Wednesday, February 02, 2005

Most Powerful Shoulder Fired Rifle?

I mentioned the .577 Tyrannosaur not so long ago and ACE followed up with a much more exhaustive post on the calibre, including a terrific Cooper quote. Classic. Now, while I’m all for the bigger is better school I’ve got to say that more modest cartridges shouldn’t be overlooked. Some years back Guns and Ammo did an article on the 7mm x 57 (I believe it was by Ross Seyfried) and I’ve been an admirer of the cartridge ever since. Used by long range marksmen during the Boer War, the 7x57 also served well in an entirely different use in Africa- being used to take up to and including elephant! That’s a pretty versatile round.

Having said that, the bigger and better theory holds a certain appeal and so I’ve got to mention another big game cartridge/gun, the .585 Nyati, which could hold the title of the most powerful shoulder fired rifle (shoulder fired being an important qualifier there) with a muzzle energy exceeding 10,000 foot pounds. According to Accurate Reloading the .577 Tyrannosaur can be taken to an mv of 11,000 but power isn’t just about muzzle energy and I’m assuming that lots of people will have lots of ideas on exactly what constitutes the ‘most powerful’. Again, if you have an opinion of this do let me know. I’ve not been able to track down much useful information on the .585 Nyati myself so if anyone (ACE?) can do better, feel free to do so. Any links are appreciated.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't know much about the .585 Nyati, off the top of my head. It's another one of those huge rifle rounds rich hunters use on African safaris.

But, I'll look around when I have time, and see what I can find. If I find enough to post about, I will.

Keep up the good work.

ACE

Kevin said...

You need to read John Ross's book Unintended Consequences. Apparently it's semi-autobiographical. Both Ross and his main character own double-barreled blackpowder cartridge safari guns.

In FOUR-BORE. The rifle weighs 25 lbs.

It has to. Here's a picture of one. And some technical data on the round.

Ross has used his to take elephant.

The round goes clean through.

Now THAT'S a RIFLE!

Jay.Mac said...

I'd totally forgotten about the 4 bore rifle! I recall seeing some mpegs of these being fired by a group of guys and them being staggered back by the recoil. I'll have a see if I can find a link. Thanks for the input- I'll have to check that book out, sounds interesting.
Thanks for the feedback.