, rifles chambered for .50 BMG cannot fire the .510 DTC, and therefore rifles chambered for .510 DTC do not fall under many of the same legal prohibitions. Barrett offers a similar alternative, the .416 Barrett, which is based on a shortened .50 BMG case necked down to .416 caliber (10.3 mm).


.50 BMG, Legal issues
A 1999 Justice Department Office of Special Investigations  briefing on .50 caliber rifle crime identified several instances of the .50 BMG being involved in criminal activities. Most of the instances of criminal activity cited in the Office of Special Investigations briefing involved the illegal possession of a .50 BMG rifle. The briefing did not identify any instance of a .50 BMG rifle being used in the commission of a murder.


.50 BMG, Legal issues
In the United States, Washington, D.C. disallows registration of .50 BMG rifles, thus rendering civilian possession unlawful. California prohibits the private purchase of a rifle capable of firing the .50 BMG through the .50 Caliber BMG Regulation Act of 2004. Connecticut specifically bans the Barrett 82A1 .50 BMG rifle. However, .50 BMG rifles registered prior to the enacted bans remain lawful to possess in California and Connecticut. Maryland imposes additional regulations on the sale and transfer of .50 BMG rifles and other "regulated firearms", and limits purchases of any firearm within this class to one per month, but does not impose registration requirements or any form of categorical ban.


.50 BMG, Legal issues
Within the United Kingdom, it is legal to own a bolt action .50 BMG rifle with a section 1 Firearms Certificate. Applications requesting firearms in this caliber are assessed by the same criteria as smaller calibers; with the applicant having to prove they have a valid reason for owning such a weapon.


.50 BMG, Legal issues
Contrary to a persistent misconception within the United States Armed Forces, using .50 BMG directly against enemy personnel is not prohibited by the laws of war. Writing for the Marine Corps Gazette, Maj Hays Parks states that "No treaty language exists (either generally or specifically) to support a limitation on [the use of .50 BMG] against personnel, and its widespread, longstanding use in this role suggests that such antipersonnel employment is the customary practice of nations."


.50 BMG, Legal issues
Parks theorizes that the misconception originated in historical doctrine discouraging the use of the M8C spotting rifle—an integral .50-caliber aiming aid for the M40 recoilless rifle—in the antipersonnel role. This limitation was entirely tactical in nature and was intended to hide the vulnerable M40 and its crew from the enemy until the main anti-tank gun was ready for firing; however, Parks concludes that some U.S. troops assumed the existence of a legal limitation on the use of .50-caliber projectiles more generally.


.50 BMG, Legal issues
On May 1, 2020, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a ban on various "military-style" firearms in Canada. This ban includes firearms that chamber the .50 BMG. The ban includes a two-year amnesty period before the firearms must be surrendered, with an as-yet-unannounced compensation program in the works.


.50 BMG, Typical uses
The primary military use of this round is in the Browning M2HB heavy machine gun and the Barrett M82 anti-materiel rifle.


.50 BMG, Typical uses
The U.S. Coast Guard uses .50 BMG rifles to disable outboard engines from armed helicopters during interdictions. Similarly, .50 BMG weapons have attracted attention from law enforcement agencies; they have been adopted by the New York City Police Department as well as the Pittsburgh Police. A .50 BMG round can effectively disable a vehicle when fired into the engine block. If it is necessary to breach barriers, a .50 BMG round will penetrate most commercial brick walls and concrete cinder blocks.


.50 BMG, Typical uses
The .50 BMG round has been used as a sniper round as early as the Korean War. The former record for a confirmed long-distance kill was set by U.S. Marine sniper Carlos Hathcock in 1967 during the Vietnam War, at a distance of 2,090 meters (2,290 yd; 1.30 mi); Hathcock used the .50 BMG in an M2 Browning Machine Gun equipped with a telescopic sight. This weapon was used by other snipers, and eventually purpose-built sniper rifles were developed specifically for this round.


.50 BMG, Typical uses
In June 2017, a McMillan Tac-50 was used by a sniper with Canada's Joint Task Force 2 to kill an Islamic State insurgent in Iraq, setting the world record for the longest confirmed kill shot in military history at 3,540 meters (3,870 yd; 2.20 mi). Before that record, Canadian Army Corporal Rob Furlong of the PPCLI achieved what was then the longest-range confirmed sniper kill in history when he shot a Taliban combatant at 2,430 meters (2,660 yd; 1.51 mi) during the 2002 campaign in the Afghanistan War. This was surpassed in 2009 by a British sniper in Afghanistan with 2,475 meters (2,707 yd; 1.538 mi) using a .338 Lapua Magnum (8.58×70 mm) rifle.


.50 BMG, Typical uses
In addition to long-range and anti-materiel sniping, the U.S. military uses .50 BMG weapons to detonate unexploded ordnance from a safe distance. It can disable most unarmored and lightly armored vehicles.


.50 BMG, Typical uses
Some civilians use .50 caliber rifles for long-range target shooting: the US-based Fifty Caliber Shooters Association holds .50 BMG shooting matches.


.50 Beowulf
The .50 Beowulf  is a 12mm caliber rifle cartridge developed by Bill Alexander of Alexander Arms for use in an AR-15 rifle.


.50 Beowulf, Design and specifications
The cartridge utilizes a rebated rim, sized to match the rim of the 6.5mm Grendel round. The case body is very similar in dimensions to the .500 S&W Magnum revolver cartridge, being slightly longer and fully tapered for automatic feeding in the weapon.


.50 Beowulf, Design and specifications
The round is intended to improve stopping power greatly at short- to medium-range as compared to the standard 5.56×45mm NATO round. One of its advertised uses is at vehicle checkpoints, since the heavy bullet's flight path is not easily deflected by auto glass or standard vehicle body panels.


.50 Beowulf, Design limitations
With normal bullet weights between 300 and 400 grains (19 and 26 g), overall cartridge length shorter than that of an AR-15 magazine well, and holding to pressures of 33,000 psi limited by the AR bolt strength system, the .50 Beowulf is best described as a low-velocity, heavy caliber, making its ballistics roughly equivalent to those of early .45-70 Government rounds rather than the higher pressure rounds tolerated by lever-action rifles such as the Marlin Model 1895.


.50 Beowulf, Proprietary status
The .50 Beowulf is a proprietary caliber developed as a specialized cartridge. Alexander Arms and Delta Firearms oversees all aspects of the production of the system and related accessories. Their reluctance to divulge information has been a source of irritation to some writers. Because Alexander Arms holds a trademark on the name .50 Beowulf, a number of other companies produce weapons and ammunition reverse engineered to the same dimensions under the name 12.7x42mm.


.50 Beowulf, Sporting uses
Although much has been written about its tactical uses, the .50 Beowulf is gaining recognition as a sporting cartridge. It is becoming more widely recognized as being usable for a wide variety of North American game, including deer, moose, and black bear.


.50 Beowulf, Similar cartridges
The cartridge has its lineage in the .50 Action Express, starting with the L.A.R. Grizzly and in modern times, the Magnum Research Desert Eagle pistol, with significant modification to improve functionality and safety in the AR-15 rifle.


.50 Caliber BMG Regulation Act of 2004
The .50 Caliber BMG Regulation Act of 2004 is a law in the state of California that effectively banned all .50 BMG-caliber rifles from being sold in the state. The law took effect on January 1, 2005.


.50 Caliber BMG Regulation Act of 2004, Background
The legislature of California declared that "proliferation and use" of .50 BMG rifles posed a terrorist threat, as well as a threat to the "health, safety, and security of all residents" of California. The act required existing .50 BMG rifles to be registered with the state and prohibited the sale of any rifle after the ban went into effect. To quote the state web site, the act "regulates the .50 BMG rifles in essentially the same manner as assault weapons." The law specifically allowed a registration period of one year, now passed, to register any such firearms, after which unregistered weapons would become illegal firearms.


.50 Caliber BMG Regulation Act of 2004, Background, Definitions
"A .50 BMG rifle is defined as a centerfire rifle that can fire a .50 BMG cartridge and is not already an assault weapon ... or a machinegun"


.50 Caliber BMG Regulation Act of 2004, Background, Definitions
“.50 BMG cartridge” is defined as a cartridge that is designed and intended to be fired from a centerfire rifle and that meets all of the following criteria: (1) It has an overall length of 5.54 inches (141 mm) from the base to the tip of the bullet. (2) The bullet diameter for the cartridge is from .510 to, and including, .511-inch (13.0 mm). (3) The case base diameter for the cartridge is from .800-inch (20.3 mm) to, and including, .804 inch. (4) The cartridge case length is 3.91 inches (99 mm). (PC § 12278.)


.50 Caliber BMG Regulation Act of 2004, Background, Exceptions/Exclusions to California Penal Code 30905, et. al.
The law does not apply to the law enforcement officers with permission from their employing agencies.


.50 Caliber BMG Regulation Act of 2004, Background, Exceptions/Exclusions to California Penal Code 30905, et. al.
Exceptions are granted to rifles classified as antiques or Curio and Relics as defined by the BATFE.


.50 Caliber BMG Regulation Act of 2004, Background, Exceptions/Exclusions to California Penal Code 30905, et. al.
Out-of-state owners may bring .50 BMG rifles into the state for shooting competitions.


.50 Caliber BMG Regulation Act of 2004, Background, Exceptions/Exclusions to California Penal Code 30905, et. al.
Limited exceptions are granted for exhibitions, displays, and education projects sponsored by law enforcement or government agencies.


.50 Caliber BMG Regulation Act of 2004, Background, Exceptions/Exclusions to California Penal Code 30905, et. al.
You hold a valid permit to possess an assault weapon specifically (not just a general concealed carry permit) from the State Department of Justice.


.50 Caliber BMG Regulation Act of 2004, Background, Exceptions/Exclusions to California Penal Code 30905, et. al.
You lawfully possessed the rifle before it was made illegal (i.e., before January 1, 2005) and registered it before April 30, 2006 with the State Department of Justice.


.50 Caliber BMG Regulation Act of 2004, Background, Exceptions/Exclusions to California Penal Code 30905, et. al.
You are the executor or administrator of an estate that lawfully holds such firearms.


