.450/400 Black Powder Express

Rifle cartridge .450/400 31 4 inch Black Powder Express File:.360, .450-400 & .450 Black Powder Express cartridges.jpg Drawing of .360, .450/400 & .450 Black Powder Express cartridges United Kingdom Rifle 1880s .450 Black Powder Express Rimmed, bottleneck .405 .432 .502 .544 .615 .040 3.25 3.85 Kynoch # 40 270 Lead 1850 2050 26 in Barnes & Kynoch. .450/400 23 8 inch Black Powder Express 2.375 270 Lead 1650 1630 Barnes. The .450/400 Black Powder Express cartridges were black powder rifle cartridges introduced in the United Kingdom in the 1880s. Design The .450/400 Black Powder Express cartridges are bottlenecked centerfire black powder express rifle cartridges produced in two case lengths, 23 8 inches (60.3 mm) and 31 4 inches (83 mm). Both cartridges were later loaded as "Nitro for Black" cartridges, the same cartridges loaded with mild loadings of cordite carefully balanced through trial to replicate the ballistics of the black powder versions. .450/400 23 8 inch Black Powder Express The .450/400 23 8 inch Black Powder Express was loaded with a bullets from 210 to 270 gr g driven by 79 to 84 gr g of black powder. The .450/400 23 8 inch Nitro for Black was loaded with a jacketed 270 grain round nose bullet driven by 38 gr g of cordite. thumb|center|430px .450/400 31 4 inch Black Powder Express The .450/400 31 4 inch Black Powder Express was loaded with a bullets from 230 to 300 gr g driven by 110 gr g of black powder. The .450/400 31 4 inch Nitro for Black was loaded with bullets of 270 to 316 gr g driven by 45 to 48 gr g of cordite. thumb|center|500px Nitro Express loadings The .450/400 Black Powder Express cartridges served as the parent cases for the .450/400 Nitro Express cartridges, the same cartridge cases loaded with greater loads of cordite and heavier bullets to produce far more powerful rounds. History The .450/400 Black Powder Express in both cartridge lengths were developed in the 1880s by necking down the .450 Black Powder Express, the .450/400 23 8 inch Black Powder Express simply a shortened version. The .450/400 31 4 inch Black Powder Express was listed in the Kynoch catalogue of 1884 as the .450 reduced to . 400. Whilst obsolete, .450/400 31 4 inch Black Powder Express ammunition can still be purchased from ammunition manufacturers such as Kynoch. Use The .450/400 Black Powder Express in both case lengths were considered good deerstalking cartridges and was usually chambered in a lightweight stalking rifle. See also Express (weaponry) List of rifle cartridges List of rimmed cartridges 10 mm caliber References Frank C. Barnes, Cartridges of the World, ed 13, Gun Digest Books, Iola, 2012, 9781440230592. Kynoch Ammunition, "Big Game Cartridges", kynochammunition.co.uk, archived 8 September 2016. External links Ammo-One, ".450/400 B.P.E. 31 4 inch", ammo-one.com https://web.archive.org/web/20201106200655/http://www.ammo-one.com/450400KyBPE238.html 2020-11-06 , retrieved 8 November 2017. Cartridgecollector, .450/400 2 3 8" Black Powder Express, cartridgecollector.net, retrieved 17 Dec 16. Cartridgecollector, .450/400 2 3 8" Nitro for Black Powder, cartridgecollector.net, retrieved 17 Dec 16. Cartridgecollector, .450/400 3 1 4" Black Powder Express, cartridgecollector.net, retrieved 17 Dec 16. Cartridgecollector, .450/400 3 1 4" Nitro for Black Powder, cartridgecollector.net, retrieved 17 Dec 16. The Spanish Association of Cartridge Collectors, ".450-400 Express 23 8 inch", municon.org https://web.archive.org/web/20171101165357/http://municion.org/450_400/450_400.htm 2017-11-01 , retrieved 8 November 2017. Category:Pistol and rifle cartridges Category:Rimmed cartridges Category:British firearm cartridges