Do the 577 and 600 nitro really offer anything?

[IvW]

Find me a 600 double regulated for 900gr Dzombo.....forget about Woodie jacket solids......
Compare what you find to a 600gr or 570gr. . .510 from a 500 Jeff brass meplat solid and get back to me...
Doubles and bolts are not compareable to start with especially 577 600 or 700......simple no comparison....

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Doesn't Jeff Rahn carry a 577?

Not likely just because it weighs more...

Jeff now shifted to a William Evans boxlock ejector in .500 Nitro Express because field experience has taught him that the 570Gr bullet at 2150 FPS (of the .500 Nitro Express) will out-penetrate the 750Gr bullet at 2050 FPS (of the .577 Nitro Express). He also recently purchased a pre-World War II Holland & Holland Royale sidelock ejector in .500 Nitro Express and will be using that in Botswana for the coming season (along with his .505 Gibbs which was built by John Boliger for him on a left handed Granite Mountain Arms African Magnum Mauser action).

Jeff's rifles for the coming season

The Holland & Holland Royal sidelock ejector .500 Nitro Express (Holland & Holland is Jeff's favorite double rifle brand above all others)

To answer the original poster's question, in all practical terms ... A .500 Nitro Express/.500 Jeffery/.505 Gibbs/.500 A Square is the largest practical size of caliber which most hunters (even white hunters) are capable of properly handling.

That said, calibers like .577 or .600 Nitro Express are not meant to be 100 % practical. They're food for the soul for certain crazed & irrational dare devils (such as myself). And for those who learn to counteract the recoil... these calibers prove their worth when it comes to stopping large & dangerous inbound creatures when it's a matter of life or death. Of course, you still have to land a shot in the proper region in order to ensure success (which is generally difficult for a many but the most stubborn of hunters with these calibers).

Personally speaking, the .600 Nitro Express is a dream caliber of mine. I have only hunted with this caliber on one occasion till now- A hippopotamus bull on land with a .600 Nitro Express Heym Jumbo sidelock ejector. Ammunition was Labor Fur Ballistik 900Gr tombac jacketed FMJ solid factory loads.

Was it effective ? I'll let you all decide.

50 years of shooting hippopotamus on land with .375 Holland & Holland Magnums (and a couple with .404 Jeffery and .458 Winchester Magnum)... has never allowed me to see this level of ballistic terminal effect on a hippopotamus with any other caliber. Someday, that Heym Jumbo is going to be mine.

My friend, white hunter Mark Sullivan recently purchased this beautiful Charles Osborne back action hammer .600 Nitro Express (built in 1911) and hopes to use it in Tanzania the coming season.

 

[Pondoro]

A friend of mine own this:

Regulated for the 110 grain cordite load

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/holland-holland-a-rare-and-magnificent-600-nit-1217-c-x9dyrnl1kj

 

[IvW]

And that means what in terms of 900gr Tzombo solids in a 600???
Cordite???

 

[IvW]

Jeff now shifted to a William Evans boxlock ejector in .500 Nitro Express because field experience has taught him that the 570Gr bullet at 2150 FPS (of the .500 Nitro Express) will out-penetrate the 750Gr bullet at 2050 FPS (of the .577 Nitro Express). He also recently purchased a pre-World War II Holland & Holland Royale sidelock ejector in .500 Nitro Express and will be using that in Botswana for the coming season (along with his .505 Gibbs which was built by John Boliger for him on a left handed Granite Mountain Arms African Magnum Mauser action).
View attachment 601866
Jeff's rifles for the coming season View attachment 601865
The Holland & Holland Royal sidelock ejector .500 Nitro Express (Holland & Holland is Jeff's favorite double rifle brand above all others)

To answer the original poster's question, in all practical terms ... A .500 Nitro Express/.500 Jeffery/.505 Gibbs/.500 A Square is the largest practical size of caliber which most hunters (even white hunters) are capable of properly handling.

That said, calibers like .577 or .600 Nitro Express are not meant to be 100 % practical. They're food for the soul for certain crazed & irrational dare devils (such as myself). And for those who learn to counteract the recoil... these calibers prove their worth when it comes to stopping large & dangerous inbound creatures when it's a matter of life or death. Of course, you still have to land a shot in the proper region in order to ensure success (which is generally difficult for a many but the most stubborn of hunters with these calibers).

Personally speaking, the .600 Nitro Express is a dream caliber of mine. I have only hunted with this caliber on one occasion till now- A hippopotamus bull on land with a .600 Nitro Express Heym Jumbo sidelock ejector. Ammunition was Labor Fur Ballistik 900Gr tombac jacketed FMJ solid factory loads.

Was it effective ? I'll let you all decide.
View attachment 601867
50 years of shooting hippopotamus on land with .375 Holland & Holland Magnums (and a couple with .404 Jeffery and .458 Winchester Magnum)... has never allowed me to see this level of ballistic terminal effect on a hippopotamus with any other caliber. Someday, that Heym Jumbo is going to be mine.