.50 Caliber BMG Regulation Act of 2004, Controversy
As a result of the ban, the Barrett Firearms Company announced it would no longer sell to or service any of its rifles in the possession of any California government agency.


.50 Caliber BMG Regulation Act of 2004, Controversy
A 1999 Justice Department Office of Special Investigations  briefing on .50 caliber rifle crime identified several instances of the .50 BMG being involved in criminal activities. Only one instance (the Branch Davidians at Waco TX) involved the alleged use of a .50 BMG being used during the commission of a crime; the remainder involved illegal possession (e.g. stolen), not use. The briefing did not identify any instance of a .50 BMG rifle being used in the commission of a murder.


.50 Caliber BMG Regulation Act of 2004, Controversy
According to the GAO report there were no instances of violent crime with a .50 BMG rifle, while providing examples of crimes that had occurred: a doomsday cult possessed 10 rifles and were arrested for using false identities, a .50 BMG rifle was stolen and later recovered, and a claim by the ATF that the Branch Davidians fired a .50 BMG prior to the ATF firing tear gas and incendiary devices at the occupied structure. No .50 BMG rifles were reported recovered after the ATF siege at Waco


.50 Caliber BMG Regulation Act of 2004, Alternative cartridges
The .510 DTC Europ has since been introduced to take advantage of the highly specific language used in the act. The round provides almost identical ballistics and performance, but cannot be used in weapons chambered for .50 BMG.


.50 Caliber BMG Regulation Act of 2004, Alternative cartridges
Barrett has since produced the .416 Barrett, a necked-down .50 BMG case using a .416 caliber bullet, which is not subject to the .50 BMG Act because of the smaller caliber. It has the benefit of having a flatter trajectory than the .50 BMG.


.50 GI
The .50 GI (12.7×23mmRB) pistol cartridge was developed by Alex Zimmermann of Guncrafter Industries. The .50 GI was introduced at the 2004 SHOT Show alongside the Guncrafter Industries Model No. 1, a variation of the M1911. The round has a rebated rim that is the same diameter as that of the .45 ACP.


.50 GI
In 2006, Guncrafter Industries introduced its 1911 Model No. 2 which sports a full length light rail/dust cover and is chambered for the .50 GI cartridge. Both the M1 and the M2 can be fitted with Guncrafter Industries' .45 ACP conversion unit, the .45 ACP magazines hold 8 rounds.


.50 GI
Physically, the .50 GI round is wider than the .45 ACP and slightly longer. The M1 and M2 magazines can hold seven rounds. The Glock conversion can hold eight rounds in the standard magazine and nine with the extended base pad.


.50 GI, Performance
The .50 GI operates at pressures comparable to the .45 ACP, around 15,000 psi (100 MPa). Felt recoil is not unlike that of the .45 ACP. The .50 GI has developed a reputation for accuracy, though this may be due to the high precision of the semi-custom and very expensive Guncrafter pistols themselves. In one test, the 300 grain (19 g) jacketed flatpoint (JFP) gave a 25-yard group of 2.24 inches, and the 300-grain Jacketed hollow point (JHP) and 275-grain JHP gave a 25-yard group of 2.14 inches.


.50 GI, Performance
The penetration in gelatin (but not necessarily the kinetic energy) of the .50 GI is significantly different than the .45 ACP. While it is one of the few examples of the largest legally allowed caliber projectile (.50) in a semiauto handgun, it was purpose built to have a recoil impulse and kinetic energy substantially less than the magnum .50 caliber rounds such as the .50 Action Express (semiautomatic) or .500 S&W Magnum (revolver). Factory loaded ammunition has a kinetic energy of around 500 ft·lb.


.50 GI, Performance
The cartridge is not used in law enforcement and rarely for personal defense due to limited availability of ammunition and guns chambered for the cartridge. Currently, the only commercial handguns available in this caliber are Guncrafter Industries' own Colt 1911 handgun variants and its Glock 21/Glock 20 conversion upper receiver, and Magnum Research chambers their BFR revolver in this caliber on a custom basis.


.50 Remington Navy
The .50 Remington Navy is a .5 in (12.7 mm) American rimfire handgun cartridge.


.50 Remington Navy
Introduced for the Remington Navy single-shot, rolling block pistol in 1865, the low-velocity round loaded a 290 gr (19 g; 0.66 oz) bullet over 23 gr (1.5 g; 0.053 oz) of black powder.


.50 Remington Navy
The rimfire version was replaced in 1866 by a centerfire equivalent. A Boxer-primed version remained commercially available until World War I.


.50 Remington Navy
The power of the .50 Remington was not great, but the heavy bullet, even at comparatively low velocity, made it "a rather potent handgun round".


.50 Remington Navy, Notes
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.50 caliber handguns
A .50 caliber handgun is a handgun firing a bullet measuring approximately .5 inches (12.7 mm) in diameter. Historically, many black powder pistols fired bullets with diameters well above ½ inch. However, following the development of smokeless powder, the focus shifted to smaller-diameter bullets propelled at higher velocities, and the development of .50 and larger calibers in handguns became uncommon.


.50 caliber handguns
In the twentieth century, several new cartridges of half-inch diameter were developed, the first by John Linebaugh of Cody, Wyoming, in 1986 with the development of the .500 Linebaugh, and then later with the .50 Action Express (1988), which was the first to achieve wide popularity. The .500 Linebaugh utilizes a bore diameter of .500" with the corresponding bullet diameter of .510", the same as the .50 BMG and other .50 caliber rifles, while the .50 Action Express and .500 S&W Magnum use .490" bore diameters and correspondingly smaller .500" bullet diameters. The smaller .500" diameter was further popularized by the development of the .500 S&W Magnum in 2003.


.50 caliber handguns
There are semi-automatic, revolver, and single-shot .50 caliber handgun designs. Handguns of this caliber tend to be larger and heavier than most others of their type with the exception of the Linebaugh line of revolvers. The Linebaugh revolvers are based on the standard Ruger Blackhawk with Ruger Bisley grip frames, although the cylinders have been enlarged for both structural integrity and absorbing the recoil associated with firing these rounds as have the previously mentioned .500 handguns.


.50 caliber handguns
Despite being featured in many video games and action films as the weapon of choice for some members of elite military and law enforcement units, these guns in reality are used primarily for hunting, target shooting, and silhouette shooting.


.50-110 Winchester
The .50-110 WCF  (also known as the .50-100-450 WCF , with different loadings) in modern 1886 Winchesters with modern steel barrels is the most powerful lever-action cartridge, with up to 6,000 foot pounds of energy.


.50-110 Winchester, Overview
Introduced in 1899 for the Winchester Model 1886 repeater, the .50-110 WCF  was also available in single-shot weapons such as the Winchester 1885 Hi-Wall. Slight variations in charge weight in the same case led to the mistaken belief these were different rounds, when in fact they were not.


.50-110 Winchester, Overview
Designed for black powder, the .50-110 was also available in a potent smokeless loading, comparable to British elephant rounds. In power, the standard load was comparable to the contemporary British .500 Black Powder Express,  It is sufficient for elk, deer, moose, and bear at medium ranges or in woods, and thin-skinned African game, but not dangerous animals such as elephants. The high-velocity smokeless load was in a class with the .444 Marlin, and its power exceeded the .348 and .358 Winchester.


.50-110 Winchester, Overview
Winchester continued to offer the cartridge commercially until 1935 and while it is still offered by some suppliers, due to its obsolescence and resultant obscurity, it is significantly more costly than more current cartridges — averaging from US$3 to $4 per round. Also, more modern guns like the new browning 1886  71 Winchester and the new 1886 Winchesters,  made in Japan, are capable of much higher pressures and the 50–110 WCF  can achieve  up to 6,000 foot pounds of energy.


.50-120 Federal FireStick
The Federal FireStick is a proprietary polymer-hulled blank cartridge, introduced in 2020 for the Traditions NitroFire rifle. It contains 100 to 120 grains of Hodgdon 888 black-powder substitute and neither a primer nor bullet.


.50-120 Federal FireStick
Being supplied with neither a primer nor a projectile, the Federal FireStick blank round can be used as a live-fire cartridge by first inserting a primer manually into the rimmed base, then placing it into the breech of the Traditions NitroFire, much like a traditional shotshell in a break-action shotgun. Finally, a .50 calibre bullet is pushed down the barrel from the front using a ramrod, coming to rest at a narrowed neck that separates the slug from the charge and prevents the user from attempting to fire incompatible ammunition.


.50-140 Sharps
The .50-140 Sharps rifle cartridge is a black-powder cartridge that was introduced in 1884 as a big game hunting round. It is believed to have been introduced for the Sharps-Borchardt Model 1878 rifle. The cartridge is very similar to the .500 Black Powder Express.


.50-140 Sharps
This round was introduced by Winchester 3 years after the Sharps Rifle Company closed its doors in 1881. It is similar to, though larger than, the .50-90 Sharps.


.50-140 Sharps, Specifications
Bullet diameter is typically .512 in (13.0 mm), with weights of 600 to 700 grains (39 to 45 g).


.50-140 Sharps, Specifications
The powder charge is typically 140 grains (9.1 g) of black powder. Modern substitutes such as Pyrodex are sometimes used, although using smaller charges since pyrodex is less dense than black powder. In a strong action with modern smokeless powder, it can exceed a 500-grain (32 g) .458 Winchester Magnum velocity while using a heavier 550-grain (36 g) bullet.


.50-140 Sharps, History
The .50-140 was created for big game hunting, and was the most powerful of the Sharps Bison cartridges. However, it was introduced about the time of the end of the great Bison herds. An obsolete round, ammunition is not produced by any major manufacturer although reloading components and brass can be acquired or home-built.


.50-140 Sharps, History
Rifles are infrequently produced by a few companies. They are typically used for bison hunting and reenactments. Occasionally, the .50-140 is used in vintage competitions, although some shooters claim it produces heavier recoil than other old-time cartridges such as the .45-70.


.50-70 Government
The .50-70 Government (also called the .50-70 Musket and .50 Government) is a black powder cartridge adopted in 1866 for the Springfield Model 1866 Trapdoor rifle.


