Notes: Originally designed for single-shot target rifles in the late 1800’s, the 10.3mm Swiss was originally a blackpowder round for a very short time, but quickly switched over to smokeless powder. A rimmed cartridge, the 10.3mm Swiss is little more than a very-slightly modified version of the British .450/400 2 3/8" Blackpowder Express round. (The Swiss round uses a bit more propellant and a heavier bullet.) The 10.3mm Swiss round is adequate for virtually all North American and European game, and is also a good man-stopper. The round is primarily still popular in Switzerland and Germany (and in one isolated Swiss canton, is the only legal hunting round). The 10.3mm Swiss is still manufactured in Switzerland and Germany by RWS.

Other Names: 10.3x60Rmm, 10.3x60mm Rimmed

Nominal Size: 10.3x60mm

Actual Size: 10.54x59.94mm

Case Type: Necked

Weight: 57.53 kg per case of 1000; Price $1050 per case

Magazines:

Notes: This is a magnum Mauser rifle round that was introduced in the early 1920s and is still listed in RWS catalogs. The round was also once made by Kynoch of England, and rifles were made by Mauser, Browning, and Dumoulin for the 10.75x68mm Mauser. Old Western Scrounger and Barnes make bullets for the round. It is a fairly powerful round, but due to the blunt-nosed shape, penetration is only average. The round is also a softpoint, and cannot be counted upon to hold together inside the target; this is another strike against it as far as hunters are concerned (though it may be a plus when used on people).

Nominal Size: 10.75x68mm

Actual Size: 10.77x67.82mm

Case Type: Necked

Weight: 77.25 kg per case of 1000; Price: $1240 per case

Magazines:

Notes: Originally developed for the abortive Russian DK heavy machinegun in the early 1920s, this round came into its own just before and during World War 2 with its use in the DShK machinegun and aircraft armament. It is one of the longest-lived round still in use, being used to this day in helicopter armament and ground weapons like the DShK, NSV, and Kord machineguns, as well as in several antimaterial and heavy sniping rifles. It is based heavily on the old German 13mm TuF round. The 12.7mm Russian is normally steel cased, but brass cases are becoming more and more common of late. It also normally uses corrosive Berdan primers, making long-term storage a problem, but more modern primers have also become more common lately. Use in sniper and antimaterial rifles is problematic due to accuracy (the rounds normally available are designed for machineguns and not precision shooting), but better-qualities rounds are becoming available, as are Western-made rounds. The standard ball ammunition is like many Russian rounds: there is a space in front of the round to aid in balancing of the bullet and increase damage when it hits (and also reflects the poor method of jacketing in Russian-made bullets).

A steel cored (or tungsten-cored) armor-piercing (AP) round is available; double all prices for this round. The Russians are also making what they are calling "match-quality ammunition" for the 12.7mm Russian round; it is not up to the quality that Western shooters would call match quality, but it is better than standard 12.7mm Russian rounds. Triple all prices for this ammunition.

Other Names: 12.7x107mm, 12.7x108mm, 12.7mm Soviet, 12.7mm ComBloc, 12.7mm Russian Machinegun, 12.7mm Soviet Machinegun, 12.7mm DShK, 12.7mm Type 54

Nominal Size: 12.7x107mm

Actual Size: 12.95x105.9mm

Case Type: Necked

Weight: 165 kg per case of 1000 (loose or belted); Price: $7500 per case

Magazines:

Notes: Designed specifically for the T-Gew Model 1918 antitank rifle, the 13mm T-Patrone was later (for a short time) adopted for use on Nazi and pre-Nazi aircraft. The round was effective, for a very short time, against the tanks of the period, but quickly became obsolete (like most antitank rifle rounds), and was a better antimateriel and long-range sniping round. Nonetheless, it quickly became a rather rare round, and today is found only as a rather rare handload, with the rifles and machineguns to fire rarer still. The 13mm T-Patrone is essentially a greatly-enlarged version of the 8mm Mauser cartridge, using the same bullet shape (but not the same bullet); in addition, the 13mm T-Patrone bullet is a steel-cored AP round.

Other Names: 13x92mmSR T-Patrone, 13x92SR

Nominal Size: 13x92mm (some sources say 13x94mm)

Actual Size: Unknown

Case Type: Necked

Weight: 13.43 kg per box of 100; Price: $1222 per box

Magazines:

Notes: Like many such large-caliber rounds of the period, the 14.5mm KPV round was designed in 1941 for antitank rifles, which by then were already obsolete. After World War 2, however, it was picked up for use in a newly-designed heavy machinegun meant for mounting in armored vehicles – the KPV machinegun. In this role, though ineffective against tanks, it has proven quite useful against personnel, thin-skinned vehicles, and even some lightly-armored vehicles. In addition, since the early 1980s an increasing number of antimaterial rifles have been chambered for this round. While most Russian, Chinese, and former Pact-made ammunition in this caliber is made for use in the KPV and is not really of a quality necessary for sniping, increasingly there are Western or Eastern European companies who are making quantities of quality 14.5mm ammunition for this purpose.

A steel-cored (or rarely, tungsten-cored) armor-piercing (AP) version of this round exists; double all prices for this round.

Other Names: 14.5x115mm Antitank, 14.5x114mm 14.5mm M-1941, 14.5mm Russian Machinegun, 14.5mm Type 56, 14.5mm Vladimirov

Nominal Size: 14.5x115mm (some sources say 14.5x114mm)

Actual Size: 14.5x114.3mm

Case Type: Necked

Weight: 207.58 kg per case of 1000 (loose or belted); Price: $9440 per case

Magazines:

Notes: This is a relatively rare round, since it was developed at the beginning of World War 2 and used only for a short period of time as an aircraft gun in early versions of the Me-109 fighter. An extremely few small (but rather heavy) arms have been developed over the years which fire the round, and some companies still manufacture very small lots of it, but it is still rather rare. It is usually found these days unbelted, but original lots of the 15mm Mauser were usually belted for use in aircraft. The 15mm Mauser gun was quickly found to be wanting (at least by the Nazis) as an aircraft gun, and it was replaced in less than a year as an aircraft gun by weapons firing 20mm ammunition. The 15mm Mauser was produced in a standard ball version, an armor-piercing version, a ball tracer, and an AP tracer. AP versions cost double the standard cost for the 15mm Mauser round.

