Shoot’n, Fish’n ‘n’ Hunt’n

Dimensional drawing of the .475 3.25″ Nitro Express cartridge.

History of the .475 Nitro Express:

In 1907, the British banned all .450 calibre rifles and ammunition, for private use and ownership, in both India and the Sudan. The ban was intended to deny rebellious tribes access to surplus military arms and ammunition. To get around this ban, many of the sporting firearms manufacturers introduced new cartridges based on the standard .450 cartridges of the time. The .465, .465/500, .475 No 2 and even the great .470 are among those cartridges developed for this reason.

Another .450 derivative, and one of the less common large bore cartridges, is the .475 3¹/₄” Nitro Express (.475NE). The .475NE is based on the .450 3¹/₄” Nitro Express and is simply that case necked up to accept a .483” diameter bullet. The standard regulated load, for the .475NE, was 75 grains of cordite behind a 480 grain projectile for a velocity of 2175 f.p.s. Like most double rifles in the .450/.470 class, this regulated load produces about 5,000 foot pounds of energy. As a comparison, and assuming that muzzle energy is a valid indication of hunting effectiveness, this places the .475NE ahead of the .458WM. The following Table compares the standard factory loads of the .475NE and a selection of other big game cartridges including the .458WM. This table also compares the muzzle energies and Taylor’s Knock Out values for those cartridges.

Comparing the .475 3.25″ NE cartridge to some of its peers. Whether muzzle energy or Taylor’s KO value are valid indications of effectiveness, is debatable but still provides some measure of comparison,

John Taylor described the .475NE as an “excellent cartridge for general all-around work amongst heavy and dangerous game”. This is high praise from a man whose opinion, on African rifles, has become almost legendary. When discussing the soft point, as used in this cartridge and others of this class, Taylor went on to add “it’s my favourite for buffalo. For frontal shots at lion it is also entirely satisfactory but is all too liable to smash clean through on a broadside shot, not meeting with sufficient resistance to stop it.” These last comments are more correctly directed at this class of cartridge, when using the soft point projectile, rather than directly at the .475NE. However, when you read ‘African Rifles and Cartridges’, with a critical eye, you will discover that not all of Taylor’s comments stand up to scrutiny. As a result, we do need to be cautious and not blindly accept everything Taylor said but, in this case, his assessment of the effectiveness .475NE, and all similar British cartridges, has been amply demonstrated, time and time again, to be correct.

Comparison of the .475 3.25″ NE cartridge with other common big game cartridges.

Correct Bullet Diameter for .475 Nitro Express:

There has been a great deal of confusion about the correct bullet size for the .475 3.25″ NE. A number of highly respected publications quote the bullet diameter, for the .475NE, as either .475” or .476”. John Taylor’s ‘African Rifles and Cartridges’, ‘Safari Rifles’ by Craig Boddington, ‘The Big Bore Rifle’ by Michael McIntosh, ‘Cartridges of the World’ by Barnes and ‘Loading the Big Bores’ by Al Miller (Big Bore Rifles and Cartridges – Wolfe Publishing) all quote the diameter as either .475” or .476”. Even Pierre Van De Walt, in his excellent book “African Dangerous Game Cartridges”, briefly mentions the confusion with the bullet diameter of the .475NE, when discussing the bullet diameter for the .475 No2 NE. To further complicate this issue, Graeme Wright, in “Shooting the British Double Rifle” mentions that while he had only come across .475NE rifles that use bullets of .483” he has heard of other .475NE’s that were alleged to be .488”.

Cogswell and Harrison seem to have been the most prolific maker of .475NE rifles and it was a Cogswell and Harrison that was used in writing this article. This rifle most definitely has a groove diameter of .483”. I also had the opportunity to examine another Cogswell and Harrison .475NE, a hammered underlever rifle, and it too measured .483”. From all of this conflicting information, I originally formed the opinion that there must be several bullet diameters associated with the .475NE cartridge, perhaps depending upon who built the rifle in question; just as there are several diameters associated with .450/400 and .475 No2 rifles.

I wrote to Holland and Holland to ask a number of questions about their involvement with this cartridge and in their exceedingly prompt and helpful reply they confirmed that the only correct groove/bullet diameter for the .475NE is .483”. From this I now conclude that all of the references that quote the bullet diameter of the .475NE as either .475” or .476” have used the same, incorrect reference and that was most likely Taylor’s “African Rifles and Cartridges”.  As I said before, you can’t assume that Taylor is always correct. In the cases reported by Graeme Wright, it is possible that this was a communication issue involving confusion with both the .475NE and  .475 No2 cartridges, as the .475 No2 can be either .483” or .488” depending upon who made the rifle.