.50-70 Government, Description
Derived from the .50-60-400 Joslyn, the cartridge was developed after the unsatisfactory results of the .58 rimfire cartridge for the Springfield Model 1865 Trapdoor rifle.


.50-70 Government, Description
The .50-70 Government cartridge became the official cartridge of the US military until replaced by the .45-70 Government in 1873. The .50-70 cartridge had a pressure limit of 22,500 PSI.


.50-70 Government, Description
The official designation of this cartridge at the time of introduction was "US center-fire metallic cartridge", and the commercial designation  .50-70-450, standing for :


.50-70 Government, Description
Reloaders have experimented with a variety of bullet weights from 425 to 600 grains (39 g). Additionally, the US Navy contracted with Remington to produce several thousand rolling-block carbines chambered for a reduced load version of this cartridge which was officially produced for use only in carbines. This reduced load cartridge used a shortened .50-70 with a 430-grain (28 g) bullet and 45 grains (2.9 g) of black powder.


.50-70 Government, Description
The US Navy purchased Remington Rolling Block rifles chambered for the full size .50-70 cartridge. The US Army also ordered both rolling-block rifles and carbines in caliber .50-70 and made some rolling blocks at their Springfield Armory facility in this caliber. The US Army also had a large supply of percussion-fired Sharps carbines at the close of the Civil War and had the Sharps Rifle Company convert about 31,000 of those to caliber .50-70 for cavalry use.


.50-70 Government, Description
Meanwhile, the army, which had exited the Civil War with an inventory of almost a million percussion-fired muzzle loaders converted Springfield Model 1863 and Model 1864 muskets to metallic cartridge ammunition using the Allin conversion (trapdoor) method, as well as cadet rifles. The first of the .50-70 conversions was the Springfield Model 1866. Newer improved versions were made and used by the army through 1873.


.50-70 Government, Description
After 1873, with the advent of the 45-70 cartridge, the army declared the .50-70 to be surplus and while some rifles in .50-70 were issued to Indian scouts, the bulk were simply sold off as surplus. In the US Navy however, the 50-70 cartridge and the guns associated with it remained in use until the late 1880s.


.50-70 Government, Description
Buffalo Bill Cody used a Springfield Model 1866 in caliber .50-70 while hunting buffalo to feed the track workers of the Kansas Pacific Railroad (later Union Pacific Eastern Division). General G. A. Custer was known to have had and used a sporterized rolling block in caliber .50-70 and was believed to have had it with him at the Battle of the Little Big Horn.


.50-70 Government, Description
As army general Sheridan had embarked on a plan to eliminate the bison during the course of the American Indian Wars, the .50-70 rifles were also issued, or purchased, by buffalo hunters for use in eliminating the vast bison herds. Sharps began manufacturing sporterized rifles in .50-70 (and later .50-90, .50-110, etc.) and with improved sights for longer range shots for use by the buffalo hunters.


.50-70 Government, Description
In 1867 the .50-70 cartridge in US Army Model of 1866 Springfield rifles played a pivotal role in holding off an attacking force of 300-1000 Lakota Sioux Indians during the Wagon Box Fight.


.50-70 Government, Description
Modern-made functional replicas of caliber .50-70 historical rifles have been imported into the US by such firms as Davide Pedersoli and A. Uberti, Srl. (a Beretta subsidiary). The caliber of .50-70 still enjoys some use and popularity with sportsmen and cowboy action shooters.


.50-90 Sharps
The .50-90 Sharps rifle cartridge is a black-powder cartridge that was introduced by Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company in 1872 as a buffalo (American bison) hunting round. Like other large black-powder rounds, it incorporates a heavy bullet and a large powder volume, leading to high muzzle energies.


.50-90 Sharps, Specifications
The standard factory loads, produced and sold by the Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company and the Sharps Rifle Company were .50/100/425 (.50 caliber/100 grains black powder/425 grain grease grooved bullet) and .50/100/473 with a paper patched bullet. Factory loads manufactured by any of the Sharps companies were mostly hand-loaded which made them expensive to produce. This naturally invited competition. Winchester offered the cartridge loaded .50/90/473 with paper patched bullets which may be how the cartridge came to be commonly known as the .50-90. The .50-90 Sharps is similar to the .50-100 Sharps and .50-110 Sharps cartridges. All three use the same 2.5-inch (64 mm) case, the latter two being loaded with more grains of black powder. All rifles made for the .50-90 Sharps should be able to use the .50-110 and .50-100 cartridges due to the case dimensions being nearly identical.


.50-90 Sharps, Specifications
Bullet diameter was typically 0.512 inches (13.0 mm) diameter. Bullets weighed from 335 to 700 grains (21.7 to 45.4 g). Historical loads using black powder have muzzle energy in the 1,630 to 1,985 foot-pounds force (2,210 to 2,691 J) range, while modern loads using smokeless powder give 2,561 to 2,989 foot-pounds force (3,472 to 4,053 J) of energy.


.50-90 Sharps, History
The buffalo is a large animal and difficult to take down reliably, which has led to a demand for cartridges designed specifically for buffalo hunting. The .50-90 was created with this purpose in mind. As a result, the cartridge became immediately popular with the professional buffalo hunters on the Western plains. At the time of its invention, there were no special powders or bullet types, and the knowledge of ballistics was fairly limited. Thus, when trying to create a more effective big game cartridge, the designers simply expanded the dimensions of prior cartridges.


.50-90 Sharps, History
Billy Dixon used a Sharps .50-90 at the Second Battle of Adobe Walls on June 27, 1874, to make his legendary 1,538-yard shot.


.50-90 Sharps, History
Today the round is obsolete. Ammunition is no longer mass-produced by any manufacturer except Buffalo Arms. Brass and bullets are produced, but loaded ammunition must either come from a custom shop or be handloaded. Rifles are produced only as semi-custom by a few companies. Rifles in this caliber are typically used for buffalo hunting and reenactments. Occasionally .50-90 rifles are used for vintage competitions, but the commercial availability of other contemporary cartridges (e.g., .45-70) makes cartridges such as the .45-70 much more popular than the .50-90.


.500 A-Square
The .500 A-Square is a belted, bottleneck rifle cartridge, developed by Arthur Alphin in 1976. The cartridge is based on the .460 Weatherby Magnum necked up to accept the .510 in (13.0 mm) bullet; the same as the .50 BMG cartridge. This was Col. Alphin's first commercial sporting cartridge and was designed in “response to some severe problems experienced with the .458 Winchester on safari in Mozambique.”


.500 A-Square
The .500 A-Square was a proprietary cartridge and the world's most powerful commercially available “sporting” cartridge. However, the .50 BMG is the world's most powerful commercial cartridge for any shooting purpose. The .500 A-Square is used specifically as an African, thick skin, dangerous game, rifle cartridge for the hunting of elephants and Cape buffalo as well as a backup gun for professional hunters and guides.


.500 A-Square, Overview
The .500 A-Square cartridge was commercially available from both A-Square and Midway USA as loaded ammunition. The ammunition comes in three loads: 600 grains (38.9 g) Monolithic Solid; 600 grains (38.9 g) soft nose thick jacket and 600 gr (38.9 g) soft nose thin jacket. All bullet/cartridge combination are advertised with a muzzle velocity of 2470 ft/s (753 m/s) and muzzle energy of 8127 ft lbf (11019 J).


.500 A-Square, Overview
In comparison: the parent cartridge, the .460 Weatherby Magnum as commercial loaded with a 500 gr (32.4 g) Monolithic Solid has a muzzle velocity of 2580 ft/s (786 m/s) and muzzle energy of 7389 ft lbf (10018 J). The .50 BMG as commercial loaded with a 661 gr (42.8 g) FMJ M33 ball ammo has a muzzle velocity of 2750 ft/s (838 m/s) and muzzle energy of 11102 ft lbf (15052 J).


.500 A-Square, Overview
Although there is limited hand-loading information, bullet weights (hunting) are from between 300 gr (19.4) to 647 gr (41.9).


.500 Black Powder Express
The .500 Black Powder Express was in fact a series of Black powder cases of varying lengths that emerged in the 1860s.


.500 Black Powder Express, Development
The cartridge was offered in several case lengths including 1½-inch, 2-inch, 2¼-inch, 2⅝-inch,  3-inch and 3¼-inch,several were successful and endured others lasted only a short period.


.500 Black Powder Express, Development
The 3-inch and 3¼-inch .500 BPE cartridges have survived to the current day as the .500 3-inch Nitro for Black and the .500 3¼-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. The two cartridges offer almost identical ballistic performance to each other, and are very similar to the .50-140 Sharps.


.500 Black Powder Express, Development, Nitro Express loadings
The 3-inch and 3¼-inch cartridges were later loaded with smokeless cordite to create the .500 Nitro Express, with the 3-inch version becoming the most popular.


.500 Black Powder Express, Development, Parent case
In the 1870s the 3¼-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.


.500 Black Powder Express, Use
The .500 BPE was considered a good cartridge for medium-sized non dangerous game and can still be used for such.


.500 Black Powder Express, Use
The .500 BPE was never highly regarded for hunting in Africa, yet it was a popular cartridge in India, considered a good general purpose rifle cartridge popular for hunting tigers. Jim Corbett was a user of a .500 BPE rifle prior to switching to a .400 Jeffery Nitro Express double rifle, shooting cordite Nitro for Black loadings this rifle was used to dispatch the first man-eater he shot, the Champawat Tiger.


.500 Jeffery
The .500 Jeffery is a big-game rifle cartridge that first appeared around 1920, and was originally introduced by the August Schuler Company, a German firm, under the European designation "12.7×70mm Schuler" or ".500 Schuler". When offered by the famed British outfitter W.J. Jeffery & Co, it was renamed the .500 Jeffery so as to be more palatable to British hunters and sportsmen following World War One.


.500 Jeffery, History
The .500 Jeffery was introduced to bring firepower comparable to the .505 Gibbs into a standard sized 1898 Mauser action as used with the 8x57mm and 7x57mm cartridges. The Gibbs and .416 Rigby cartridges required oversized magnum Mauser actions. To shoehorn a large round into the 98 action required a rebated rim. When introduced, the .500 Jeffery was technically rated as the most powerful rifle cartridge although in reality not quite up to .505 Gibbs performance. The .505 Gibbs with greater capacity can be loaded far in excess of the .500 Jeffery today. Not that it matters for hunting, either was plenty for the largest game in the world when introduced.