Other Names: MG-151/15 (though this is actually the name of the gun which fired it).

Nominal Size: 15x96mm

Actual Size: Unknown

Case Type: Necked

Weight: 20.1 kg per box of 100; Price: $848 per box

Magazines:

Notes: This round has seen a long development period (along with the single weapon designed to fire it, the Steyr IWS-2000 antimaterial rifle), beginning in 1988. It began as a tungsten-cored 15mm AP round, went to a 14.5mm SLAP round, and is now a 15.2mm SLAP round. The case is of conventional brass bottle-necked design, while the sabot is of a synthetic material. The penetrator itself is a 5.5mm tungsten dart with an extremely flat trajectory, high velocity, and developing considerably muzzle and terminal energy. It is capable of penetrating light armored vehicles easily as well as destroying equipment (and people), and also causes considerable fragmentation behind the armor plate or item it penetrates. Currently, the fate of the round is tied to the rifle which fires it; while it is rumored to be used by some special operations units, Steyr is still finding official sales elusive.

Other Names: 15.2mm IWS-2000

Nominal Size: 15.2x169mm

Actual Size: 16.56x169.91mm (Case and neck)

Case Type: Necked

Weight: 16.5 kg per box of 100; Price: $3638 per box

Magazines:

Notes: This round was developed way back in 1874 as a blackpowder round. It made the jump to modern propellants shortly thereafter. It is a .44-40 round necked down to a bullet that is actually .401 caliber. It is primarily a round for lever-action rifles and revolvers. No rifles have been chambered for this caliber by major manufacturers since 1937, though it was once a very popular medium-power cartridge. Present factory loads are designed for revolvers, and handloading is necessary for full performance in rifles. The .38-40 Winchester is best used as a varmint round, as its range is unspectacular and its striking power not great.

Other Names: .38-40 Winchester Centerfire, .38-40 WCF

Nominal Size: 10x33mm

Actual Size: 10.18x33.02mm

Case Type: Necked

Weight: 3.36 kg per box of 100; Price: $108 per box

Magazines:

Notes: Introduced in 1879, this was the smallest round Sharps made. It is almost exclusively a blackpowder round, but Cordite propellant versions have been made through the years, almost always handloaded and loaded very lightly due to the thin walls of the case. No one makes this round anymore, except for handloaders, but cases are made by Buffalo Arms, and serviceable cases can also be made from the .30-40 Krag case. The bullet of this round is normally paper-patched.

Nominal Size: 10.2x48mm

Actual Size: 10.24x47.75mm

Case Type: Straight

Weight: 3.47 kg per box of 100; Price: $126 per box

Magazines:

Notes: This round was designed specifically for the Maynard Model 10, 12, and 13 Hunting rifles and the Model 15 and 16 Target rifles. It was originally a long-range blackpowder round, but some were later loaded with a lighter charge of Cordite. Unfortunately, the performance of the .40-70 Maynard was almost identical to the similar Marlin, Sharps, and Winchester rounds of the time, and therefore never had a chance to become popular or widely-used. No one makes cases, bullets, or complete rounds of this type anymore, but cases can be made from .303 British cases, and bullets handmade.

Other Names: .40-60 Maynard 1882

Nominal Size: 10.6x70mm

Actual Size: 10.59x69.85mm

Case Type: Straight

Weight: 5.41 kg per box of 100; Price: $196 per box

Magazines:

Notes: This was another round specifically designed for the Winchester 1895 lever-action rifle, and it was discontinued when the rifle was in 1936. It was never a popular round, and not nearly as powerful as company literature would seem to indicate. Like the .38-72, it is very difficult to handload, and very rare these days.

Nominal Size: 10.3x66mm

Actual Size: 10.31x66.04mm

Case Type: Straight

Weight: 5.51 kg per box of 100; Price: $176 per box

Magazines:

Notes: This is a very old cartridge that was originally designed for the Winchester Model 1873 lever-action rifle. Virtually every American firearms manufacturer has offered a weapon in this caliber at some point in its history. It is said that the round has killed more game and people than any other in American history. This round was originally a blackpowder round, but it has not been loaded with black powder in some time (except by certain firearms enthusiasts). The round has decent range, but the trajectory is not very flat at ranges above 100 meters.

Other Names: .44 Winchester Centerfire, .44 Winchester

Nominal Size: 10.8x33.8mm

Actual Size: 10.9x33.27mm

Case Type: Straight

Weight: 31 kg per case of 1000; Price: $500 per case

Magazines:

Notes: The .44-77 Sharps & Remington round was originally a blackpowder round, but did not stay that way for long, as modern propellants became available fairly soon thereafter and it was converted to this propellant. Introduced specifically for the Model 1869 Sharps rifle, it was soon adapted to a number of other rifles and became a popular target round in the late 1800s and early 1900s (in fact, it was used more for target shooting than hunting). Though it is not confirmed, the .44-77 is said to be a combination of a modified .42 Russian case and a .43 Spanish bullet; the case is slightly necked (bottlenecked) and the bullet is flat-nosed. Remington still makes factory loads for this round, but it is still a rather rate round.

Other Names: .44-77, .44-70, or .44-75 Sharps (or Sharps & Remington), 2 ¼" Sharps, .44-77 Remington-Hepburn, No.3 Remington

Nominal Size: 10.9x57mm

Actual Size: 11.33x57.15mm

Case Type: Necked

Weight: 6.34 kg per box of 100; Price: $230 per box

Magazines:

Notes: This round was developed for the US military and adopted by them in 1873. After its replacement by the .30-40 Krag in 1892, its popularity took off as a civilian cartridge, especially in single-shot rolling-block-type rifles. The .45-70 also continued in US military service well beyond 1900. American companies stopped producing the .45-70 in the 1930s, leaving it in the hands of handloaders, but recently it has staged a comeback with the popularity of Cowboy shooting, and factory loads are being made again. The unfortunate problem with the .45-70 is range and its curving trajectory beyond 150 meters.

