Cartridges

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Photos show my Winchester 50-110 with a 22 rim fire black set into the nose of the bullet, I understand under actual conditions this seldom worked. Next to the 50-110 is a inside primed US Govt 45-70 cartridge for scale. On the 45-70 headstamp the R is for rifle, 81 is date 1881 and F for arsenal

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Photo shows an interesting headstamp, note caliber not shown on WR No1 EXPRESS the other is 40-90 Sharps without a headstamp

The WR No 1 is 500/400

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This is my .33 Kynoch Nitro for BSA

The cartridge came in 3 loadings .26, .33 & .40 calibre, any of these cartridges are on the rare side and not easy to come by the 40 cal one even more so.

It was introduced in 1921 and was discontinued a few years later as it was ballistically a vey poor cartridge as the projectile shed velocity fast.
They are not a common one to find due to the short production time span I did years ago luck onto a full unopened 10 packet of them one of the jewels in my collection.

MkVII 303 for scale

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Here is a nice group of British cartridges

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Here is my .461 No 1 Gibbs

The .461 No 1 Gibbs, also known as the .461 No 1 Gibbs 2+11/3 inch, in express form it fired a 360 gr projectile driven by 90 gr of black powder, in its heavier loading it fired a 540 gr projectile driven by 75 gr of powder.

MkVII 303 for scale.

[RCS]

Your No 1 Gibbs .461 cartridge is not common to find and a nice addition to
your collection. Many years ago, the late John Amber who published the "Gun
Digest" and other books like Cartridges of the World, found a Gibbs-Farquharson
rifle in 461 cal that was sent to Japan in the 1800's. This was a match rifle with all
the reloading accessories.

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My .375 2-1/2" Nitro Express.

Based on a flanged (British for rimmed), straight taper case. It was used in a Lee bolt action BSA magazine rifle and various single shot and double barreled rifles.

Introduced in 1899, it became moderately popular in the UK and with hunters in British colonies.
It was overshadowed in 1905 by the introduction of the .375 Holland & Holland Belted and Flanged Magnums.

The .375 2-1/2" NE case is 2.50" long. The rim diameter is .523" and the head diameter is .456", tapering to a .397" neck diameter. The cartridge overall length is 3.10" and the bullet size is .375". Berdan .217" primers were used.

The original factory load offered a 270 grain RN soft point bullet (SD .274) at a muzzle velocity (MV) of 2000 fps and muzzle energy (ME) of 2400 ft. lbs

MkVII 303 for scale.

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So I finally found out what the bullet is called with the slits in the side;

Although the Tweedie bullet had the new metal jacket, this covering had slits in the side and a shortened tip exposing the lead core. The result of this arrangement was that, upon striking flesh, the metal jacket mushroomed, or opened up like a flower, increasing the bullet's diameter and resulting in a wide wound channel and a gaping hole if it passed through. Should the bullet be retained in the body, its victim suffered the full effect of its kinetic energy.

As we surmised it was to aid in the expansion and creation of a big wound channel along with shedding its kinetic energy into the target fast.

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My 400/350 Kynoch with FMJRN

Introduced in 1899, the .400/350 Nitro Express is a rimmed cartridge originally designed for use in single-shot and double rifles. In 1899 Rigby approached the engineers at Mauser to make a special Gewehr 98 bolt action to handle this cartridge, its introduction in 1900 was the birth of the magnum length bolt action, paving the way for such cartridges as the .375 H&H and .416 Rigby.[3]

The .400/350 Nitro Express fires a .358" diameter 310 grain projectile at either 2000 fps or 2150 fps, depending on the source.

MkVII 303 for scale.

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My .318 Kynoch nitro express for the .318 Westley Richards.

Westley Richards introduced the .318, primarily for use in their M98 Mauser and later their P14 Enfield based bolt action sporting rifles.

The .318 Westley Richards is a rimless bottlenecked cartridge primarily intended for use in Africa. The bullet diameter is actually .330", the naming is due to British nomenclature which sometimes names cartridges by their land diameter rather than the more commonly applied groove diameter.

Westley Richards offered solid, soft-point or the revolutionary LT-capped[note 1] bullets in two loadings, the more common being a 250 gr bullet with a listed speed of 2,400 ft/s, whilst a lighter loading firing a 180 gr bullet at 2,700 ft/s was also offered for lighter game. The 250gr bullet possessed high sectional density and thus excellent penetration.

In my book I have on "African Rifles and Cartridges", by John "Pondoro" Taylor wrote that the 250gr .318 Westley Richards is "fully capable of driving its bullet the full length of a big elephant's body.

MkVII 303 for scale.