.500 Jeffery, Ammunition availability
Like the .505 Gibbs, the .500 Jeffery is enjoying somewhat of a renaissance among American shooters and African Big Game hunters in the early 21st century, almost 100 years after their introduction. As of 2009, Norma, Kynoch, Mauser, Corbon, and Westley Richards are offering loaded ammunition in .500 Jeffery. There may be other manufacturers as well. Ammunition can cost anywhere from $150 for a box of 20 or more depending on the manufacturer.


.500 Jeffery, Rifles
There have been a few rifles chambered in the .500 Jeffery including Jeffery, Heym, CZ-USA, and a few single shots including Ruger No. 1, and the Butch Searcy & Co.Mauser offers its Model 98 magnum in the caliber. Its "Elephant" model is offered in 500 Jeffery exclusively. In 2011, Sako began offering the caliber in its Model 85 "Safari" rifle using a new XL size action, and since 2014 the XL action has been available in the more affordable Model 85 Brown Bear rifle. Blaser also offers rifles chambered in the caliber. Many of the modern rifles have feeding issues due to the rebated rim. The original Jeffery used a single column 2 shot magazine to get around the potential reliability resulting from a rebated rim.


.500 Jeffery, Criticism
The 500 Jeffery has had a few issues since its introduction. It has a rather short neck length that can make it difficult to seat bullets with a relatively high sectional density. Also it has a small shoulder. This is not usually an issue but as the 500 Jeffery also has a rebated rim it makes it rather difficult to extract in extreme conditions.


.500 Jeffery, Ballistics
When the 500 Jeffery was first introduced it was loaded to a velocity of 2,350 feet per second (720 m/s) topped off with a 535 grain bullet generating 6,560 ft⋅lbf (8,890 J) of muzzle energy, which makes it a pretty good hunting caliber generally where thick skinned dangerous game occurs. Since then reloading capabilities have advanced being able to launch heavier bullets at higher velocities. Now with modern reloads the 500 Jeffery can launch a 600 grain bullet at a muzzle velocity ranging at about 2,450 to 2,500 ft/s (750 to 760 m/s).


.500 Jeffery, Ballistics
max. generating 7,995 ft⋅lbf (10,840 J) to 8,100 ft⋅lbf (11,000 J) With newer reloads it made the 500 Jeffery the most powerful production cartridge in the world until the introduction of the .460 Weatherby Magnum. With reloads the 460 Weatherby can reach levels of power of about 8,300 ft⋅lbf (11,300 J) of muzzle energy. Also the .600 Nitro Express exceeds the 500 Jeffery in muzzle energy with 120 grains of cordite. No doubt the 500 Jeffery is still a respected caliber all across the world.


.500 Jeffery, Ballistics
The big fifty African calibers are probably close to the limit of what the advanced shooter can handle. There was the fully adequate 416, 404 and 450 class rounds. Then the fifties, 500NE, 505 Gibbs and 500 Jeff. After that were the big stoppers 577 NE, 600NE and the bore rifles 8,6,4 gauge. The 500 Jeffrey claim to fame was the ability to fit into a standard 98 action with a single stack feed for a 2-round capacity.


.500 Linebaugh
The .500 Linebaugh is a .50 caliber handgun cartridge designed for use in revolvers. It is considered one of the most powerful handgun cartridges designed in terms of kinetic energy and  power factor (momentum).


.500 Linebaugh, History
The .500 Linebaugh cartridge was designed by John Linebaugh of Maryville, Missouri, in 1986. John Linebaugh had been converting .45 Colt six-shooters to five-shot revolvers, thus offering a stronger cylinder which could withstand the firing of higher-pressure .45 Colt ammunition. While this venture was successful, he continued to search for a more powerful cartridge, which resulted in the .500 Linebaugh.


.500 Linebaugh, History
The cartridge case itself was designed by cutting off the .348 Winchester case to 1.405 in (35.7 mm), turning the rim to a diameter of .610 in (15.5 mm) and opening the case mouth to accept a .510 caliber (12.95 mm) bullet. The first revolvers converted to use the .500 Linebaugh were the Ruger Bisley and the Seville revolvers. Due to the demise of the Seville revolvers in the early 1990s, all subsequent conversions have been carried out on revolvers based on the Ruger Bisley frame.


.500 Linebaugh, History
It was when the supply of .348 Winchester cases started running out that John Linebaugh began working on the .475 Linebaugh, which could be formed from the more available .45-70 Government cases. When the Winchester Model 71 was reintroduced in the .348 Winchester, the ability to form .500 Linebaugh cases became again feasible. Today, Starline and Buffalo Bore offer .500 Linebaugh cases which are not dependent on the supply of .348 Winchester cases.


.500 Linebaugh, Cartridge design and specifications
The .500 Linebaugh is a proprietary cartridge and thus has not been adopted by mainline firearms manufacturers. Currently the only firearm manufacturer that produces a revolver for this cartridge is Magnum Research (owned by Kahr Firearms Group), in the BFR product line. Prior to January 2019, the only alternative was to have a gunsmith such as John Linebaugh of Linebaugh Custom Six guns or Hamilton Bowen of Bowen Classic Arms convert pre-existing revolvers such as the Ruger Blackhawk and Bisley to fire the cartridge. Bowen is known to have converted the Ruger Redhawk double-action revolver for use with this cartridge.


.500 Linebaugh, Cartridge design and specifications
Due to the proprietary status of the cartridge neither the CIP nor SAAMI have published official specifications for the cartridge. As is the case, there can be some variations from gunsmith to gunsmith. No pressure standard has been published for the cartridge but according to Linebaugh, pressure levels between 30,000 psi (2,100 bar) and 35,000 psi (2,400 bar) are considered safe in the converted revolvers.


.500 Linebaugh, Cartridge design and specifications
The cartridge uses .510 in (12.95 mm) diameter jacketed bullets or .511-.512 in (12.98-13.01 mm) lead bullets.


.500 Linebaugh, Sporting usage
The .500 Linebaugh was designed as a hunting cartridge. It was designed to fire a 440 gr (29 g) bullet at 1,300 ft/s (400 m/s). This particular loading generates 1,650 ft⋅lbf (2,240 J) of energy making this one of the most powerful handgun cartridges put into production. In terms of energy, this is comparable to the .454 Casull cartridge. However, the .500 Linebaugh provides a larger diameter, heavier bullet with a greater sectional density than the .454 Casull. As a hunting cartridge it is capable of taking any North American game animals and most African game species.


.500 Maximum
The .500 Maximum, also known as .500 Linebaugh Maximum and .500 Linebaugh Long, is a revolver cartridge developed by John Linebaugh. Only a small number of custom made 5-shot single action revolvers, such as the BMF .500 Maximum manufactured by Gary Reeder Custom Guns, the Ruger Bowen .500 Maximum manufactured by Bowen Classic Arms Corporation and revolvers manufactured by John Linebaugh or Jack Huntington, are being chambered for this round, with a barrel length of up to 6.5" with no muzzle brake or ports.


.500 Nitro Express
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. It was commonly available in two lengths: a 3.00 in (76 mm) and a 3.25 in (83 mm) version.


.500 Nitro Express, History and origins
The nomenclature .500 Nitro Express refers to one of three specific loading of the .500 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 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.


.500 Nitro Express, History and origins
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.


.500 Nitro Express, History and origins
The .500 Nitro 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, History and origins
Cordite, which was invented in 1889, gave cartridges a greater performance envelope than black powder at the expense of pressure. Rifles that were designed for use with cordite cartridges required stronger actions which were able to withstand the significantly higher pressures to take advantage of the increase in performance offered by cordite. 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.


.500 Nitro Express, History and origins
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.


.500 Nitro Express, History and origins
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.


.500 Nitro Express, History and origins
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 Express 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).


.500 Nitro Express, Design and specifications
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, Design and specifications
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 length and overall length, the 3.25 in (83 mm) version has similar dimensions as the 3.00 in (76 mm) case.


.500 Nitro Express, Performance
The .500 Nitro Express provided a leap in stopping power and performance over its black powder rivals. The .500 Nitro Express was loaded with jacketed bullets giving it far better results against dangerous game than the .500 BPE or Nitro BPE. Furthermore, the bullets had better sectional density which taken together with the fact that the bullet was jacketed, provided far greater penetration on dangerous game such as Cape buffalo and African elephant.


.500 Nitro Express, Performance
When compared to the then more popular .450 Nitro Express, the .500 Nitro Express fires a heavier bullet with about a 25% greater cross-sectional area and similar sectional density at an equal velocity. The typical .500 Nitro Express generates about 20% more energy than the .450 Nitro Express cartridge. The .500 Nitro Express is considered to be superior to the smaller caliber Nitro Express cartridges in killing power.


.500 Nitro Express, Performance
The .500 Nitro Express cartridge produces substantial recoil. Factory ammunition typically produce 85 ft⋅lbf (115 J) of recoil energy at a recoil velocity of 23.5 ft/s (7.2 m/s) using a 10 lb (4.5 kg) rifle which is similar to the recoil of the .458 Lott fired in an 8 lb (3.6 kg) rifle.


.500 Nitro Express, Performance
The trajectory of the .500 Nitro Express is similar to that of the .30-30 Winchester cartridge with a 170 gr (11 g) Flat Nose bullet. The Hornady DGX and DGS ammunition which has the performance characteristics of typical .500 NE ammunition has an MPBR (maximum point blank range) of 197 yd (180 m). For these reasons the .500 Nitro Express should be considered a short range cartridge.


.500 Nitro Express, Sporting usage
The .500 Nitro Express was designed as a hunting cartridge for use against large and heavy dangerous game such as Cape buffalo, rhinoceros and African elephant. The 570 gr (37 g) bullet has excellent sectional density which is required for work against dangerous game out to 110 yd (100 m) and provides adequate penetration for the hunting of thick-skinned, dangerous game. Some professional African hunters have complained that the taper of the 570 grain bullet toward the nose, increases the incidents of bullet "fish tailing" during penetration causing the bullet to not maintain a straight course.