In their reply, Holland and Holland Ltd also stated that “the .475NE cartridge was developed primarily by Messrs. Kynoch, working jointly with various gun makers”. Both Cogswell and Harrison and Holland and Holland manufactured rifles in .475NE. In addition, Craig Boddington, in ‘Safari Rifles’, mentions a Lancaster double in .475NE and, of course, it is probable that there were other manufacturers of .475NE rifles.

The .475NE, which was used for the load development, in this article, is a Cogswell and Harrison, boxlock action double. This rifle is rather plain, with a modest amount of neat checkering and no engraving. The barrel length is 25” and the whole package weights in at 11 ¾ lbs. While some shooters might baulk at such a heavy rifle, the balance is perfect, allowing rapid and accurate shooting, and the weight is handy in soaking up some of the substantial recoil produced by this rifle.

The relatively small number of .475NE rifles, that were built, probably fell into disuse more quickly than most of the British NE cartridges as the limited ammunition stocks dwindled when production ceased in the 1960s.  However, there are now plenty of reloading components available for this calibre. New unfired cases, carrying the .475NE headstamp, are not generally available but .450NE cases are and it is a very simple job to neck a .450NE case up to .475NE. A-Square, Bertrams, Wolfgang Romey, Hornady, Qual-Cart and Horneber all provide .450NE cases. Indeed, if you are willing to pay a little extra then cases with the correct headstamp can be obtained from Qual-cart and Horneber. Loaded ammunition is available from Kynoch and Wolfgang Romey.

Reloading for the .475 Nitro Express

When I purchased this .475NE rifle, it came with six rounds of reloaded ammunition all with the headstamp of “IMP CTGE CO 475 NITRO”. I then purchased 40 Bertram Bullet Co. (BB) and 40 Wolfgang Romey (WR) .450 NE cases. As their capacities and weights were almost identical, all of the load development was conducted with these cases. I’ve only used the IMP CTGE CO cases and a couple of BELL cases, that I was given, for case dimension comparisons. To date, the WR and BB cases have stood up to many reloadings and, with the relatively low pressures that this cartridge operates at, I’m yet to lose any cases other than those lost while hunting.

Results with both BB and WR brands of cases have been virtually identical, which, considering their similar dimensions, is to be expected. However, my BB cases, which are from an early production run and are not representative of current production cases, are noticeably thinner in the neck area and require more frequent trimming between reloads. This thin neck gives the BB cases a lighter ‘feel’ than the other brands but their weight is similar to the WR cases so they must be heavier in the construction of the case head. In addition, the finish of my BB cases, particularly in the formation of the rim and the headstamp, is not quite as professional as with the other brands and with current production BB cases. Nevertheless, the BB cases are perfectly serviceable and have given no problems with my rifle. Having said that, it should be noted that current BB cases are infinitely better finished and are at least the equal of any other brand available. In regard to the heavier BELL cases, with their slightly smaller capacity, I would expect that it would be necessary to make some adjustments to the loads that are listed here. Table 2 shows a comparison of some of these case weights and capacities. Unfortunately, I parted with the .475NE rifle before I could test some of the newer cases from Hornady.

This photo shows some .475 3.25″ NE headstamps; left to right, of Wolfang Romey, Imperial, Bertram and Bell cases.

Projectiles, for the .475 3.25″ NE, have never been prolific but, in the past, they were available from a number of manufacturers. However, today, the only projectiles that are available are made by Woodleigh Bullets. Woodleighs are available in both soft points and solids in the standard 480 grain weight.

The Woodleigh solids are made with a steel jacket having a nominal thickness of 0.080” in the nose section and 0.060” in the side walls and base. The steel for these jackets is imported from Germany with the gilding metal already rolled onto the steel. The rolling process is more reliable than other techniques of attaching the gilding metal to the steel jacket and, along with the thickness of the steel, helps to explain why these solids work so well on dangerous game.

As a result of their construction, the solids are slightly longer, for their weight, than are the soft points. In addition, the position of the cannelure differs between the solids and soft points and so different seating depths are required if the projectiles are to be crimped in place and, for a heavy recoiling rifle, such as the .475NE, I believe that crimping is essential. Therefore, the overall cartridge length for the solid loads is 3.970” and for the soft points it is 3.915”. In addition, I found that the powder charge, for the solid projectiles, typically needs to be 1.0 grain less than for the soft points.