Other Names: .45 Government, .45-70-330, .45-70-350, .45-70-405, .45-70-500

Nominal Size: 11.6x54mm

Actual Size: 11.63x53.47mm

Case Type: Straight

Weight: 56.75 kg per case of 1000; Price: $910 per case

Magazines:

Notes: This is one of several rounds developed for .45-caliber Sharps rifles, in various case lengths. The .45 Sharps rounds typically used soft lead bullets and blackpowder charges; however, more modern bullets and loads were developed later on at various points in history. This round is primarily used today by the Cowboy Shooting enthusiasts; most are handloaded, though every so often some company makes some factory loads.

Other Names: .45-90 Sharps (Straight)

Nominal Size: 11.6x53mm

Actual Size: 11.63x53.34mm

Case Type: Straight

Weight: 5.66 kg per box of 100; Price: $182 per box

Magazines:

Notes: This is basically a longer version of the .45-90 Sharps round, and the comments for the .45-90 Sharps apply to the .45-100.

Other Names: .45-100 Sharps (Straight)

Nominal Size: 11.6x66mm

Actual Size: 11.63x66.04mm

Case Type: Straight

Weight: 7.01 kg per box of 100; Price: $224 per box

Magazines:

Notes: This is basically a longer version of the .45-90 Sharps round, and the comments for the .45-90 Sharps apply to the .45-110.

Other Names: .45-110 Sharps (Straight)

Nominal Size: 11.6x70mm

Actual Size: 11.63x69.85mm

Case Type: Straight

Weight: 7.43 kg per box of 100; Price: $238 per box

Magazines:

Notes: Though in some ways this round may be thought of as a longer version of the .45-90 Sharps, the .45-120 actually has thicker walls to contain the much more powerful propellant charge. The round did not have a particularly long lifetime, since the Sharps Rifle Company failed in 1881, though several other rifles were chambered for the round. Most rounds after that point were handloaded, but in 1991-1992 the Eldorado Cartridge Company made a run of cases and factory loads, primarily for the Cowboy Shooting enthusiasts. It is rare to find a .45-120 Sharps round using modern propellants, though it is not unknown. Even in blackpowder form, it is a quite powerful round for a straight-walled cartridge.

Other Names: .45-120 Sharps (Straight), .45-120 Sharps 3 1/4"

Nominal Size: 11.6x82mm

Actual Size: 11.63x82.55mm

Case Type: Straight

Weight: 8.78 kg per box of 100; Price: $280 per box

Magazines:

Notes: This round was originally designed as an antitank rifle round in 1918. The antitank rifle was quickly dropped, but John Browning designed a heavy machinegun around it instead. This weapon and several other companion pieces, as well as several other machineguns firing the same round, have formed the mainstay of Western heavy machineguns ever since. The .50 Browning Machinegun round is a huge, cigar-sized round that is effective against personnel and light armored vehicles. Recently, the round has been used in heavy sniper and antimaterial rifles, to great effect. It is also regarded as a quasi-sporting round, normally used in long-range target competitions. It can be used to take down everything from people to aircraft.

A SLAP (Saboted Light Armor Penetrator) version of the .50 Browning Machinegun round is available. Double all prices for this round. A match-quality round is also available; multiply all prices for this round by five. A subsonic version of this cartridge is available; triple all prices.

Other Names: .50 M-2, 12.7x99mm

Nominal Size: 12.7x99mm

Actual Size: 12.96x99.1mm

Case Type: Necked

Weight: 163.38 kg per case of 1000; Price: $6450 per case, $9675 per 1500-round belt

Magazines:

Notes: This cartridge was the standard US Army round from 1866-73, and was originally a blackpowder round. It is a centerfire round which is a modified form of the .50-60-400 Joslyn Rimfire round, and was the first centerfire round used by the US military. It was replaced in the US military by the .45-70 Government round in 1873, but continued to be used by some civilians until the turn of the 20^th century, as it is quite effective on buffalo and other large game. Some collectors still use the round, but it is always found as a handload as no company currently manufactures the .50-70 Government, and haven’t since the 1940s. However, with the rise of Cowboy Action shooting, cases are starting to be manufactured again, along with weapons which chamber the round, and it probably won’t be long before complete rounds are again manufactured.

Other Names: .50-70 Musket

Nominal Size: 13x44mm

Actual Size: 13x43.69mm

Case Type: Straight

Weight: 5.1 kg per box of 100; Price: $186 per box of 100

Magazines:

Notes: The .50-70 Maynard round (at that time called the .50-70 Sharps) was introduced in 1872 along with three longer versions of the cartridge (.50-90, .50-100, and .50-110). It was a blackpowder round at the time, but soon converted to modern propellants. It was designed specifically for buffalo hunting, and meant to be the short-range version of the .50-70 family. Production of the round was later taken over by the Maynard company, but was discontinued in the mid 20^th century. Currently, about the only way to get a .50-70 Maynard round is to find someone who handloads it or do it yourself; though cases are still manufactured and readily available, complete rounds are not.

Other Names: .50-70 Sharps, Big Fifty, Poison-Slinger

Nominal Size: 13x48mm

Actual Size: 13.06x47.75mm

Case Type: Straight

Weight: 5.63 kg per box of 100; Price: $204 per box

Magazines:

Notes: Essentially the same round as the .50-110 Sharps listed below but with a shorter case and less propellant, the .50-90 Sharps was also originally a blackpowder round, later switched to smokeless propellant. It was originally designed for buffalo hunting. (Though the .50-110 was also designed for buffalo hunting, it was somewhat delayed in mass production, and by the time the .50-110 arrived on the scene in large numbers, the heyday of buffalo hunting was over.) The .50-90 uses the same bullet as the .50-110. As with the .50-110, the .50-90 is not available in factory loads, except by special order from Sharps, but bullet molds are made by Lyman, and cases are available from several companies.