.500 Nitro Express, Sporting usage
The 570 gr (37 g)solid bullet is used mainly for elephant but is also used in some situations for Cape buffalo and rhinoceros when the extra penetration provided by these non-expanding bullets is desired. Mated with the 570 gr (37 g) solid bullet, the .500 Nitro Express has become the quintessential elephant cartridge on the African savanna. The round nose soft point 570 gr (37 g) bullet is used on most other game species.


.500 Nitro Express, Sporting usage
Unlike some of the more modern cartridges such as the .460 Weatherby, the .500 Nitro Express is not considered too powerful for use against the big cats. The big cats do not require the more stoutly constructed bullet as they are neither heavy-bodied nor have thick skin, and are best served with a more lightly constructed bullet that is capable of expanding quickly such as the 570 gr (37 g) A-Square Lion Load or the Woodleigh 450 gr (29 g) Soft Nose.


.500 Nitro Express, Sporting usage
In North America cartridges such as the .500 Nitro Express see little use as no North American game species requires the cartridges in the same class as the .500 Nitro Express. Nevertheless, there can be no doubt that the cartridge would be a very effective stopper against a charge by one of the large bears or bison should it be carried in the field.


.500 Nitro Express, Ammunition
During the heyday of hunting every major manufacturer of British dangerous game rifles produced ammunition for the .500 Nitro Express rifles. However, by the 1960s only Kynoch was left producing ammunition. Due to the lack of interest Kynoch ended production of the Nitro Express cartridges in 1970.


.500 Nitro Express, Ammunition
As African hunting safaris became more popular from the 1990s onward there has been a renewed interest in the cartridge. Whereas before mainstream American ammunition manufacturers hardly ever showed an interest in the British big bore ammunition, demand created by American hunters spurred on companies such as A-Square, Federal, and Hornady to offer ammunition for these cartridge types. Eley, which had purchased Kynoch, licensed the brand name to Kynamco in Suffolk in the United Kingdom. Kynamco now offers British sporting cartridges including the Nitro Express cartridge for sale using the Kynoch brand name. Norma of Sweden has also begun to offer this cartridge for sale.


.500 S&W Magnum
The .500 S&W Magnum or 12.7×41mmSR is a .50 caliber semi-rimmed revolver cartridge developed by Cor-Bon in partnership with the Smith & Wesson "X-Gun" engineering team for use in the Smith & Wesson Model 500 X-frame revolver and introduced in February 2003 at the SHOT Show. It has two primary design purposes: as a hunting handgun cartridge capable of taking all North American game species, and to be the most powerful production handgun cartridge to date. To put the cartridge’s extreme level of power into perspective; the muzzle energy of a .500 S&W bullet fired from a typical commercial loading of the round is roughly equivalent to that of a 16 pound bowling ball traveling at a speed of over 70 mph.


.500 S&W Magnum, Cartridge history
Smith & Wesson had been at the forefront when developing powerful handgun cartridges such as the .357 S&W Magnum and the .44 Remington Magnum. However, since 1960 the company's .44 Remington Magnum, which it had developed in partnership with Remington, was eclipsed by the .454 Casull. Since then, several other more powerful cartridges had been developed by Action Arms, Linebaugh, Ruger, Wildey, and Winchester for repeating handguns.


.500 S&W Magnum, Cartridge history
In 1971 Smith & Wesson had experienced a dramatic surge in orders for their Model 29 revolver in the .44 Magnum cartridge with which S&W production was not able to keep up. Available Model 29 revolvers were being sold for two to three times the suggested retail price, because of the low supply and high demand for the revolver. This surge in demand was due to the 1971 film Dirty Harry, where the Model 29 revolver was billed as the most powerful revolver (The .454 Casull designed in 1955 was not in commercial production until 1997). With the entry of the .500 S&W Magnum and the Model 500 revolver, Smith & Wesson recaptured the title of the most powerful handgun, and with it an increase in sales.


.500 S&W Magnum, Cartridge history
The .500 Smith & Wesson Magnum was designed from the outset to be the most powerful production handgun cartridge. S&W product manager, Herb Belin, proposed the idea of developing the revolver and cartridge to the S&W sales team. With the backing of the sales team, the project was approved by S&W president Bob Scott. The ammunition was developed by Cor-Bon and Peter Pi in partnership with the S&W X-Gun engineering team of Brett Curry lead design engineer, Rich Mikuta, and Tom Oakley.


.500 S&W Magnum, Cartridge history
Eleven months later, on 9 January 2003, the team unveiled the S&W Model 500 revolver and the .500 S&W Magnum cartridge. According to Belin, the cartridge was designed from its inception to be substantially more powerful than any other production handgun cartridge before it. Cor-Bon later developed the .500 S&W Special cartridge.


.500 S&W Magnum, Cartridge design and specifications
The .500 S&W Magnum is a semi-rimmed, straight cartridge optimized for use in revolvers. The cartridge is designed to headspace on its rim. However, unlike rimmed cartridges such as the .44 Magnum and other cartridges designed for use in revolvers, the cartridge can be cycled more smoothly and more reliably in tubular magazines, due to the semi-rimmed design. However, the cartridge does not cycle well through box magazines. The rim tends to lock in the extractor groove.


.500 S&W Magnum, Cartridge design and specifications
The .500 S&W Magnum was designed to fire a bullet with a diameter (⌀) of 0.500 in (12.7 mm) unlike the .500 Linebaugh, which fires a 0.510 in (12.9 mm) bullet. This was done so as not to run afoul of the National Firearms Act and be considered a destructive device as had happened to Whildin's .50 AE cartridge, which at first was designed to fire a 0.510 in (12.9 mm) but had to be redesigned to fire a 0.500 in (12.7 mm) instead.


.500 S&W Magnum, Cartridge design and specifications
The .500 S&W Magnum has a maximum working pressure of 60,000 psi (4,100 bar). However, most factory ammunition is limited to 50,000 psi (3,400 bar) to help ease extraction of fired cases. The cylinders of the S&W Model 500 revolver are engineered to be capable of withstanding 50% over pressure. Regular proof-load testing is performed at 20% over pressure.


.500 S&W Magnum, Cartridge design and specifications
The cylinder bore diameter is given as .500 in (12.7 mm). SAAMI recommends a 6 groove barrel with each groove being 0.130 in (3.3 mm) wide. A barrel with a bore diameter of 0.4880 in (12.40 mm) and a groove diameter of 0.4983 in (12.66 mm) is also recommended. The recommended twist rate is 1 in 18.75 in (476 mm).


.500 S&W Magnum, Cartridge design and specifications
While the bore diameter of 0.4880 in (12.40 mm) is consistent with other firearms which fire a 0.500 in (12.7 mm) diameter bullet, the groove diameter of 0.4983 in (12.66 mm) is an oddity as most firearms which fire a 0.500 in (12.7 mm) will have a groove diameter of equal to the diameter of the bullet.


.500 S&W Magnum, Cartridge design and specifications
While the overall length is given as 2.300 in (58.4 mm) by many sources, some revolvers will not be able to accept cartridges with bullets seated to this overall length. This is because the cylinders of the revolvers are too short to accommodate such cartridges. The now-discontinued Taurus Raging Bull 500 is an example of one such revolver. It has a cylinder which is about 0.200 in (5.1 mm) shorter than that of the S&W Model 500.


.500 S&W Magnum, Performance
The .500 S&W Magnum is considered the most powerful commercial sporting handgun cartridge by virtue of the muzzle energy it can generate. Cor-Bon (now a Dakota Ammo brand) who together with Smith & Wesson developed the .500 S&W Magnum cartridge, offers several loads which include a 325 gr (21.1 g) at 1,800 ft/s (550 m/s), a 400 gr (26 g) at 1,625 ft/s (495 m/s) and a 440 gr (29 g) at 1,625 ft/s (495 m/s). Compared to the next most powerful commercial sporting handgun cartridge, the .460


.500 S&W Magnum, Performance
S&W Magnum, which can launch a 325 gr (21.1 g) at 1,650 ft/s (500 m/s) or a 395 gr (25.6 g) at 1,525 ft/s (465 m/s). The .500 S&W Magnum comes into its own when used with heavier bullets, particularly those with weights of 500 gr (32 g) or greater. These bullets are often seated as far out as possible to take advantage of the complete cylinder length, so as to maximize the powder capacity which the case can provide.


.500 S&W Magnum, Performance
Several manufacturers currently produce the S&W .500 Magnum cartridge, with some of the top-performing rounds delivering 3,031 ft⋅lbf (4,109 J) of energy with a 350-grain (23 g) bullet traveling at 1,975 feet per second (602 m/s). It is claimed to be the most potent commercially available handgun cartridge on the market and provides power similar to long-established wildcat cartridges such as the .375 JDJ (J. D. Jones) and pistol loadings of the .45-70 Government. Indeed, some rounds use bullets weighing almost 1 oz. (28 g ~ 440 gr. ), which are sent at about 1,500 ft/s (460 m/s) – essentially the same performance of a 12 gauge shotgun slug.


.500 S&W Magnum, Performance
Bullet weights available for this cartridge range from a 265-grain (17.2 g) jacketed hollow point to a 700-grain (45 g) hardcast lead bullet. Moderate velocity, heavy bullet loads for the .500 S&W Magnum are similar in performance to the black powder .50-70 Government. The heaviest bullet, produced by Underwood Ammo, is a hardcast lead bullet weighing 700 grains, about the same as a common .50 BMG projectile. This bullet, launched at a little over 1,200 ft/s (370 m/s) produces around 2,100 ft⋅lbf (2,800 J). While in terms of sheer muzzle energy, it is one of the softer rounds, this loading is actually preferred for hunting big game, as the bullet has excellent sectional densities, allowing for deep penetration and high expansion.