My friend, white hunter Mark Sullivan recently purchased this beautiful Charles Osborne back action hammer .600 Nitro Express (built in 1911) and hopes to use it in Tanzania the coming season.
View attachment 601869

At least the lights went on.......

 

[Pondoro]

And that means what in terms of 900gr Tzombo solids in a 600???
Cordite???

There is a SA PH on this forum who guide with a Verney-Carron double and load his own ammo with 900 grain Dzombos...he is full of praise for it..

 

[Hunter-Habib]

And that means what in terms of 900gr Tzombo solids in a 600???
Cordite???

Well, IvW... I'm afraid I can't say exactly with the DZOMBO bullets. But I think that Buffalo Bore's new line of .600 Nitro Express ammunition (900Gr Cutting Edge Bullets monolithic brass flat nosed Safari Solids at 1950 FPS) is quite similar to what a 900Gr DZOMBO MARK 6 brass monolithic solids powered by the smokeless powder equivalent of 110Gr of cordite could accomplish.

I mean ... the DZOMBO Mark 6 and the Cutting Edge Bullets Safari Solid are both flat nosed brass monolithic solids.

Perhaps, this read will interest you.

600 NITRO EXPRESS (3-Inch)

600 NITRO EXPRESS (3-Inch) Field Proven rifle and gun ammo. Maximum firepower bullets. Best ammunition for rifles and guns for sale. Buffalo Bore. Strictly big bore. Strictly Business. BUFFALO-BARNES

www.buffalobore.com

 

[sureshot375]

Anything over .500 is a novelty.

 

[Red Leg]

I’ll be the real contrarian here. Unless you are backing up a client, which most clients are not, i would rather use a .375 in any guise.

 

[Pondoro]

I’ll be the real contrarian here. Unless you are backing up a client, which most clients are not, i would rather use a .375 in any guise.

Have you ever hunted elephant at close range..? Have you hunted them at night..?

 

[Red Leg]

That is a fair point. I would gladly hunt an elephant at close range with a .375. I have no intention of hunting one whatsoever at night regardless of caliber.

 

[mickb]

Thanks for all the replies fellas. One question which takes the bias or hyperbole or anecdote out of the equation is do the 577 and 600 nitro actually kill faster?

For all you fellas shooting these buff and hippos, did you notice the animal drops faster with a 577 nitro than say a 500 jeff or even 458lott?

If it doesnt I guess the question answers itself, the big calibres arent better stoppers

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Thanks for all the replies fellas. One question which takes the bias or hyperbole or anecdote out of the equation is do the 577 and 600 nitro actually kill faster?

For all you fellas shooting these buff and hippos, did you notice the animal drops faster with a 577 nitro than say a 500 jeff or even 458lott?

If it doesnt I guess the question answers itself, the big calibres arent better stoppers

Yes. Definitely. All other factors being equal, a 900Gr solid from a .600 Nitro Express through the lungs of a hippopotamus bull drops them noticeably faster and more violently than when they are hit in the same region with a .458 Winchester Magnum, .404 Jeffery or .375 Holland & Holland Magnum in my personal experience. Not that the other calibers are inadequate. They certainly are good enough for the job. But for hunting big hippopotamus bulls at night in the sugarcane fields, I'd personally pick a .600 Nitro Express over the other calibers which I've mentioned.

Back when I was still using solids in the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum for hunting hippopotamus on land, I observed that sometimes the animals were managing to make it into the water prior to expiring.

 

[Altitude sickness]

Not a .600

but my .505 Gibbs yesterday morning. 25 yards, with a red dot. Free hand.

Five shots at elephant distance

The other holes are 50 yards off sticks.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Not a .600

but my .505 Gibbs yesterday morning. 25 yards, with a red dot. Free hand.

Five shots at elephant distance


View attachment 602030

The other holes are 50 yards off sticks.

This is some top notch shooting. What solids are you loading up for elephant ? I personally prefer the 600Gr DZOMBO Mark 6 or the 600Gr Rhino.

 

[Altitude sickness]

Those are CEB solids and 600 grain Northfork

 

[grand veneur]

Thanks for all the replies fellas. One question which takes the bias or hyperbole or anecdote out of the equation is do the 577 and 600 nitro actually kill faster?

For all you fellas shooting these buff and hippos, did you notice the animal drops faster with a 577 nitro than say a 500 jeff or even 458lott?

If it doesnt I guess the question answers itself, the big calibres arent better stoppers

The question is not easy to answer, because it assumes that the same hunter has shot the same game species with the very different cartridges.

By the way, there is a difference between shooting a game under normal conditions and stopping a game when something went wrong.

 

[Altitude sickness]

the CEB’s are in blue
This Bauska rifle is VERY accurate. As accurate as most small calibers

And it’s easy to shoot well.

 

[Luvthunt]

Not a .600

but my .505 Gibbs yesterday morning. 25 yards, with a red dot. Free hand.

Five shots at elephant distance


View attachment 602030

The other holes are 50 yards off sticks.

Wow, praise the Lord and pass the ammunition. That is nice

 

[GuttormG]

Carry a .600 NE and avoid every being mistaken for a Woman

It might lead to rumors regarding the size of certain bodyparts..