Other Names: Big Fifty, Poison-Slinger

Nominal Size: 13x63.5mm

Actual Size: 12.93x63.5mm

Case Type: Straight

Weight: 7.34 kg per box of 100; Price: $267 per box

Magazines:

Notes: Introduced along with two shorter rounds (the .50-90 and .50-100) in 1872, the .50-110 Sharps and its shorter relatives were designed to be more powerful version of the .50-70 Sharps (.50-70 Maynard, above), and meant specifically for long-range buffalo hunting. It was originally a blackpowder round, but was later offered in limited quantities with Cordite propellant. This round is not available in factory loads, except by special order from Sharps, but bullet molds are made by Lyman, and cases are available from several companies.

Actual Size: 12.93x72.9mm

Case Type: Straight

Weight: 8.51 kg per box of 100; Price: $310 per box

Magazines:

Notes: The .55 Boys originated, like the .50 Browning Machinegun round, as an antitank round in between World War 1 and 2, to be used with an experimental antitank rifle by Captain Boys of the British Small Arms Committee. Needless to say, the rifle which became the Boys Antitank Rifle was basically obsolete before design work on it even began in the mid-1930s, as was the .55 Boys round in its intended purpose, and it was replaced by the PIAT in 1940. Though essentially useless in its intended role, the .55 Boys did make an admirable manstopper, though actual sniping and antimaterial use of the Boys Antitank Rifle was in fact quite small.

The .55 Boys uses a belted cartridge (one of the few to actually be used by modern military forces of any country); the bullet used a steel-cored copper-jacketed bullet. The .55 Boys round is believed to have been adapted from an unspecified high-power civilian hunting rifle cartridge of the period (though some say it is a modified .50 Browning Machinegun round), which is the probable reason for it being a belted round. However, the design of this belted round allowed the .55 Boys to be loaded with a large propellant charge and withstand very high pressures. Later, a tungsten-cored version with the bullet jacked inside hard plastic was developed, giving the round even greater penetration (though still basically useless against most armored vehicles); this round was known as the W Mk 2 ACPR .55 round. This round, if you can find it, will cost five times the normal Twilight 2000 v2.2 price listed below.

Like the rifle itself, .55 Boys rounds are as scarce as hens’ teeth. Most .55 Boys ammunition found today is handloaded (almost always modified from .50 Browning Machinegun brass), and is almost always of the steel-cored variety (or even without the steel core). Modern analogues of the ACPR round are next to impossible to find handloaded. Original .55 Boys ammunition (as with the rifle and even the magazines) will fetch extremely high real-life prices on the international market (hundreds of times greater than the Twilight 2000 price presented here).

Other Names: .55 Boyes (an incorrect, but common misspelling), .55 Mk 1, .55 Mk 2 (in the case of the ACPR round).

Nominal Size: 13.9x99mm

Actual Size: 14.3x97.79mm

Case Type: Necked

Weight: 17.28 kg per box of 100; Price: $1572 per box

Magazines:

Notes: One of the oldest rifle cartridges in existence, the .56-50 Spencer is an improved and lengthened form of the .56-46 Spencer, which was designed for the Spencer Carbine (which arrived too late for the Civil War). This version of the Spencer cartridge was first fielded shortly after the Civil War as a blackpowder round, but was later switched to Cordite for a propellant. It, along with rifles firing the .56-50 and 56-52 Spencer, was issued widely to US troops fighting Native American tribes in the West. The rifles did were not in US military service for long, but they remained popular in civilian hands until the early 1920s, and factory-made rounds were made by Springfield and Remington until at least 1920. Taylor’s & Company currently loads small lots of both blackpowder and smokeless powder versions of the .56-50 Spencer, for use in its replicas and for use by Cowboy Shooting enthusiasts and collectors. Handloaded versions are just as common however. The .56-50 Spencer is considered a decent deer-hunting cartridge, but was never really considered an adequate man-stopper.

Other Names: .56-50 Spencer & Remington, .56-50 Springfield, .56-50 Sharps

Nominal Size: 14.2x26mm

Actual Size: 13x26.29mm

Case Type: Straight

Weight: 3.07 kg per box of 100; Price: $112 per box

Magazines:

Notes: Designed by Jeffery in 1902, the .400 Jeffery was a longer, improved version of an older blackpowder round, the .450-400 Nitro Express 3 1/4-inch. It was designed exclusively for modern propellants, and never used blackpowder propellant. It was a very popular round until the advent of the .375 H&H Magnum, which offers similar performance in a lighter round. The .400 Jeffery, however, does offer slightly better performance than the .375 H&H Magnum, especially in the area of damaging potential. Like most of the heavy rounds of this period, the .400 Jeffery was designed for hunting large African game, and is generally overpowered for even large game on other continents. Currently, A-Square is the only company still manufacturing .400 Jeffery ammunition, though bullets are still available from Barnes and Woodleigh, and cases are available from Bertram which can be used to form a .400 Jeffery case with little difficulty. Rifles which fire the round are, however, becoming more and more scarce.

Other Names: .400 Jeffery Nitro Express, .450/400 3-inch Nitro Express

Nominal Size: 10.16x76mm

Nominal Size: 10.41x76.2mm

Case Type: Necked

Weight: 7.14 kg per box of 100; Price: $650 per box

Magazines:

Notes: This round was developed to be fired from the Winchester Model 1910 rifle, a modification of the Model 1907. The cartridge was discontinued by Winchester in 1936, but other companies continued to make the .401 Winchester Self-Loading until after World War 2. The .401 Winchester Self-Loading is the most powerful of Winchester’s "Self-Loading" line of cartridges, and the only one of them useful against medium game. It can be a bit tricky to handload, but not too difficult.