.500 S&W Magnum, Performance
Low recoil or reduced recoil ammunition is manufactured by the Grizzly Cartridge Company and Winchester. The low recoiling ammunition reduces the recoil by lowering the velocity of the projectile and the mass of the projectile. Winchester's reduced recoil X500SW ammunition propels a 350 gr (23 g) bullet at 1,400 ft/s (430 m/s). Although such ammunition is considered low recoiling, due to having about one-third of the recoil energy of full-power .500 S&W ammunition, even these are a significant step up from most of the .44 Magnums, as they produce twice the recoil energy of the latter cartridge.


.500 S&W Magnum, Performance
Cor-Bon introduced the .500 S&W Special in 2004 as a lower energy and lower recoiling alternative to the .500 S&W Magnum cartridge. This cartridge is compatible with handguns chambered for the .500 S&W Magnum and fires a 350-grain (23 g) bullet at 1,250 feet per second (380 m/s). These low recoiling alternatives to the full-power .500 S&W Magnum, significantly reduce the felt recoil in the shorter 4-inch-barrel (100 mm) handguns. At present, only Cor-Bon, manufactures ammunition for the .500 S&W Special in three load configurations.


.500 S&W Magnum, Performance
The .500 S&W Magnum has very high recoil energy and recoil velocity. The high energy and velocity of the recoil cause the muzzle to rise when shooting the cartridge. Smith & Wesson incorporated design features to help mitigate both the perceived and actual recoil of their Model 500 Smith & Wesson revolver chambered for the .500 S&W Magnum. The revolver is equipped with a compensator and Hogue Sorbothane grips. The revolver's considerable weight of 56–82 ounces (1,600–2,300 g) plays a role in moderating the recoil of the cartridge.


.500 S&W Magnum, Performance
A double-discharge effect is sometimes observed with the cartridge. The heavy recoil causes some shooters to inadvertently squeeze the trigger as a reflexive action to hold on to the revolver soon after the discharge of the previous round. Furthermore, some shooters have experienced the cylinder unlocking and rotating after the firing of cartridge which is a partial manifestation of the same phenomenon.


.500 S&W Magnum, Sporting applications
The .500 S&W Magnum was originally designed to be primarily a handgun hunting cartridge. The creation of Big Horn Armory's Model 89 lever action rifle has changed it to a serious big game hunting rifle cartridge. In that platform, the cartridge is capable of taking any animal on earth. It also serves a secondary purpose as a back-up survival handgun cartridge as a defense against the large bears of North America.


.500 S&W Magnum, Sporting applications
The .500 S&W Magnum's success with large, dangerous game is in part due to the availability of heavier bullets with exceptional sectional densities. Bullets above 500-grain (32 g) have the sectional densities required for hunting heavier African dangerous game. As a hunting cartridge the .500 S&W Magnum has been found to be effective against elephant and African buffalo as long as ranges are kept within reasonable limits. Bullet selection is extremely important when hunting thick-skinned dangerous game. Smith & Wesson bills the Model 500 revolver as "A Hunting Handgun For Any Game Animal Walking". Big Horn Armory bills its Model 89 rifle as the most powerful lever gun currently made.


.500 S&W Magnum, Sporting applications
In North America, it serves the purpose of hunting all North American big game species. The cartridge has had success in taking Alaskan brown bear, American bison, moose, and elk. It is also used to hunt black bear, whitetail deer, wild boar, and feral hogs. The cartridge gained some notoriety as being the cartridge which was used to hunt the supposed Monster Pig.


.500 S&W Magnum, Sporting applications
Bullets ranging from 275–325 gr (17.8–21.1 g) can be used for light CXP2 game species. Bullets heavier than 350 gr (23 g), including Winchester's reduced-load ammunition, are appropriate for use with CXP3 game species. Bullets over 500 gr (32 g) can be used for dangerous game. Hornady's 500 gr. SP load is rated for CXP4 class dangerous game by Hornady out to 200 yd (180 m) against dangerous game, based on Hornady Index of Terminal Standards (H.I.T.S.) calculations.


.500 S&W Magnum, Sporting applications
The .500 S&W Magnum is available in firearms more convenient to carry than a full-sized rifle. This lends to its use as a defensive carry firearm in areas where dangerous predatory species may be encountered. Big Horn Armory's Model 89 carbine is a 37" long rifle suitable for close quarter use in heavily wooded areas or where brush may predominate. This lever action rifle is often carried in Alaska for defense against bears. The .500 S&W Magnum cartridge has found use in survival guns such as the NEF Handi Rifle and the S&W Survival Kit.


.500 S&W Magnum, Sporting applications
Smith & Wesson manufactured a 2.75-inch-barrel (70 mm) version of the Model 500 revolver (model 500ES, whose production ended in December 2009), which was included in the S&W Survival Kit. This shorter-barreled revolver is handier, weighing 56 oz (1.6 kg), and has no muzzle brake as are included with the more common S&W 500 revolvers such as the 8.38 in (213 mm) model.


.500 S&W Magnum, Firearms and ammunition
Currently there are several .50 caliber handguns, which are capable of firing the .500 S&W Magnum. These types of revolvers normally have five rounds to allow for thicker cylinder walls to accommodate the pressure generated by the large and powerful cartridge. Big Horn Armory's Model 89 carbine and rifle are currently the only repeating long guns chambered in this cartridge. The Model 89's long barrels significantly increase bullet velocity and energy. The single shot Thompson-Center Encore, NEF Handi Rifle, and Towner pump rifle are also chambered for this round. It is currently the most powerful production handgun cartridge available. The Magnum Research BFR with its 5-shot cylinder and up to 10" barrel lengths, is very popular amongst shooting enthusiasts.


.500 S&W Magnum, Firearms and ammunition
Ammunition for the .500 S&W Magnum is available from many mainstream ammunition manufacturers. Recently many of these manufacturers have expanded their .500 S&W offerings, which speaks to the popularity of the cartridge.


.500 S&W Magnum, Firearms and ammunition
In addition to these manufacturers, smaller manufacturers such as Double Tap Ammunition and Magtech Ammunition offer ammunition for firearms chambered for this cartridge.


.500 S&W Special
The .500 S&W Special is a large high-powered revolver cartridge. It was designed and produced by Cor-Bon/Glaser (at Smith & Wesson's request) in 2004.


.500 S&W Special, Description
It is a shorter version of the .500 S&W Magnum with a drastically reduced load, much as the .38 Special is to the .357 Magnum. However, unlike the .38 Special and .357 Magnum, the .500 Special came after the .500 Magnum.


.500 S&W Special, Description
The purpose of the .500 Special is to be able to shoot less punishing loads, with a muzzle energy closer to that of the .44 Magnum cartridge, in firearms chambered for the .500 S&W Magnum. It is possible that firearms chambered for only the .500 S&W Special will be developed. Smith & Wesson has been urged by author and gun rights activist John Ross to produce their largest "X-Frame" in a shorter version to handle this cartridge. Ballistics are slightly superior to the .480 Ruger.


.500 Whisper
The .500 Whisper is a subsonic rifle cartridge developed by SSK Industries for use in suppressed rifles. It is capable of firing a .51-caliber bullet weighing 750 gr (49 g) at roughly 1,050 ft/s (320 m/s).


.500 Whisper, Overview
The .500 Whisper (metric: 13x57 mm B) is the first of two 1/2 inch caliber rounds developed by J. D. Jones with a specific focus on the Thumper concept and subsonic use. Being based on the .378 Weatherby Magnum case it is a belted and bottlenecked cartridge.


.500 Whisper, Overview
Later J. D. Jones went on to develop the similar .510 Whisper round. This has a roughly 0.4 inch (10 mm) shorter non-belted bottlenecked case based on the .416 Rigby.


.500 Whisper, Overview
Despite the large bullet, this round is very quiet when using a suppressor due to the subsonic nature of the cartridge. When used with a very high ballistic coefficient bullet, the round only loses about 100 ft/s (30 m/s) out to over 500 yards. This gives it more downrange energy at that distance than traditional .30 caliber rounds such as the .308 Winchester and .300 Winchester Magnum. Sako TRG-S test rifles have achieved minute of angle, and better, accuracy with this cartridge at 600 yards.


.500 Whisper, Overview
Powders such as H110, 4227, or surplus WC820 are well suited for subsonic loads and give a low standard deviation. Necessary components such as barrels, reloading dies, etc. are available from SSK. Sako TRG-S actions are most often converted to this caliber. The Thompson Center Encore is also suitable, but is rather lightweight for shooting this heavy recoiling cartridge, especially when using 950-grain (62 g) bullets.


.500 Whisper, Design
The case of the .500 Whisper is derived from the big-bore belted family of cases developed by Roy Weatherby in the 1950s (.378 Weatherby Magnum, .460 Weatherby Magnum). It can also be viewed as a shortened version of another .510 caliber cartridge based on the .378 Weatherby Magnum, the .500 A-Square (13x73 mm B) developed by Arthur Alphin in 1976.


.500 Whisper, Design
The overall length of the loaded round is about 3.34 in (85 mm) which is identical to the .300 Winchester Magnum round to be able to fit magazines and actions of other common belted magnum rifles.


.500 Wyoming Express
The .500 Wyoming Express or .500 WE is a "big bore" handgun cartridge. It was introduced in 2005 by Freedom Arms for their Model 83 .500 WE revolver.


.500 Wyoming Express
Like most handgun cartridges of this size, it is used almost exclusively in revolvers. It is designed mainly for hunting rather than self-defense or tactical usage.


.500 Wyoming Express, Overview
The cartridge is comparable in size to the .50 Action Express but has higher powder loads and normally a lower velocity. Though not as powerful as the .500 S&W Magnum, the .500 Wyoming Express is one of the most powerful handgun cartridges commercially available today and is capable of taking  any large game animal. Other similar cartridges are the .500 Linebaugh, and the .50 Beowulf.


.500/450 Magnum Black Powder Express
The .500/450 3¼-inch Magnum Black Powder Express, is a centerfire rifle cartridge developed in Britain.


.500/450 Magnum Black Powder Express, Development
The .500/450 Magnum BPE was created by necking down the .500 Black Powder Express to .45-inches.


.500/450 Magnum Black Powder Express, Development
For some time after the turn of the century, the .500/450 Magnum BPE was loaded with cordite to become the .500/450 Magnum Nitro for Black, the same cartridge loaded with mild loadings of cordite, carefully balanced through trial to replicate the ballistics of the Black powder version.


