This interesting cartridge was designed by David Dardick, who already started during the late 1940’s with his design, although the patent application for his “Open Chamber Gun” was only filed in 1954 and granted in August of 1958. The gun was designed to be a...

Before the start of the Civil War, Smith & Wesson still held the Rollin White patent for the bored through cylinder revolver, which was essential in the development of the new self-contained metallic cartridge. They developed the top-hinged Mod. 1 revolver,...

Designed in the early 1970’s by Wildey J. Moore for a gas-operated, double-action/single-action pistol and was offered in a variety of calibers, the biggest being the 475 Wildey Magnum. it is based on a shortened 284 Winchester case. It was made famous in the Death...

The 38 Colt Special is the same cartridge as the standard 38 Special cartridge. It was introduced in 1909 at the request from Colt so that they could use it for their handguns without using the S&W of their rival. Colt claimed that the flat nosed bullet provided...

The 44 Remington was listed by the Remington Arms Company from 1875 until 1895 and was only chambered in the Remington Model 1875 revolver and utilised an externally lubricated, heel type bullet. (Erlmeier, Brandt Ref. 411)   

Before the introduction of the 480 Ruger, a few prototype rounds were made headstamped 475 Ruger, but the idea was dropped and the 480 was adopted instead. There is very little difference between the 480 Ruger (1.3” case) and the 475 Linebaugh (1.4” case). The 480...

This was the designation that Colt gave to the 38 S&W cartridge so that they did not have to stamp the name of their rival on the revolvers they manufactured. Colt had cartridges loaded for them with a flat nosed lead bullet, claiming it provided better stopping...

There is not much information available on the history and development of the 44 Brazilian Nagant that I could find other than a small e-book publication by Gerard Henrotin that was published in 2005. One of the major centres for firearm production in the mid 1800’s...

The 475 Maximum was developed by John Linebaugh in 2001, together with its ‘big brother’ the 500 Maximum and is sometimes called the 475 Linebaugh Long. It is 0.2” longer than the ‘standard’ 475 Linebaugh at 1.6inch. it did not achieve the success hoped for as the 475...

The 38 Casull was developed by Dick Casull of Freedom Arms around 1963. It is similar to the 38/45 Hard Head and based on the 45 Winchester or 451 Detonics case necked down, thus being able to handle much higher pressures than a standard 45 ACP case.       CAC was by...

Joseph Merwin has been involved in the firearm business since 1856 when he formed a company called Merwin & Bray although the company did not survive the Civil War and by 1868 he formed a partnership with William and Milan Hulbert who at that stage owned a 50%...

The 475 Linebaugh was developed around 1988 by John Linebaugh as a companion to the 500 Linebaugh. It is based on the .45-70 Government case shortened to 1.4”

The .38 Automatic dates from the beginning of the 20th Century. It was the first in a line of semi-auto pistols that were designed by John M Browning that were both licensed to and manufactured by Colt’s Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company in Hartford, Connecticut....

This is a 308 Win/30-06 case trimmed and loaded with a .429 in. bullet and closely resembles the 44 Auto Mag   

Case type by LEHIGH DEFENCE based on the 480 Ruger case but with a rebated rim.   

During the late 1950’s an early 1960’s, the Army Advanced Marksmanship Unit, (now known as the Army Marksmanship or AMU), at Fort Benning, Georgia used converted Colt 1911 pistols in 38 Special for National Match competitions. There was a concern however with the...

The venerable 44 Magnum is undoubtedly one of the success stories in handgun and cartridge development in America. One of the legends of shooting and reloading in America, Elmer Keith, spent a lot of time on loading higher pressure 44 Special loads and in the mid...

With duels between opposing parties being prohibited, the tradition continued from the late 19th to the beginning of the 20th century, albeit as a form of sport. This cartridge originates from France and was used for mock duels by persons wearing protective clothing....

This was a JDJ development from SSK Industries around 1978 for added power in Thompson/Center Contender handguns. It is based on the 45-70 Govt case.   

During the early to mid-1860’s the percussion revolver had to make way for the newly developed self-contained cartridge. During this time the US Army began to look for a new cartridge/revolver combination to replace their rapidly obsolete percussion revolvers. The 44...