Other Names: .401 WSL, .401 Winchester Auto

Nominal Size: 10.3x63mm

Actual Size: 10.31x63.5mm

Case Type: Straight

Weight: 5.3 kg per box of 100; Price: $170 per box

Magazines:

Notes: Developed from the .404 Jeffery cartridge, the .404 Dakota Magnum has a different case shape than the .404 Jeffery and is loaded a bit more heavily then the .404 Jeffery – yielding more velocity at a lower chamber pressure than the round the .404 Dakota Magnum was actually meant to compete with, the .416 Rigby. This makes it an excellent big-game hunting cartridge, for large game all over the world. It is found mostly as a proprietary cartridge in Dakota rifles, though some other makes of rifle also fire it. The round is readily available from Dakota Arms.

Other Names: .404 Dakota

Nominal Size: 10.26x73mm

Actual Size: 10.72x72.9mm

Case Type: Necked

Weight: 81.63 kg per case of 1000; Price: $3270 per case

Magazines:

Notes: This round was introduced in 1909, and was extremely popular for decades. It slowly declined in popularity over more decades, and almost disappeared completely. In 1993, Dynamit Nobel decided to manufacture the .404 Jeffrey again, and Ruger chambered a version of its M-77 rifle for it. A Canadian company named NASS also announced plans to manufacture the .404 Jeffery, along with Dakota Arms in the US, and with Norma, RWS, and Bertram making cases. The .404 Jeffery was designed specifically for bolt-action rifles. Modern loads generally use heavier bullets and more propellant than the original specifications called for. It is a good general purpose game cartridge, able to take down medium and heavy game, but is overpowered for light game.

Other Names: .404 Rimless Nitro Express, 10.75x73mm

Nominal Size: 10.75x73mm

Actual Size: 10.72x72.9mm

Case Type: Necked

Weight: 81.63 kg per case of 1000; Price: $3270 per case

Magazines:

Notes: This round was developed for the Winchester Model 1895 lever-action rifle, and that rifle was first chambered for the .405 Winchester in 1904. It was also chambered in a few other rifles, and Theodore Roosevelt was said to be quite fond of this round and Model 1895 rifle. Winchester stopped producing the round in 1936, but A-Square recently began producing it in small amounts. The .405 Winchester is perhaps the most powerful rimmed cartridge ever produced, and one of the most powerful straight-walled cartridges. The bullet is short, fat, and round-nosed, and loses velocity rapidly, making for poor range and penetration relative to its size. Handloading is said to be very difficult.

Nominal Size: 10.5x65mm

Actual Size: 10.46x65.53mm

Case Type: Straight

Weight: 5.63 kg per box of 100; Price: $180 per box

Magazines:

Notes: Designed specifically for use with Cheyenne Tactical’s LRRS-Intervention heavy sniper rifle series (introduced in 2001), the .408 CheyTac is essentially a British .505 Gibbs case necked down to accept a smaller bullet along with a slight redesign of the case itself. This was done for the same reasons such a thing is normally done, in order to put a heavy propellant charge behind a smaller bullet, producing a faster bullet with a flatter trajectory and greater range and penetration. Cheyenne Tactical is also reputedly trying to sell a redesign of the M-60 GPMG chambered for this round. The round falls in power approximately in between the 7.62mm NATO and .50 Browning Machinegun, without being unduly heavy. The cases are actually made by a small German company named THEIS, while the bullets are made by Lost River High Energy Technologies of Idaho. (Sierra is also soon going to be making these bullets in two weights.)

Though not currently available, steel-cored AP ammunition is projected for the .408 CheyTac round. Double all prices for this type of round.

Twilight 2000 Notes: The .408 CheyTac round does not exist in the Twilight 2000 timeline.

Other Names: .408 Cheyenne Tactical

Nominal Size: 10.4x80mm

Actual Size: 10.36x80.01mm

Case Type: Necked

Weight: 16.5 kg per box of 100; Price: $1500 per box

Magazines:

Notes: Derived from the .50 Browning Machinegun round’s case and a new bullet, the .416 Barrett was designed to produce two ends: for sale to jurisdictions which consider .50-caliber rifles illegal, and to produce a cartridge with high-damaging capabilities and good penetration, but with a flatter trajectory than the .50 Browning Machinegun round while weighing less. They do appear to have mostly achieved this with the .416 Barrett round; while its damaging capability is quite a bit less, penetration is equal to that of a .50 Browning Machinegun round (and there are rumors of a future AP version), and range easily exceeds that of the .50 Browning Machinegun round due to the .416 Barrett’s far greater speed. In may places (such as California in the US), rifles firing the .416 Barrett round are some of the most powerful a civilian can legally buy without great paying a lot of taxes and fees to the state and being buried in paperwork. Being a very new cartridge (introduced in mid-2006), the .416 Barrett round is still quite rare, but it will become more common in the future, I’m sure. If an AP version does materialize, double all prices below.

Twilight 2000 Notes: The .416 Barrett round does not exist in the Twilight 2000 timeline.

Nominal Size: 10.41x83mm

Actual Size: 10.57x82.96mm

Case Type: Necked

Weight: 9.1 kg per box of 100; Price: $364 per box

Notes: This round began as a wildcat round in the late 1970s, and was later adopted by A-Square as a proprietary cartridge. It is based on a necked-up and improved .375 H&H Magnum case. It basically duplicates the .416 Taylor and .416 Rigby, having the same weight of bullet and fractionally more powder, though the case in not as wide as those two rounds.

Nominal Size: 10.6x72mm

Actual Size: 10.57x72.39mm

Case Type: Necked

Weight: 7.94 per box of 100; Price: $636 per box

Magazines:

Notes: This round was introduced in 1988, and was the first American dangerous game cartridge since the .458 Winchester Magnum. It is basically an 8mm Remington Magnum necked up to .416 caliber, and uses very heavy bullets of 300-400 grains. (One unusual bullet for the .416 Remington Magnum is the 400-grain solid; it is literally a solid brass bullet instead of being a lead bullet with a brass jacket.) The .416 Remington has proved to be an unexpectedly popular round, and is produced in large numbers for a surprising amount of rifles. The power and penetration of a rifle firing .416 Remington Magnum is exceptional, but the recoil is too.