.500/450 Magnum Black Powder Express, Dimenssions, Nitro Express loadings
In 1898 John Rigby & Company loaded the .450 Nitro Express cartridge with cordite to create the .450 Nitro Express, the first Nitro Express cartridge. Not to be left behind Holland and Holland followed suit, loading the .500/450 Magnum BPE with cordite to create the .500/450 Nitro Express.


.500/450 Magnum Black Powder Express, Use
The .500/450 Magnum BPE was a popular cartridge for deer and similarly sized game, particularly in Africa. Available until World War II, the round has long since ceased to be offered commercially.


.500/450 Nitro Express
The .500/450 Magnum Nitro Express is a large bore centerfire rifle cartridge developed by Holland & Holland.


.500/450 Nitro Express, Design
The .500/450 Nitro Express is a rimmed bottlenecked cartridge designed for use in single-shot and double rifles. It is based on the old black-powder .500/450 Magnum Black Powder Express. It fires a .458-inch (11.6 mm) 480-grain (31 g) projectile at over 2,175 feet per second (663 m/s).


.500/450 Nitro Express, History
In response to initial case extraction problems with John Rigby & Company's revolutionary .450 Nitro Express, both Eley Brothers and Holland & Holland looked to develop alternatives that would match that excellent cartridge in performance. Whilst Eley developed the completely new, mammoth .450 No 2 Nitro Express, Holland & Holland followed Rigby's example and loaded the old black powder .500/450 Magnum Black Powder Express with cordite, creating the .500/450 Nitro Express. The larger case capacity allowed the same ballistics at reduced chamber pressures to the .450 Nitro Express.


.500/450 Nitro Express, History
By the time the .500/450 Nitro Express appeared, the early issues with the .450 Nitro Express had been resolved, and it quickly became the most popular and widely used Elephant hunting round, leaving the .500/450 Nitro Express behind in popularity. In 1907, the .500/450 Nitro Express's fortunes were further eroded by the British Army's ban of .450 caliber ammunition into India and the Sudan. In response to this ban, Holland & Holland developed their .500/465 Nitro Express. By the time the ban was lifted, Mauser's Gewehr 98 bolt actioned rifles offered cheaper alternatives to the expensive double rifles required by the Nitro Express cartridges.


.500/450 Nitro Express, Use
Balistically the .500/450 Nitro Express is almost identical to the .450 Nitro Express and is considered a good large-bore round, suitable for all dangerous game.


.500/450 Nitro Express, Use
One prominent user of the .500/450 Nitro Express was Theodore Roosevelt who carried a Holland & Holland double rifle in this calibre, along with a .405 Winchester and a .30-03 during the 1909-1910 Smithsonian–Roosevelt African Expedition.


.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, Overview
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.


.500/450 No 1 Black Powder Express, Overview
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.


.500/465 Nitro Express
The .500/465 Nitro Express is a large bore centerfire rifle cartridge developed by Holland & Holland and introduced in 1907.


.500/465 Nitro Express, Development
The .500/465 Nitro Express is one of several rounds (including the .470 Nitro Express, .475 Nitro Express, .475 No. 2 Nitro Express and .476 Nitro Express) developed as a replacement for the .500/450 Nitro Express following the British Army 1907 ban of .450 caliber ammunition into India and the Sudan, all with comparable performance.


.500/465 Nitro Express, Development
Holland & Holland created the .500/465 Nitro Express by necking down the .500 Nitro Express 3¼ in.


.500/465 Nitro Express, Development
The .500/465 Nitro Express is designed for use in single-shot and double rifles.


.500/465 Nitro Express, References, Bibliography
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.505 Gibbs
The .505 Gibbs cartridge was designed by George Gibbs in 1911. The cartridge was originally known as the .505 Rimless Nitro Express. The C.I.P. refers to the cartridge as the 505 Mag. Gibbs in their publications. It is a .50 caliber (12.8 mm) rimless bottlenecked cartridge intended for magazine-fed rifles.


.505 Gibbs, General information
The .505 Gibbs has a case capacity of 178 grains (11.5 g) of water. This cartridge was originally loaded with 90-grain (5.8 g) of cordite and 525-grain (34.0 g) bullet at 2,300 ft/s (700 m/s) for 6,166 ft⋅lbf (8,360 J) of kinetic energy. While the .505 Gibbs has a greater case capacity than most modern cartridges, it is loaded to lower pressures. The C.I.P. recommends a pressure of 2,700 bar (39,000 psi) for the cartridge. As .505 Gibbs was intended for hunting dangerous game in a tropical environment and due to the temperature sensitivity of cordite the lower pressures provided a greater safety and reliability margin.


.505 Gibbs, General information
The .505 Gibbs has a unique bullet diameter of .505 in (12.8 mm) while most other .50 caliber bullets have diameters of .510 in (13.0 mm). Barnes Bullets and Woodleigh Bullets are a few of the bullet manufacturers who produce component bullets for reloading in this caliber. Woodleigh Bullets does not recommend impact velocities of over 2,200 ft/s (670 m/s) for their .505 caliber 600 gr. Weldcore bullets.


.505 Gibbs, General information
George Gibbs Ltd. (England) continue to manufacture .505 Gibbs rifles; other premium dangerous game rifle makers, such as Hartmann & Weiss  and Westley Richards build expensive but thoroughly reliable .505 Gibbs rifles on Mauser 98 actions.


.505 Gibbs, General information
Ceska Zbrojovka (CZ) currently manufactures the Safari Classics rifle for this cartridge. Doumoulin Herstal SA of Belgium offers the cartridge in their White Hunter model.


.505 Gibbs, General information
As of 2019, Federal, Kynoch, Norma, and Swift are offering factory loaded ammunition in .505 Gibbs. Bullets for reloading are available from Barnes, Cutting Edge Bullets, North Fork Bullets, and Woodleigh Bullets.


.505 Gibbs, Design and specifications
The .505 Gibbs is one of the most voluminous cases designed. The large volume was required as the cartridge was designed to burn cordite as its propellant. The C.I.P. has published specifications for the cartridge.


.505 Gibbs, Design and specifications
The C.I.P. recommends that commencement of rifling begin at 8.97 mm (0.353 in). Bore diameter is given as 12.55 mm (0.494 in) and groove diameter is 12.80 mm (0.504 in). The C.I.P. recommends a five groove barrel contour with each groove having an arc length of 5.33 mm (0.210 in) and a twist rate of one revolution in 406 mm (16.0 in). The recommended pressure for the .505 Gibbs is 2,700 bar (39,000 psi).


.505 Gibbs, Sporting use
The .505 Gibbs is a niche cartridge designed for hunting heavy, thick skinned dangerous game animals, such as cape buffalo, elephant, and rhino.


.505 Gibbs, In literature
The cartridge's claim to fame was its use by the fictional character, Robert Wilson, the hunter of Ernest Hemingway's short story "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber".


.510 DTC EUROP
The .510 DTC EUROP is a French rifle cartridge developed by Eric Danis in order to comply with firearms legislation of .50 BMG rifles in Europe. In response to the .50 Caliber BMG Regulation Act of 2004, which banned future sales of .50 BMG shoulder-fired rifles in California, long-range shooters in that state have begun to adopt this cartridge as a manner of following the new legislation.


.510 DTC EUROP
The .510 DTC EUROP uses the same bullet as the .50 BMG, but has slightly different case dimensions. The case is 0.100 inches (2.5 mm) shorter and uses a steeper shoulder than standard .50 BMG ammunition. .510 DTC cases can be made by shortening and then fire-forming .50 BMG cases. The new round has almost identical ballistics, but because of the different dimensions, rifles chambered for the .50 BMG cannot safely fire the .510 DTC, and vice versa, and therefore do not fall under the same legal prohibitions. .510 DTC rifles, like .50 BMG rifles outside California, are simply standard modern rifles and can be purchased as such.


.510 Whisper
The .510 Whisper is a subsonic rifle cartridge developed by SSK Industries for use in suppressed rifles. It is capable of firing a .51-caliber bullet weighing 750 gr (49 g) at roughly 1,050 ft/s (320 m/s).


.510 Whisper, Overview
The .510 Whisper (metric: 13x48 mm) is the second of two 1/2 inch caliber rounds developed by J. D. Jones with a specific focus on the Thumper concept and subsonic use. Being based on the .416 Rigby case it is a non-belted and bottlenecked cartridge.


.510 Whisper, Overview
Earlier J. D. Jones had already developed the similar .500 Whisper round. This has a roughly 0.4 inch (10 mm) longer belted bottlenecked case based on the .378 Weatherby Magnum.


.510 Whisper, Overview
Despite the large bullet, this round is very quiet when using a suppressor due to the subsonic nature of the cartridge. When used with a very high ballistic coefficient bullet, the round only loses about 100 ft/s (30 m/s) out to over 500 yards. This gives it more downrange energy at that distance than traditional .30 caliber rounds such as the .308 Winchester and .300 Winchester Magnum. Sako TRG-S test rifles have achieved minute of angle, and better, accuracy with this cartridge at 600 yards.


.510 Whisper, Overview
Powders such as H110, 4227, or surplus WC820 are well suited for subsonic loads and give a low standard deviation. Necessary components such as barrels, reloading dies, etc. are available from SSK. Sako TRG-S actions are most often converted to this caliber. The Thompson Center Encore is also suitable, but is rather lightweight for shooting this heavy recoiling cartridge, especially when using 950-grain (62 g) bullets.


.510 Whisper, Design
The case of the .510 Whisper is based on the .416 Rigby (same as the .338 Lapua Magnum) as the parent case. Overall length of the loaded round is about 3.34 in (85 mm).


.55 Boys
The .55 Boys (13.9×99mmB in metric) is an anti-tank cartridge used by the United Kingdom in World War II. It was designed for use with the Boys Anti-Tank Rifle.


.55 Boys, Design
The .55 Boys is a .50 BMG cartridge necked up to accept a .55 caliber bullet and with a belt added to its case. It performed poorly when compared to contemporary foreign anti-tank rounds, such as the German 7.92×94mm Patronen and the Soviet 14.5×114mm rounds and, as a result, it was quickly deemed obsolete.


