The cartridge fires a .620in (15.7mm) diameter, 900gr (58g) projectile with three powder loadings: the standard being 100gr (6.5g) of cordite at a muzzle velocity of 1,850ft/s (560m/s); a 110gr (7.1g) loading which generates a muzzle velocity of 1,950ft/s (590m/s); and a 120gr (7.8g) loading which generates a muzzle velocity of 2,050ft/s (620m/s).[1][5]
To handle the recoil forces generated by this cartridge, rifles chambered in it typically weigh up to 16lb (7.3kg).[1][5]
Dimensions
History
The .600 Nitro Express was developed by London gunmakers W.J. Jeffery & Co. Sources vary about the date of its introduction,[note 1] although it would seem in 1900 the first .600 Nitro Express rifle was produced by W.J. Jeffery & Co, a 15lb (6.8kg) double barrelled hammer rifle. Jefferys produced around seventy rifles in .600 Nitro Express in four actions, double barrelled hammer break-open, single barrelled break-open, falling block and double barrelled break-open with and without ejectors.[4]
Until the introduction of the .700 Nitro Express in 1988, the .600 Nitro Express was the most powerful commercially available hunting rifle cartridge in the world. Aside from W.J. Jeffery & Co, several gunmakers have made and continue to offer rifles chambering this .600 Nitro Express, although in 2009 it was estimated by Holland & Holland that only around one hundred .600 Nitro Express rifles had ever been produced in that time.[1][6]
WWI service
In 1914 and early 1915, German snipers were engaging British Army positions with impunity from behind steel plates that were impervious to .303 British ball ammunition. In an attempt to counter this threat, the British War Office purchased sixty-two large-bore sporting rifles from British rifle makers, including four .600 Nitro Express rifles, which were issued to regiments. These large-bore rifles proved very effective against the steel plates used by the Germans. In his book, Sniping in France 1914-18, Major H. Hesketh-Prichard, DSO, MC stated they "pierced them like butter".[7][8][9]
Stuart Cloete, sniping officer for the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, stated "We used a heavy sporting rifle - a .600 Express. These had been donated to the army by big game hunters and when we hit a plate we stove it right in. But it had to be fired standing or from a kneeling position to take up the recoil. The first man who fired it from the prone position had his collar bone broken."[10]
Use
The .600 Nitro Express, along with the .577 Nitro Express, was a specialist backup weapon for professional elephant hunters. Too heavy to be carried all day and used effectively, it was usually carried by a gun bearer. It was used when in thick cover and when an effective shot at the heart and lungs was not possible.[6]
In his African Rifles and Cartridges, John "Pondoro" Taylor says the shock of a head shot from a .600 Nitro Express bullet is enough to knock out an elephant for up to half an hour.[5]
Prominent users
In the course of his career, Taylor owned and used two .600 Nitro Express double rifles, the first was regulated for 110gr (7.1g) loadings, the second was a W.J. Jeffery & Co double rifle that weighed 16lb (7.3kg) with 24in (610mm) barrels and was regulated for 100 gr loadings. He states he was very fond of his Jeffery .600 which he used as a second backup rifle to a .400 Jeffery Nitro Express, and with it he killed between 60 and 70 elephants.[5]
In the United States a .600 Nitro Express is classified as a destructive device by the National Firearms Act (NFA), which classifies any firearm with a rifled barrel that has a bore diameter larger than 0.50 inches (12.7 mm) as a destructive device;[15] along with bombs, missiles, rockets and explosives in general. Machine guns, short-barreled rifles, short-barrel shotguns and suppressors are also considered to be NFA firearms and are strictly regulated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), all NFA firearms are required to be registered with the ATF and registered with the owner's local law enforcement agency, which is the local agency that issues firearm and conceal carry permits for their jurisdiction and is typically either the county sheriff or state police.[16] In order to legally purchase a .600 Nitro Express, if one was being purchased internationally (most makers of the .600 Nitro are international like H&H), an individual would need to fill out and submit the ATF Form 6: Application and Permit for Importation of Firearms, Ammunition and Implements of War to import the rifle into the United States,[17] the form would then be submitted by a firearms dealer with a Type 11: Importer of Destructive Devices, Ammunition for Destructive Devices or Armor Piercing Ammunition Federal Firearms License (FFL).[18] Once the rifle has been imported the purchaser would have to go through the steps involved with registering a NFA firearm, which involves filling out the ATF Form 4: Application for Tax Paid Transfer and Registration of a Firearm, the form must include the firearm's make, model, caliber, length, serial number, the dealer's FFL license number, & the purchaser's name, address, Social Security number, a passport style photograph and a copy of the purchaser's fingerprints.[19] The form is then submitted to the ATF, along with $200 for the NFA Tax Stamp, this stamp and the form it is stamped on will act as the "permit" to legally own the rifle, once the ATF receives the form they conduct a thorough background check on the buyer, if the ATF approves the application a copy is kept by the ATF, two are sent to the FFL dealer selling the gun with one copy being for the buyer, and a copy is sent to the buyer's chief local law enforcement officer. A mandatory seven-day waiting period begins after the LEO notification, in order to give them time to inform the ATF if the buyer has violated any state laws that would prohibit them from legally possessing a firearm in their state of residence. Once the seven days have passed the purchaser fills out once last form, the ATF Form 4473: Firearms Transaction Record, which officially transfers control of the firearm from the dealer to the buyer.[20]
In popular culture
In the 1997 film The Lost World: Jurassic Park the character Roland Tembo carries a Searcy Double Barrel Rifle chambered in .600 Nitro Express.[21]
Notes
↑ The majority of W.J. Jeffery & Co's records were lost or destroyed during World War II.[4]
1 2 Terry Wieland, Dangerous-game rifles, ed 2, Down East Books / Shooting Sportsman Press, 2009, ISBN978-0-89272-807-7.
↑ MAJ H. Hesketh-Prichard, DSO, MC, Sniping in France 1914-18: With Notes on the Scientific Training of Scouts, Observers and Snipers, Helion & Company, Solihull, 2013, ISBN1-874622-47-7.
↑ Douglas Tate, "Sporting guns that went to war", The Field Magazine, Vol 324 No 7321, August 2014, pp 100–103.
↑ Ian D. Skennerton, The British sniper: British & Commonwealth sniping & equipments 1915-1983, I.D. Skennerton, Margate Australia, 1984, ISBN9780949749031.
↑ Sarah Wheeler, Too Close to the Sun: The Audacious Life and Times of Denys Finch Hatton, Random House, London, 2006, ISBN9780099450276.
↑ Edgar N. Barclay, Big game shooting records: together with biographical notes and anecdotes on the most prominent big game hunters of ancient and modern times, H. F. & G. Witherby, London, 1932.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