Nominal Size: 10.6x72mm

Actual Size: 10.57x72.39mm

Case Type: Necked

Weight: 79.38 kg per case of 1000; Price: $3230 per case

Magazines:

Notes: Until recently, only about 10,000 rifles total had been made to chamber this exotic cartridge – that’s 10,000 rifles, not 10,000 types of rifles. In 1992, Ruger added a .416 Rigby-firing rifle to its product line, and then some other companies took up the cartridge. The cartridge was designed with African hunting in mind, and despite its blunt-nosed profile, it is capable of taking down large animals and even penetrating light armor.

Other Names: .416 Rigby Magnum

Nominal Size: 10.2x74mm

Actual Size: 10.57x73.66mm

Case Type: Necked

Weight: 8.08 kg per box of 100; Price: $646 per box

Magazines:

Notes: This round, introduced in 1972, is a .458 Winchester Magnum round necked down to .416 caliber, or a .338 Winchester Magnum necked up to .416 caliber. It was rumored that Remington would make the first commercial lots, but A-Square did that instead. It is ballistically similar to the .416 Rigby cartridge, and can handle the same sort of game – able to handle most African game, and blow away most North American or European game.

Other Names: .416 Taylor Magnum

Nominal Size: 10.6x64mm

Actual Size: 10.57x63.5mm

Case Type: Necked

Weight: 69.63 kg per case of 1000; Price: $1110 per case

Magazines:

Notes: This is a relatively recent Weatherby development, being introduced in 1989 on the heels of the .416 Remington Magnum. The .416 Weatherby Magnum is based on a larger version of the .378 Weatherby Magnum case, and of course, has more propellant and power than the .416 Remington Magnum (but not enough to really show up in game terms in most cases, except as more recoil).

Nominal Size: 10.6x74mm

Actual Size: 10.57x74.17mm

Case Type: Necked

Weight: 8.14 per box of 100; Price: $652 per box

Magazines:

Notes: This round was designed by Cameron Hopkins and Whit Collins as a project to be featured in the May 1988 issue of Guns Magazine. The original rifle to fire the .425 Express was designed by John French, based on a Ruger M-77 action. The round itself is a .300 Winchester Magnum case, shortened somewhat and then necked out to the .425 Express bullet’s dimensions. It is more powerful than the .375 H&H Magnum, but less than the .458 Winchester Magnum, and fills the gap neatly, yielding excellent power and range. Since its debut, it has proven itself on African game as well as in North America and Australia. The round was at first available only as a handload (being essentially a wildcat at its inception), but is now available from A-Square.

Nominal Size: 10.8x65mm

Actual Size: 10.74x64.82mm

Case Type: Necked

Weight: 6.46 kg per box of 100; Price: $234 per box

Magazines:

Notes: The .444 Marlin round was introduced in 1964. The first rifle to chamber it was the Marlin 336 lever-action rifle, but the Marlin 444 is where it got its fame. The .444 Marlin is basically a stretched .44 Magnum round. At short ranges, the .444 Marlin can be quite powerful, but the straight-walled cartridge and the flat nosed-profile do not lend it to long range.

Nominal Size: 11.3x55mm

Actual Size: 10.9x54.86mm

Case Type: Straight

Weight: 51.25 kg per case of 1000; Price $820 per case

Magazines:

Notes: This round was one of the largest cartridges that Parker Ackley ever designed. He used a full-length H&H case and necked it up to .45 caliber. The resulting case carries a large amount of propellant and a heavy, round-nosed bullet, but the necking-up process resulted in an almost-straight case with a very miniscule neck. Ackley produced the cartridges in his own company for a while, but in 1995, factory loads became available from A-Square. The round is powerful enough, and the case shaping process weakens the case enough, so that reloading the case is often impossible or even dangerous.

Other Names: .450 Ackley

Nominal Size: 11.6x72mm

Actual Size: 11.63x72.39mm

Case Type: Straight

Weight: 76.88 kg per case of 1000; Price: $1230 per case

Magazines:

Notes: This was the first Dakota design which was not based upon the .404 Jeffery case; the .450 Dakota Magnum is .416 Rigby case necked up to take a .450 bullet. The round is meant to be powerful, and can drive a 500-grain bullet at 747 meters per second without undue pressure in the chamber. Ballistically, the .450 Dakota Magnum is very similar to the .460 Weatherby Magnum, but Dakota does not recommend loading the round to the point that the .460 Weatherby Magnum is typically loaded, because such hotloads can make extraction difficult. It is also similar to, but slightly more powerful than, the .458 Winchester Magnum. The typical bullet used is round-nosed and solid. Like most proprietary Dakota rounds, the .450 Dakota Magnum is produced only by Dakota Arms, and is almost never chambered in anything but Dakota’s rifles.

Other Names: .450 Dakota

Nominal Size: 11.6x73mm

Actual Size: 11.63x72.9mm

Case Type: Necked

Weight: 85.1 kg per case of 1000; Price: $3870 per case

Magazines:

Notes: This round is one of the newest Marlin cartridges, announced at the 2000 SHOT Show. It is the first new Marlin cartridge since 1964’s .444 Marlin, and was introduced to produce a magnum cartridge for the Model 1895 lever-action rifle. (This round also required the designing of a modified version of the Model 1895 that could take the high chamber pressures developed by the .450 Marlin.) The .450 Marlin was developed from scratch, though many have questioned why Marlin could not have sped up the development process by simply lengthening and increasing the propellant charge of the .45-70 Government case, but Marlin nevertheless decided to make the .450 Marlin from scratch. The .450 Marlin is nevertheless a powerful loading, quite capable of stopping any North American large game in its tracks.