Projectiles for the .475 3.25″ NE cartridge (left to right); Barnes original, Woodleigh SP, Woodleigh SP recovered from Cape buffalo, Woodleigh FMJ and Woodleigh FMJ recovered from Cape buffalo.

When I first began to load for the .475NE, reloading data was very scarce and I could only find a couple of recommended loads mostly based on IMR3031 and IMR4831. Today, there is a lot more information about reloading for the .475 3.25″ NE cartridge as it is now included in the Woodleigh Reloading manual and I would recommend any would-be .475NE reloader to buy a copy of that excellent publication. However, I trust that the information contained in this article will be useful in supplementing the Woodleigh manual.

However, in the past, It was common practice to use IMR3031 in the big British cases because the burn rate was thought to be closest to the original cordite loads. Therefore, it was a common supposition that a safe starting load can be found by substituting, grain for grain, IMR3031 for the original cordite load. For IMR 4831, the accepted conversion is to multiply the original load by 1.333 to obtain a safe starting load. Using these suppositions, 75 grains of IMR3031 and 99.9 grains of IMR 4831 should be safe loads to start with.

However, while both of these assumptions are basically correct, I found that they resulted in loads very close to the regulated loads and are not what I would call safe starting loads. If you want to use IMR3031 or IMR4831 then I would recommend using the suppositions mentioned above but then deduct 5% and then work up carefully. Double rifles do not employ strong actions and are too valuable to take shortcuts or chances with.

On the subject of using IMR3031, I have been told by several other experienced NE reloaders that this powder can produce unpredictable pressure excursions in these large cases and has result in the destruction of several double rifles. Considering the value of a good double rifle, and the fact that the double is not a particularly strong action, I would no longer use IMR3031 in these big cases. However, before being aware of the problem, I had previously developed several good IMR3031 loads, and indeed the loads I took on my first Cape buffalo hunt used this powder. Accordingly, I have included these loads in the load table for comparison but would caution the reader to use other powders when reloading for any of the big nitro express cartridges.

With a cloud hanging over the safety of using IMR3031 in these cartridges, I have conducted most of my later load development with IMR4350, IMR4831, AR2209 and AR2213. With all of these powders I found it relatively easy to develop loads that combined fine accuracy and good velocities. On the subject of accuracy, it is generally accepted that a heavy double should be able to print both barrels inside 2 to 3” at 50 yards. Irrespective of the powder used, I’ve had no troubles bettering this accuracy and groups as small as 1.25” have been obtainable with loads approximating the regulated load.

The .475 3.25″ NE is capable of good accuracy, for a double rifle. Although these groups were shot with IMR3031, which is not a recommended powder for the big NE cartridges, they are indicative of all the groups shot with the powders mentioned in the article.

The four powders, mentioned above, are considerably slower and bulkier than IMR3031 and come close to filling the .475NE case. I had entertained hopes that this would allow me to do away with the use of fillers or wads. However, my load development quickly demonstrated that fillers or wads are essential in this cartridge with these powders. Even with these bulky powders there is still sufficient air gap to cause fluctuations in performance. These fluctuations occur because an air gap will allow the powder to shift position in the unfired cartridge when the rifle is under recoil.

Use of Fillers in Reloading the .475NE:

I found that without fillers the first shot would always give a lower velocity reading than the second shot. The velocity of the first shot would usually be between 100 and 300 f.p.s. lower while the second shot would usually be closer to the expected velocity. As an example, 91 grains of AR2213 gave velocities of 1671 and 1941 f.p.s.; for a difference of 270 f.p.s. By comparison, 97 grains game 1943 and 2066 f.p.s. respectively. In all of my loads, without fillers, the magnitude of the velocity variation is clearly proportional to the size of the air gap.

Using 0.5 grains of Dacron, tamped down against the powder, solves the problem and produces good consistent loads. Incidentally, I found that the use of Dacron filler boosts velocities by about 30 to 40 f.p.s. and this is probably through improved ignition of the powder charge. There are several other fillers that can be use, such as felt wads, cork wads, cornmeal, Cream of Wheat, kapok and toilet tissue, but I’ve not tried any of these with the exception of some brief work with cork wads. However, the use of Dacron as a filler seemed so easy and effective that I did not see the need to experiment further.

However, having tried a number of fillers and settling on Dacron as a workable solution, I was dismayed to discover that many of the different fillers can cause problems, too. Indeed, there are reports of Dacron causing bulging of barrels, just in front of the chamber. Also, because of the irregular nature of Dacron, it is possible for powder to work its way into the Dacron, even in front of the Dacron, during long periods of rough handling and travel. In view of the uncertainty, of most filler material, it is probably best to go with a solid, soft foam wad, such as those used in Kynoch ammunition and which are available, for purchase, from Kynoch.

