.700 Nitro Express

In many respects, this cartridge parallels the .600 Nitro Express. It is essentially a scaled-up version of that cartridge, but is somewhat more powerful, and fires a heavier 1,000-grain (64.8 g) bullet. The case itself is a completely new case, not simply another case resized. Double rifles are extremely expensive, starting at about US $10,000 and selling up to US $260,000 in 2015, and have generally been replaced by repeater-rifles using rounds such as the .458 Winchester Magnum. A new H&H .700 Nitro Express had a retail price of $115,000 in 1990, as of 2022 that price has risen to $400,000. Single factory loaded .700 Nitro cartridges are available, typically at US$100 each. As of July 2022 Holland & Holland had produced only 17 rifles chambered in .700 Nitro Express, ==Ballistics==

The .700 Nitro Express develops an approximate average of of muzzle energy with a bullet at . Handloaders can push the cartridge to generate as much as of energy in a modern bolt action, by using a bullet fired at . However, doing so necessitates a rifle so heavy it is almost inoperable for hunting purposes. Lathe turned cases as used in the Accurate Reloading rifle above will suffer blown primers at this level though a good source of drawn brass would allow (in theory) velocities up to . The typical average muzzle velocity of a factory-loaded cartridge is . In the rifle used by Accurate Reloading this would result in recoil energy of approximately , causing the average shooter's heart to skip a beat. This is more than ten times the average recoil from a .308 Winchester (16 ft-lbs), eight times the recoil of a .30-06 Springfield (20 ft-lbs), and five times the recoil of a strong .45-70 Government (30 ft-lbs), which are all popular big game hunting cartridges; plus four times the recoil of a .375 H&H Magnum (40 ft-lbs) and twice the recoil of the .460 Weatherby (80 ft-lbs), which are both popular for hunting extremely large game, prior to the .700 Nitro the .460 Weatherby was considered the world's most powerful sporting rifle. cartridge (centre) for comparison ==Comparable calibers ==

Rifle calibres comparable to the .700 Nitro Express in terms of power and recoil include the following: • .458 Winchester Magnum • .460 Weatherby Magnum • .475 A&M Magnum • .50 BMG—One of the most powerful rifle rounds, used in anti-materiel rifles • .577 Tyrannosaur • .585 Nyati • .600 Nitro Express • .600 Overkill • .950 JDJ—The world's largest rifle cartridge • 4 bore • 12.7×108mm • 14.5×114mm • 20 mm caliber ==See also==