Twilight 2000 Notes: The .450 Marlin round (and the rifle which fires it) is not available in the Twilight 2000 timeline.

Nominal Size: 11.6x54mm

Actual Size: 11.63x53.09mm

Case Type: Straight (Tapered)

Weight: 49.61 kg per case of 1000; Price: $900 per case

Magazines:

Notes: This round is an improved version of an earlier round, the .500/450 Magnum Express. The .450 Nitro Express No. 2 uses a longer case than its predecessor, but the same weight of bullet (normally a 480-grain soft-point). The round was designed for use primarily in single-shot and double-barrel Express rifles, and is almost never found in any other sort of rifle. The longer case was used to reduce the chamber pressure, and not to allow the loading of more propellant. The round has a thick rim to aid in extraction. Many rifles chambered for .450 Nitro Express No. 2 are still around, but the rounds for them are rare as few companies manufacture them.

Other Names: .450 No. 2 Nitro Express, .450 Nitro Express 3 1/2-inch, .450 Nitro Express

Nominal Size: 11.6x89mm

Actual Size: 11.63x88.9mm

Case Type: Necked

Weight: 10.38 kg per box of 100; Price: $944 per box

Magazines:

Notes: A relatively new round, the .450 Rigby was not introduced until 1995, and is therefore Rigby’s newest production cartridge. It was designed specifically for hunting large game in Africa, but will also make a mess of whatever person it hits, and is even capable of penetrating light armor. The bullet is large and heavy at 480 grains, and may be soft-nosed or solid. The case is basically necked-up .416 Rigby case, with a sharp shoulder.

Twilight 2000 Notes: An incredibly rare round in the Twilight 2000 timeline, the .450 Rigby is mostly found in Britain and Some parts of Africa, and almost always handloaded.

Nominal Size: 11.6x74mm

Actual Size: 11.63x73.66mm

Case Type: Necked

Weight: 8.72 kg per box of 100; Price: $794 per box

Magazines:

Notes: This round started out as a blackpowder cartridge in 1880. It is a necked-down version of the older .450 Nitro Express 2 3/8-inch round. By 1899, modern propellant version were available. The .450-400 Nitro Express 2 3/8" developed far less chamber pressure than older designs, leading to lighter rifles to fire it. Various different variations on this theme developed, using different case lengths, some of which succeeded, and some of which didn’t. This round is no longer factory-produced, though many people do handload it.

Other Names: .450-400 2 3/8" BPE, .450-400 2 3/8" Nitro for BP

Nominal Size: 10.3x60mm

Actual Size: 10.34x60.45mm

Case Type: Necked

Weight: 5.59 kg per box of 100; Price: $204 per box

Magazines:

Notes: Basically a longer version of the .450-400 Nitro Express 2 3/8", this round also started as a blackpowder round, but soon switched to modern propellants. There are actually two versions of this round, with different case thicknesses. When the .450-400 3 1/4" round was switched to Cordite propellants, it was discovered that the earlier, thinner case would often not extract properly (particularly in a dirty or even slightly-corroded chamber), causing the rim to stick in the chamber and pull off the round when extracted, leaving a ring of jagged brass in the chamber. As with the 2 3/8" round, the .450-400 3 1/4" is no longer factory-produced.

Other Names: .450-400 3 1/4" BPE Nitro for Black

Nominal Size: 10.3x82mm

Actual Size: 10.29x82.55mm

Case Type: Necked

Weight: 7.55 kg per box of 100; Price: $686 per box

Magazines:

Notes: This round was developed after Jack Lott, armed with a .458 Winchester Magnum-firing rifle, was rammed (non-fatally) by an African buffalo after he had already shot it twice. In 1971, he designed what was essentially an improved version of the .458 Winchester Magnum, with a longer case containing more propellant and a heavier bullet. The .458 Lott was considered a wildcat round until 2002, when Hornady began manufacturing factory loads. Before that point, most rifles firing .458 Lott were hand-made or modified from existing rifles. It should be noted that most rifles that are chambered for .458 Lott can also fire .458 Winchester Magnum ammunition. The .458 Lott is a hard hitting round with excellent penetration, though range suffers from its round-nosed bullet.

Twilight 2000 Notes: Factory loads are not available; all .458 Lott ammunition is handloaded.

Nominal Size: 11.6x71mm

Actual Size: 11.63x71.12mm

Case Type: Straight

Weight: 7.55 per box of 100; Price: $242 per box

Magazines:

Notes: This round was introduced in 1956 for a version of the M-70 called the African. It has since become a very popular cartridge, though limited by its size and power and the rifles necessary to chamber it. Though round-nosed, it is capable of taking down elephants and penetrating light armored vehicles and engine blocks.

Other Names: .458 Winchester Belted Magnum

Nominal Size: 11.6x63.5mm

Actual Size: 11.63x63.5mm

Case Type: Straight

Weight: 6.75 kg per box of 100; Price: $216 per box

Magazines:

Notes: This is another of the cartridges that Colonel Arthur Alphin developed after his run-in with a Cape Buffalo in Africa. This round is based on the .460 Weatherby case, with a slight neck. The cartridge is the same length as the .458 Winchester Magnum, but has better ballistics and power. Bullets are heavy and round-nosed, but achieve terrific velocities. However, recoil can be brutal.

Nominal Size: 11.6x64mm

Actual Size: 11.63x63.5mm

Case Type: Necked

Weight: 8.44 kg per box of 100; Price: $676 per box

Magazines:

Notes: There is precious little information on the .460 Steyr cartridge; it is currently fired only by modifications of the new Steyr antimaterial rifle, the Steyr .50 HS, and is still considered a developmental cartridge about which Steyr has been quite quiet about. It is believed to be a necked-down and shortened .50 Browning Machinegun round, designed for use in areas where military heavy cartridges like the .50 Browning Machinegun and 12.7mm Russian are illegal due to local laws or treaty obligations. That said, the bullet itself is not only quite heavy (almost as heavy as that of the .50 Browning Machinegun bullet), but has a steel core which gives it essentially armor-piercing qualities. The .460 Steyr round also travels quite a bit faster than the .50 Browning Machinegun round, and has a flatter trajectory. However, more detailed information on the .460 Steyr round seems to be unavailable at the present.