Of course, if you can find a powder that fills the case, and leaves no air gap, then fillers are not necessary. In the .475NE, such a powder might be Reloader 22, provided that it doesn’t overfill the .475NE case. When reloading for the .470NE cartridge with Norma cases, I found that 112 grains of Reloader 22 filled the case and required very slight powder compression when a Woodleigh 500 grain projectile was seated. Accordingly, there was no need for fillers with the .470NE and, indeed, there was no room for them. This load produced excellent accuracy and was very close to the regulated velocity for this cartridge. Accordingly, I believe that Reloader 22 might just be the ideal powder for many of the cavernous British cases. ADI’s AR2213SC, which is bulkier than AR2213, might also do the trick.

When developing loads for the British doubles, it should be remembered that most of the published factory velocities were obtained in long barrels, sometimes as long as 31”. As most double rifles have barrels that are shorter than these lengths, the actual velocities are likely to be lower than those published. All reloaders who are working with doubles should bear this fact in mind when working up loads. In my load development, I tended to limit velocities to around 2100 f.ps. which, judging by the groups obtained, is very close to the correct velocity for this .475NE.

Loads for the .475 3.25″ NE cartridge developed in conjunction with this article.

With double rifles, the best indicator of whether a load approximates the regulated load is the relationship of the bullet impacts. Loads that are too hot will usually print large groups with the bullet paths crossing over. Light loads will also print large groups but with the bullet paths diverging away from the line of sight. Loads approximating the regulated load will print close together and should almost reflect the muzzle geometry of the rifle. There is no point in shooting loads hotter or lighter than the regulated load as accuracy will probably deteriorate. With the loads listed in the table (Table X) all of the groups shot were under 2”, they all straddled the aim point and, almost without fail, the bullet from the right hand barrel would print in the 2 o’clock position and the bullet from the left barrel would print at 8 o’clock, relative to the aim point.

Field Results with .475 Nitro Express:

The .475NE, teamed with Woodleigh projectiles, has performed superbly in the field. On my first African hunt I was fortunate in being able to take an exceptional, 46” Cape buffalo. The first shot was a soft point that punched through the heart and lungs, missing the major bones, and lodged under the skin on the off-side. This projectile mushroomed perfectly and retained 98% of its weight. The insurance shots were all made with Woodleigh solids most of which fully penetrated the bull and one, taken from astern, penetrated all the way to the heart/lung region. When we recovered the solids that hadn’t exited, we found them in perfect condition except for the rifling marks. The .475NE/Woodleigh combination was certainly more than up to the task on this buffalo. You can read about this hunt at Chirisa Buffalo Hunt.

An excellent Cape buffalo taken with the Cogswell & Harrison .475 3.25″ NE double rifle.

On my second hunt, I used the .475NE on an elephant in the Zambezi Valley. The first shot, and the only really effective one, was a fleeting lung shot as the elephant was moving quickly through some heavy cover. The follow up shots were ineffective as the speed, with which the elephant departed the scene, took me completely by surprise. Subsequently, my follow up shots were taken from behind the bull and the vitals were out of reach. However, the elephant only ran about 250 yards before the lung shot took effect and he piled up. This action took place at last light and when we returned in the morning to conduct an autopsy and recover ivory and meat, we found that a large pride of lions had claimed the carcass during the night and made a huge mess of it. Regrettably, we were not able to perform the autopsy that we would have like to have done. Nevertheless, the .475NE accounted for itself quite well and would, undoubtedly, be a very effective elephant cartridge.

Today, reloading and shooting the .475NE is once more possible. The range of reloading components is more than adequate and, with the continued rise in interest in the big nitro express cartridges, appears to be growing all the time. The .475 3.25″  is a great cartridge that is fully the equal of any of the .450/.470 class of cartridges and at least the equal of anything in the .458WM class. Which means that you can safely, and confidently, hunt any of the dangerous game with this cartridge. The .475 3.25″ NE is also a great cartridge for testing your stalking skills on non-dangerous game and its a lot of fun, albeit expensive fun, for bouncing tin cans around. While many double rifles are very valuable, and some are owned purely for their collector and investment value, I recommend that if you own a .475 3.25″ NE then you should get it out of the gun safe and use if for what it was really intended for.

Copyright © Robert E. Pretty 2018