The .450 Nitro Express was the first
Nitro Express cartridge, developed around 1898 by
John Rigby. This cartridge was based on the then popular
.450 Black Powder Express case with of
Cordite and a jacketed bullet.
Muzzle velocity is listed at 2,150 feet per second (655 m/s) with of muzzle energy. This straight case has a length of with a rim. Early cartridges used the black powder case that was designed for around 22,000
psi and not the 34,000 psi that the Cordite load generated. Case extraction was difficult, especially in warmer climates such as
Africa and
India where the cartridge was primarily used. To remedy this problem, a reinforced case was produced and
Kynoch made a reduced load to lower the case pressure. Another problem lay in the sensitivity of Cordite, loads developed in the cool British climate performed differently in the tropical heat of Africa and India, resulting in excessive pressures. The manufacturers responded by developing "tropical loads" with reduced propellant. These initial problems led to
Holland & Holland developing the
.500/450 Nitro Express and
Eley Brothers developing the
.450 No 2 Nitro Express, both of which offered very similar performance to the original .450 Nitro Express. By the time these two cartridges appeared, the early issues with the .450 Nitro Express had been resolved, and it quickly became the most popular and widely used dangerous-game hunting round. Following the British Army
1907 ban of .450 caliber ammunition into
India and the
Sudan, instead of developing their own replacement, Rigby adopted Joseph Lang's
.470 Nitro Express as their standard double rifle cartridge. By the time the ban was lifted the .470 NE had largely supplanted the .450 NE as the industry's most popular elephant cartridge, and
Mauser's
Gewehr 98 bolt actioned rifles offered cheaper alternatives to the expensive double rifles required by the Nitro Express cartridges. ==World War I service==