The 460 Smith & Wesson was introduced in 2005 for the Model 460XVR (Extreme Velocity Revolver). The .460 S&W is a lengthened, more powerful version of the popular .454 Casull, and was launched specially for the handgun hunting market.   

- From a reply by Dr. P. Regenstreif to a question regarding the Buzenet - from an old (April 1992) ECRA newsletter – During the late 1960’s the French firearm regulations were relaxed somewhat making the old 11mm Mle. 1873 French Regulation Revolver a collectible...

The 44 Bull Dog was developed around 1880 and was based on a shortened version of the US 44 Webley or equivalent British 442 RIC revolver. It was a cheaper, less powerful design to be carried in a pocket type revolver and was only made in the USA and Canada....

The .460 Rowland is a proprietary cartridge that was designed and developed by Johnny Ray Rowland, host of "The Shooting Show." It is an attempt to achieve true .44 Magnum level velocities when fired from a number of popular semi-automatic pistols. Cases are by...

Harry Sanford who was the president of the Auto Mag Corporation started the design of the 44 Auto Mag, or 44 AMP in 1958. It was based on the 308 Win case cut to 1.298in and loaded with a .429 cal bullet to a muzzle velocity of just over 1,400 fps and was originally...

Ethan Allen started his company in 1831 in Milford, MA as a cutlery maker. The company went through various changes over the years with family members joining the company and migrated more and more to firearm manufacturing for the civilian market. After moving to...

During the 1970's Elgin Gates looked at the line-up of currently available Magnums and decided longer would be better and designed a series of new Magnum cartridges which were dubbed SuperMags and were 1.60" in length, or about three-tenths of an inch longer than...

William Tranter (1816 – 1890) was one of the most influential and well respected gun makers in Birmingham in the middle to late 1800’s. He was involved in making a large quantity Adams revolvers under licence and during the mid-1850’s he started making his revolvers...

The 458 Devastator was developed by Lee Martin from Arlington VA, during 1994. It is based on a belted Magnum case trimmed to 1.40” Some info on the history of the 458 Devastator HERE.   

Developed as a rook or kangaroo rifle in the late 1800's (1877 - 1881) but also listed in the 1911 Alfa catalogue as a “special revolver cartridge”. See also British Sporting Rifle. (Erlmeier, Brandt Ref. 398)   

The 429 Desert Eagle was developed by Jim Tertin from Magnum Research, which forms part of the Kahrs Firearm Group and was made as an enhancement to the popular Desert Eagle platform. It is based on the 50 Action Express case necked to .429in. with a 30 degree...

The 455 Webley Auto was introduced in 1913 for Naval service in the Webley & Scott Self Loading Pistol Mark I, which was not intended to replace the Webley revolver, but to go on issue alongside it. The cartridge's approval was later extended to Land service...

This is the M. 1910 version from the drawing dated February 1910. I still retained the thin rim but with the narrower extractor groove. (Erlmeier, Brandt Ref. 467).   

This is the M. 1904 Type 2 from the drawing AB10/56 dated 2nd of June 1904. It had the thin rim and case length of 0.88” (22.3mm). (Erlmeier, Brandt Ref. 466).               Unusual Die-Cast dummy

Gunmaker Rollin White patented his bored-through cylinder design on the 3rd of April 1855 and later sold it to Smith & Wesson. All other gun manufacturers in the US had to either pay royalties to Smith & Wesson or come up with various ideas to try and...

455 WEBLEY Mk.II The Mark 2 was approved in July 1897 as “CARTRIDGE SA BALL PISTOL WEBLEY CORDITE MARK II (ALSO ENFIELD)” Problems occurred with the Mark 1 with misfires and pierced primers that were initially attributed to the cartridge but was later found to be the...

Unfavourable reports by Lord Wolsey (who was at that stage the Adjutant General) about the Enfield 442 RIC (Royal Irish Constabulary) Revolver in use during the mid-1880’s being heavy and cumbersome as well as negative reports by the Royal Navy prompted the...