The 470 Nitro Express is a rifle cartridge designed in England by Joseph Lang for hunting hazardous animals in Africa and India. Lang's created it as a substitute for the.450 Nitro Express when the.450 NE was prohibited in a number of countries, including India. After the.450 Nitro Express was outlawed in various countries, including India, Lang's produced the as a substitute. The 470 Nitro Express remains the most popular of all the Nitro Express cartridges, with both ammo and parts widely accessible.
The ballistics of the 470 Nitro Express are quite similar to those of the other Nitro Express cartridges, which were meant to duplicate the old.450 NE formula, which is a 480 or 500-grain bullet travelling at 2,050 to 2,200 fps. The.470 Nitro Express, like many of its cousins with comparable power ratings, has a significant amount of recoil. In contrast to the harsh slap of the hyper-velocity magnums, the recoil is a traditional 'push.'
Without giving it too much thought, this is an excellent big game cartridge, and given the enormous number of firearms chambered in.470 NE, ammo is seldom a problem to find. The 470 Nitro Express is a monster in terms of performance, and a genuine big game backup. Some may be surprised to learn that, despite being a large 500-grain projectile, a zero at 50 yards will only drop the bullet half an inch at 100 yards, which is likely the maximum range for which you will ever need to utilize such a calibre. It comes with a choice of loaded rounds, so bullet performance is not an issue.
Nothing gets the blood pumping in the veins of many professional hunters like hunting hazardous game. They not only need long journeys, but they also necessitate the use of a firearm that is not your ordinary deer rifle.
According to legend, the 500 Nitro Express was the favorite cartridge of famed Kenyan Professional Hunter John A. Hunter — a guy who killed more rhinoceros in the golden age of safaris than anybody else. The term ".500 Nitro Express" refers to one of three different ways to load the.500 Express case. The.500 Black Powder Express and.500 Nitro for Black Powder is the new name for the other loadings.
The.500s bullet has a Sectional Density of 0.313 at 570 grains, allowing for great penetration even at close ranges, where this cartridge is most commonly employed. The.500 Nitro Express is a high-powered, high-performance rifle. When loaded with jacketed bullets, it can outperform even its black powder competitors when it comes to hazardous games. Within 50 to 75 yards, it produces 5,850 ft.-lbs. of muzzle energy. The weight of a well-made.500 Nitro rifle is normally approximately 12 pounds, but bigger calibers can be up to five pounds heavier.
The.500 Nitro Express was created for Africa's and India's biggest wildlife, including elephants, hippopotamuses, rhinoceros, Cape buffalo, and water buffalo. Although it was originally intended for use in double rifles, the Farquarson action was also used in single shots, and at least one significant business (Heym) produced it in a bolt-action style. However, large game ammo generally comes with a lot of recoil, which not every hunter will be able to tolerate.
