The term express was first applied to hunting rifles and ammunition beginning in the mid-19th century, to indicate a rifle or ammunition capable of higher than typical velocities. The early express cartridges used a heavy charge of black powder to propel a lightweight, often hollow point bullet, at high velocities to maximize point blank range. Later the express cartridges were loaded with nitrocellulose-based gunpowder, leading to the Nitro Express cartridges, the first of which was the .450 Nitro Express.
The Nitro Express (NE) series of cartridges are used in large-bore hunting rifles, also known as elephant guns or express rifles, but later came to include smaller bore high velocity British cartridges.
The .600 Nitro Express is a large bore Nitro Express rifle cartridge developed by W.J. Jeffery & Co for the purpose of hunting large game such as elephant.
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.
The 9.5×57mm Mannlicher–Schönauer (MS) cartridge was adopted for the M-1910 MS rifle and carbine in 1910. The 9.5×57mm MS is also known as the 9.5×56mm MS, the 9.5×56.7mm MS, and the .375 Rimless Nitro Express (RNE) × 2¼. The cartridge may have been created by Westley-Richards and Eley in 1908, but no production rifles in this caliber have been found prior to the M-1910. This development by or on behalf of Steyr was probably an answer to the development by the noted British gunmaking firm of Holland & Holland in 1905 of their .400/375 Belted Nitro Express, designed for their specially modified Mannlicher–Schoenauer rifle. Whether the development of the 9.5×57mm Mannlicher–Schoenauer cartridge originated with OWS or with Holland's British competitor, Westley Richards certainly was the principal promoter of the new 1910 Model Mannlicher–Schoenauer rifle as evidenced by catalogs of the time. The 9.5×57mm MS is the last pre-war proprietary cartridge by Steyr and their most powerful until the recent advent of the .376 Steyr, which has its antecedents in the 9.5×57mm.
.450 Nitro Express also known as the .450 Nitro Express 31⁄4-inch is a rifle cartridge designed for hunting dangerous game such as elephant, rhino, cape buffalo, lion, and leopard. This cartridge is used almost exclusively in double rifles for hunting in the Tropics or hot climates in general and is associated with the Golden Age of African safaris and Indian shikars.
The .280 Ross, also known as the .280 Nitro, .280 Rimless Nitro Express Ross (CIP) and .280 Rimless cartridge, is an approximately 7mm bullet diameter rifle round developed in Canada by F.W. Jones as a consultant to Sir Charles Ross, 9th Baronet, and his Ross Rifle Company of Quebec, Canada for use as a Canadian military cartridge as a replacement for the .303 British, and in a civilianised and sporterised version of his controversial Mark II and Mk III Ross rifle, and first commercially produced by Eley Brothers of London, England, in late 1907.
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.
The .404 Jeffery is a rifle cartridge designed for hunting large, dangerous game animals, such as the "Big Five" of Africa. The cartridge is standardized by the C.I.P. and is also known as .404 Rimless Nitro Express. It was designed in 1905 by London based gunmaker W.J. Jeffery & Co to duplicate the performance of the .450/400 Nitro Express 3-inch in bolt-action rifles. The .404 Jeffery fired a bullet of .422 in (10.72 mm) diameter of either 300 gr (19 g) with a muzzle velocity of 2,600 ft/s (790 m/s) and muzzle energy of 4,500 foot-pounds force (6,100 N⋅m) or 400 gr (26 g) with a muzzle velocity of 2,150 ft/s (660 m/s) and 4,100 foot-pounds force (5,600 N⋅m) of energy. It is very effective on large game and is favored by many hunters of dangerous game. The .404 Jeffery was popular with hunters and game wardens in Africa because of its good performance with manageable recoil. By way of comparison, the .416 Rigby and .416 Remington Magnum cartridges fire .416 in (10.57 mm) bullets of 400 gr at 2,400 feet per second (730 m/s) with a muzzle energy of approximately 5,000 foot-pounds force (6,800 N⋅m). These cartridges exceed the ballistic performance of the .404 Jeffery but at the price of greater recoil and, in the case of the .416 Rigby, rifles that are more expensive.
The .475 Nitro Express is a British rifle cartridge developed in the early 20th century.
The .400 H&H Magnum also known as .400 Holland & Holland Magnum is a belted rimless bottlenecked cartridge introduced by Holland & Holland. The cartridge was released together with the .465 H&H Magnum in 2003. It is based on the .375 H&H Magnum case.
The .500 Black Powder Express was a series of Black powder cases of varying lengths that emerged in the 1860s.
The .333 Jeffery and .333 Jeffery Flanged are medium-bore rifle cartridges developed by W.J. Jeffery & Co and introduced in 1908.
The .318 Westley Richards, also known as the .318 Rimless Nitro Express and the .318 Accelerated Express, is a proprietary medium bore centerfire rifle cartridge developed by Westley Richards.
The .350 Rigby and .350 Rigby No 2 are proprietary medium bore rifle cartridges developed by developed by John Rigby & Company.
The .450 No 2 Nitro Express also known as the .450 Nitro Express 31⁄2-inch was developed by Eley Brothers in 1903.
The .400/375 Belted Nitro Express, also known as the .400/375 Holland & Holland and the .375 Velopex is a rifle cartridge designed by Holland & Holland and introduced in 1905.
The .450/400 Black Powder Express cartridges were black powder rifle cartridges introduced in the United Kingdom in the 1880s.
The .400/360 Nitro Express cartridges are a number of very similar, but not interchangeable, centerfire rifle cartridges developed by James Purdey & Sons, William Evans, Westley Richards and Fraser of Edinburgh, all at the beginning of the 20th century.
The .360 No 2 Nitro Express is a centerfire rifle cartridge developed by Eley Brothers and introduced in 1905.