.55 Boys, History
The concept of a small arm round for use against tanks began with the German 13.2mm TuF round, designed during World War I for use against the first British tanks.


.55 Boys, History
In the 1930s, the United Kingdom began designing an anti-tank rifle to counter enemy armoured vehicles in the event of a war.


.55 Boys, History
Initially the gun design was trialled using .50 inch bullet with a belted case due to lack of armour-piercing performance the calibre was increased  to .55


.55 Boys, History
Development on what is known as the .55 Boys was started by Captain Henry C. Boys, the Assistant Superintendent of Design at the Royal Small Arms Factory, Enfield in 1934. Boys died before the rifle was officially adopted and it was named after him. The .55 Boys round was a modified .50 BMG round necked up to accept a larger, steel-cored bullet in order to increase its armour penetration. A belt was added to reinforce the case with the heavy propellant charge.


.55 Boys, History
The .55 Boys was adopted and manufactured alongside the Boys Anti-Tank Rifle in 1937 throughout the Commonwealth of Nations by firms such as Kynoch. However, when the United Kingdom entered World War II, the .55 Boys round was soon found to be insufficient against even early war Axis tanks in late 1939 and 1940. However, the United Kingdom had to rely on the .55 Boys round for because no better infantry anti-tank weapons were available.


.55 Boys, History
When the PIAT anti-tank weapon was introduced in 1943, the shaped charges it fired were far more effective against enemy armour than the .55 Boys round had been. The Boys rifle was phased out of service on the frontline as the PIAT became the British military's primary handheld anti-tank weapon. Despite its lack of effectiveness as an anti-tank weapon, the .55 Boys was used throughout World War II in both the Pacific and Atlantic theatre and also saw use during the Winter War and Continuation War by Finland.


.55 Boys, History
The Boys was issued to Home Guard units in the UK for use against "light armoured fighting vehicles...which the Home Guard are likely to have to deal with, certainly in the early stages of either an air-borne or sea-borne landing on our coasts." A handbook for its use noted that as well as the expected penetration of armour at various distances and angles that it would penetrate 14 inches of brick wall and 10 inches of sandbags.


.55 Boys, History
By the conclusion of World War II, the .55 Boys was no longer used in any major capacity.


.55 Boys, Variants
The .55 Boys round went through two major variants in its lifetime, along with an experimental variant that was never adopted by the United Kingdom.


.55 Boys, Variants, Mark I
This is the first variant of the .55 Boys. It uses a 926 gr (60.0 g). hardened steel core bullet with a lead sleeve, which is covered with a steel jacket. A ball and tracer version of this round was also created along with a practice round using an aluminum core in order to be more feasible for training. It has a muzzle velocity of roughly 747 m/s (2,450 ft/s).


.55 Boys, Variants, Mark II
An improved loading named the Mark II was released in order to increase the round's velocity and its penetration. It generates a muzzle velocity of approximately 884 m/s (2,899.5 ft/s).


.55 Boys, Variants, Mark II
At an ideal angle, the Mark 2 round was able to pierce 0.91 inches (23.2 mm) of armour at 100 yd (91 m), 0.82 inches (20.9 mm) at 300 yards (270 m) and 0.74 inches (18.8 mm) at 500 yards (460 m).


.55 Boys, Variants, APCR tungsten round
An experimental armour-piercing composite rigid (APCR) .55 Boys round was designed in 1942. It used a tungsten core instead of a steel core, which greatly increased its penetrating ability and gave a boost to its muzzle velocity from the Mark II's 884 m/s to approximately 944 m/s (3100 ft/s). It differs from the Mark I and II rounds because of its two-part bullet. This model was never officially adopted because far better anti-tank rounds and weapons, such as the PIAT, were entering service at the time. The .55 Boys, even with a greatly improved bullet, was simply too weak to defeat the tanks being fielded by the Axis powers.


.56-56 Spencer
The .56-56 Spencer was an American black powder rifle cartridge.


.56-56 Spencer
Designed for the Spencer rifle and carbine, patented 6 March 1860, it was employed by cavalry during the American Civil War, first appearing at Sharpsburg in rifle form. No Spencer carbines were on issue at the Battle of Gettysburg, though two units under Custer had the rifles. The .56-56 was loaded with a slug of 350–360 gr (22.7–23.3 g) over 42–45 gr (2.7–2.9 g) of black powder. It was loaded by a variety of companies, and was also used in the Ballard and Joslyn carbines. It is a short-ranged cartridge, ineffective on anything larger than deer. Commercially loaded ammunition continued to be available into the 1920s and 1930s.


.56-56 Spencer, Nomenclature
The nomenclature of Spencer cartridges was unique. Unlike later cartridges such as the .44-40 Winchester and .45-70, where the first number indicated caliber and the second the charge weight, the .56-56 refers solely to the case. The first 56 is the diameter of the case at the base .56 inches (14.2 mm), measured just past the rim, and the second 56 is the diameter at the case mouth, also 0.56 inches (14 mm). Later versions of the cartridge included the .56-52, .56-50, and .56-46, which had varying degrees of taper in the cases, to accommodate smaller diameter bullets.


.56-56 Spencer, Nomenclature
All of these cartridges are rimfire primed. The actual bullet diameter of the .56-56 varied between .54 and .555 inches (13.7–14.1 mm), depending on ammunition manufacturer. The .56-52, made by Spencer, and the .56-50, made by Springfield, differed only in the degree of crimp, with the .56-50 having a greater crimp; both fired 350 grain .512-inch (13.0 mm) bullets. The .56-46 fired a 320 to 330 grain .465-inch (11.8 mm) bullet.


.577 Black Powder Express
The .577 Black Powder Express is a series of black powder cartridges of varying lengths including 2½-inch, 2¾-inch, 3-inch and 3¼-inch.


.577 Black Powder Express, Development
The .577 BPE originated around 1870 with the 2½-inch variant.


.577 Black Powder Express, Development
The 3-inch cartridge has survived to the current day as the .577 Nitro for Black, the same cartridge loaded with mild loadings of modern smokeless powder, carefully balanced through trial to replicate the ballistics of the Black powder version.


.577 Black Powder Express, Development
The  2¾-inch, 3-inch and 3¼-inch cartridges were later loaded with smokeless cordite to create the .577 Nitro Express, with the 3-inch version becoming the most popular.


.577 Black Powder Express, Use
These cartridges were used for the heavier species of soft skinned game, including dangerous ones such lions, tigers and wild boar. Its also useful under all but the most adverse condition against thick skinned quarries such as the gaur, cape buffalo and even elephants.


.577 Black Powder Express, Use
In his African Rifles and Cartridges, John "Pondoro" Taylor describes the .577 Black Powder Express as the most popular cartridge for shooting tiger in India and that many of the greatest lion hunters in Africa preferred it to anything else. He further states "If I was concentrating on tiger or man-eating lion to the exclusion of anything else, I shouldn't hesitate: I would almost certainly have a double .577 [ Black Powder Express] built....".


.577 Black Powder Express, Use, Prominent users
Sir Samuel Baker's favourite rifle at the end of his hunting life was a .577 Black Powder Express built by Holland and Holland, with which he hunted various game all over the world. He mentioned that it was ideal for any animal bigger than the fallow deer and smaller than the cape buffalo, "as the .577 is the most fatal weapon I ever used,and with 6 or 61/2 drams of powder it is quite equal to any animals in creation, provided the shot is behind the shoulder".


.577 Black Powder Express, Use, Prominent users
Arthur Henry Neumann preferred the .577 Black Powder Express to all other calibres for hunting elephant until the introduction of the .450 Nitro Express.


.577 Black Powder Express, Use, Prominent users
The specialist lion hunter Yank Allen shot most of his lions with a .577 Black Powder Express double rifle.


.577 Black Powder Express, Use, Prominent users
Harald G.C. Swayne used a Holland & Holland .577 Black Powder Express double rifle extensively for hunting in Africa and India.


.577 Nitro Express
The .577 Nitro Express is a large bore centerfire rifle cartridge designed for the purpose of hunting large game such as elephant. This cartridge is used almost exclusively in single shot and double express rifles for hunting in the Tropics or hot climates in general and is a cartridge associated with the golden age of African safaris and Indian shikars.


.577 Nitro Express, Design
The .577 Nitro Express is a straight rimmed .584-inch (14.8 mm) calibre cartridge designed for use in single-shot and double rifles. It has been made in three case lengths based on their respective black-powder .577 Black Powder Express cartridges.


.577 Nitro Express, Design, 23⁄4-inch
The .577 Nitro Express 2 3⁄4-inch [70 mm] is a conversion of the .577 Black Powder Express 2+3⁄4-inch, it fires a 750-grain (49 g) projectile at over 1,800 feet per second (550 m/s). Never as popular as the 3-inch version, today it is only available by special order.


.577 Nitro Express, Design, 3-inch
The .577 Nitro Express 3-inch [76 mm] is a conversion of the .577 Black Powder Express 3-inch, it fires a 750-grain (49 g) projectile at over 2,050 feet per second (620 m/s). This cartridge was to become the most popular of the three and a standard round for African elephant hunters in the early 20th century.


.577 Nitro Express, Design, 31⁄4-inch
The .577 Nitro Express 3 1⁄4-inch [83 mm] is a conversion of the .577 Black Powder Express 31⁄4-inch, again it was never as popular as the 3-inch version.


.577 Nitro Express, History
Following the success of the development in 1898 of the revolutionary .450 Nitro Express by John Rigby & Company, achieved by loading the old .450 Black Powder Express with cordite, similar conversions were made to other blackpowder Express cartridges, including the .577 Black Powder Express in its various case lengths.


.577 Nitro Express, History
Once a standard rifle calibre, the rise of Mauser's Gewehr 98 bolt action rifles offered cheaper alternatives to the expensive double rifles required by the Nitro Express cartridges. Several manufacturers still make rifles chambered in .577 Nitro Express, including Butch Searcy & Co., Hambrusch Hunting Weapons, Hartmann & Weiss, Heym, Holland & Holland, James Purdey and Sons and Westley Richards.