Biggest cartridge ever chambered in a revolver?

F

FirstFreedom

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I know there's some pics of what appears to be custom made single six revolvers in .50 BMG floating around the net, but the consensus on those seemed to be that it was photoshopped (or real but not fire-able).

Anyway, my question is, forget about case backup and cylinder locking for a minute - wouldn't the *cylinder gap blast* at some point be so enormous that it could (a) kill you if you're head is over it for example, or severely injure an arm if left extended past the gap, etc., and/or (b) cut through the topstrap in 5 or 10 shots? And, what is that point (if any)?
 
Offhand, the biggest cartridge (caliber wise) I'm aware of is the .500 S&W. Revolvers are made by S&W and Magnum Research.

Biggest in terms of cartridge length is the .45/70. Magnum Research makes a revolver in this caliber.
 
I believe 577 calber is the biggest I am aware of in a standard production revolver. Webley. The longest revolver cartridge I am aware of is the 357 Maximum. Custom manufactured. If I need more than a 357 Magnum, I reach for a rifle. 30-30 usually.
 
Sir William has me on caliber. The .577 is not likely to be eclipsed in this arena as there are U.S. laws restricting over .50 cal firearms.

But I think I've still got him on the longest cartridge. IIRC, the 45/70 is a good bit longer than the .357Maximum.
 
I am thinking revolver cartridge. The 45-70 is chambered in production revolvers but, it IS a rifle cartridge from inception.
 
Actually Gary Reeder and some of his friends take the BFR and rechamber it for the .50 Alaskan which really shoots a .510 Caliber bullet and case length is on par with the 45-70, while creating about 800 more ft lbs of energy than the 500 S&W, it's closest relative. In the end, the .577 Webly is still the largest in actual bullet diameter that I know of. Have a great one.

Sir William - I agree that both the 45-70 and the .50 Alaskan were not created for pistols, but the thread didn't specify pistol cartridges. It actually hinted at the 50 BMG, another cartridge definately not created for a pistol. :)

Good night.

.44mag
 
Yowsa. :eek: :eek: :eek: It appears that the answer to my original question (if that thing is real) is that no, the cylinder gap blast does NOT become highly deadly/dangerous/topstrap-busting after a point - it's still manageable. Nevertheless, I wouldn't want shoot that from the hip. ;)

Gaz, yes, I believe HCI is releasing its press release later today that says that independent testing they did indicates that that gun can shoot through a school, kill 50+ students, exit the roof of the school, and still have enough power left to bring down an airliner, AND, to make matters worse, apparently, some HCI member reports that they saw an Al-quaida member, whom they know to have snuck into the country illegally, buy one of those at a gunshow recently. It appears they are common at gunshows, go for around $350, and are highly concealable.

Tantrix, is that you in the pics? Can you tell us some more about that please!?
 
Dayum! If these things get any bigger, they'll need wheels and a lanyard!

Biggest pistol caliber I ever saw (in a museum) was a 1" black powder "Howdah" pistol. Gun was about 14" long and fired a 1" round ball, probably on top of a black powder charge measured with a gravy ladle! The purpose was as a last ditch weapon for Indian princes and British officers to shoot a tiger if he tried to climb up the elephant into the "Howdah" basket on top. I'm not sure I want to fire anything that'll scrape 500 lbs of pi**ed-off tiger off an elephant! (Later models were lighter duty -- only .76 caliber!)

The 610 Nitro wins. Biggest production gun I know of is the .45-70.
 
Tantrix, is that you in the pics? Can you tell us some more about that please!?
Click to expand...

No, it isn't me but I wish it was.... :D

This gun was specially made for a Swiss guy, and there are only a few in the world. He paid Swiss francs 20'000 (plus tax) = $17,000 US. (Not bad eh?)

For a little background on the cartridge:

1) It scores 155.9 on the Taylor K.O. scale. This is higher than the .50 BMG.

2) The recoil isn't as bad as one might think. It rates a 12.2 recoil velocity, while the .500 S&W Magnum rates a 16. The cartridge however, is more powerful than the .500 S&W (duh)

3) The .600 Nitro Express is a highly respected dangerous game cartridge, able to take down ANY known big game in the world (elephant, cape buffalo, crocodile, whatever you can think of) But...it is not the most powerful. The .460 Weatherby Magnum holds that title with its 8245/ft-lbs of muzzle energy.

4)According to John Taylor, if you shot an elephant in the skull with the .600 Nitro Express and missed the brain, the sheer force of the bullet would knock the elephant senseless, for about thirty minutes. (I have confirmed this to be a true statement, it has not been proven otherwise)

5) .700 Nitro Express has been made at this time, and it is rumored that an .800 Nitro Express exists. At $100 per cartridge for .600 Nitro Express, I think I'll stick with that one. :D
 
that .600 nitro takes the cake. never would have dreampt of such a thing. They do have a .700 nitro in a rifle platform. I think ammo is near 100 bucks a round or somthing crazy. so I heard, duh you alrready mentioned that . sorry.
 
WOW! .600 nitro, .700 nitro. And I got on line to brag about a box of 500gr
hornady's for my S&W mags. talk about the ole P-envy!!
good shootin
kid
 
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