Twilight 2000 Notes: The .460 Steyr is unavailable in the Twilight 2000 timeline.

Nominal Size: 11.65x90.5mm (Provisional)

Actual Size: 11.63x90.5mm (Provisional)

Case Type: Necked

Weight: 12.02 kg per box of 50; Price: $482 per box

Magazines:

Notes: This round was designed in 1958 to be the most powerful commercial rifle cartridge. It was made by necking up the .378 Weatherby case to accept a larger bullet. It was, until the commercial availability of .50-caliber-class rounds, the most powerful one you could find on a regular basis, though limited production rounds that are more powerful have been available for some time.

Nominal Size: 11.6x74mm

Actual Size: 11.62x73.91mm

Case Type: Necked

Weight: 9.8 kg per box of 100; Price $784 per box

Magazines:

Notes: This round, first introduced in 1907, is one of the most long-lived of the Nitro Express cartridges. Rifles chambered for this round are not as heavy and do not have as heavy recoil as the heavier Nitro Express cartridges, yet still pack a pretty good wallop. Virtually all rifles chambered for this are double rifles, and are generally pretty expensive. The bullets are very heavy (500-600 grains), and though blunt-nosed, have excellent penetration, and they can bring down virtually any sort of game in the world, as well as penetrate light armored vehicles and bring down the occasional helicopter.

Other Names: .470 NE

Nominal Size: 12x83mm

Actual Size: 12.07x82.55mm

Case Type: Necked

Weight: 11.84 kg per box of 100; Price: $948 per box

Magazines:

Notes: This massive round was developed in 1958 by the Atkinson and Marquart Rifle Company. It is a .378 Weatherby Magnum case necked up to .475 caliber. It is a very powerful round, but not widely known; only a few custom rifles and even fewer commercial rifles have been chambered for .475 A&M Magnum. It is basically overpowered for North American game, and almost overpowered for all but the largest African animals. Recoil is brutal; Frank Barnes, a noted ammunition expert and author of Cartridges of the World, compares firing a magazine of .475 A&M ammunition to "going a couple of rounds with the world’s heavyweight boxing champ."

Nominal Size: 12x74mm

Actual Size: 12.07x73.66mm

Case Type: Necked

Weight: 10.54 kg per box of 100; Price: $844 per box

Magazines:

Notes: This is another one of Col. Arthur Alphin’s cartridges designed after his run-in with a Cape Buffalo. The original .495 A-Square cartridges were based on necked-up .460 Weatherby Magnum cases, but they are now commercially loaded by A-Square.The bullet is quite heavy at 600 grains, but velocity is only average, and recoil is relatively low. The heavy bullet, however, make for a hard-hitting round.

Nominal Size: 13x71mm

Actual Size: 12.95x71.12mm

Case Type: Straight

Weight: 93.63 kg per case of 1000; Price: $1500 per case

Magazines:

Notes: This round was actually Col. Alphin’s first design in 1974, using the modified .460 Weatherby Magnum case. The .500 A-Square is the backbone of the A-Square cartridge line and the reason for forming the company. The recoil can be quite stiff, but stopping power is incredible.

Nominal Size: 13x74mm

Actual Size: 12.95x73.66mm

Case Type: Necked

Weight: 121.25 kg per case of 1000; Price: $4850 per case

Magazines:

Notes: This cordite-propellant round was derived from the earlier blackpowder .500 Nitro-for-Black round. It was introduced in the 1890s, and generally uses a huge 570-grain soft-point or solid bullet. It is a very powerful round designed for large African game, and is generally enough to kill almost any sort of animal with one shot. It is still in use by some big-game hunters, and A-Square still makes the round.

Other Names: .500 Nitro Express 3"

Nominal Size: 13x76mm

Actual Size: 12.95x76.2mm

Case Type: Straight

Weight: 8.83 kg per box of 100; Price: $322 per box

Magazines:

Notes: The .505 Gibbs was introduced in 1911 for the company’s line of Mauser-type bolt-action rifles. The round has always been rare, as imports of the rifles firing it were never high, and most were custom-built. Bullets and cases for the .505 Gibbs round are still readily available, but only A-Square actually manufactures the complete rounds, and only in small quantities. Like most of these cartridges, the .505 Gibbs was designed specifically for hunting African large game, but is also a more-than adequate manstopper.

Other Names: .505 Rimless

Nominal Size: 12.8x80mm

Actual Size: 12.83x80.01mm

Case Type: Necked

Weight: 11.37 kg per box of 100; Price: $1034 per box

Magazines:

Notes: This is basically the earlier blackpowder version of the .577 Nitro Express loaded with Cordite instead of blackpowder. They come in shorter and longer-case versions, but these were eventually dropped in favor of the 3-inch case version, which is the round referred to here. Many say it is superior to the .600 Nitro Express due to somewhat greater penetration (which unfortunately cannot be simulated in game terms). The rifles firing them are also lighter than the corresponding .600-firing weapons. A-Square and Barnes still make bullets for this caliber, and A-Square also makes complete factory loads.

Other Names: .577 Nitro Express 3"

Nominal Size: 14.8x76mm

Actual Size: 14.83x76.2mm

Case Type: Straight

Weight: 11.58 kg per box of 100; Price: $422 per box

Magazines:

Notes: This round was the largest and most powerful of the English "elephant gun" cartridges until 1988. Despite its power, only a very small number of rifles have been chambered for this huge cartridge, which is the size of a small cigar. The .600 Nitro Express was designed specifically for hunting elephants, but is quite adequate for other game – humans, light armor, helicopters, etc.

Nominal Size: 15.24x76mm

Actual Size: 15.75x76.2mm

Case Type: Straight

Weight: 14.85 kg per box of 100; Price: $476 per box

Magazines: