Magnum
 

What do's the word Magnum when talking about ammunition and guns exactly mean. Im looking for a down and dirty definition.
Thanks.

Magnum is derived from a Latin word "magnus", which means great. It was first used to refer to a large wine bottle holding 1.5 liters.

IIRC, it was originally used in the ammunition sense by Holland and Holland to describe their new big game cartridges introduced in 1912, the .375 Belted Rimless Magnum Nitro Express cartridge and the .375 Flanged Magnum Nitro Express cartridge. It generally refers to a load which is stronger than normal for that caliber.

The .375 H&H Magnum case was the basis for most of the early Magnums, until Weatherby came along with his Magnums.

There is no standard for calling a round a Magnum, anyone can use it for anything, to include a .22 rimfire.

HTH.

TR

shoulder bruising rounds.

Don't forget "flinch inducing rounds" as well. :munchin

I like that.
All the boxes of magnum around here have the no. .416 on the ends.
Most of you guys probably wouldn't even notice the recoil.

Not sure, haven't shot the .416, but my .375 H&H makes a nice plinking rifle.

TR

TR - Between your H&H, and Bill's .416, I believe it may be getting deep as to non flinching rounds and "plinking rounds" :munchin :D

Around here plinking and flinching are not mutually exclusive. Case in point - I've never heard anyone refer to the .50 BMG as a "magnum" round. Though I did hear an opinion from a knowledgeable source that it doesn't count for much if the shooter is the only one flinching. The same source views the .50 BMG as an "ultimate" plinking round. And everybody anywhere close to the d**n (but very necessary) muzzle brake (AR-50) of that thing is guaranteed to "flinch" whenever it goes off. :D Peregrino

I burned all of the ammo that came with it (17 rounds of 270 grainers) punching empty cans in the field behind my house within an hour of buying it.

As far as bad plinking, I would say that the shoulder fired 40mm grenade launcher that used the high-velocity grenades sucked pretty badly, JD Jones TC Contender with the .510 Whisper barrel, and the day I benchrested 50 rounds of magnum slugs taught me lessons.

Other than that, it has pretty much been fun.

TR

Reaper,
I've had the good fortune to shoot several of J.D. Jones special creations, but not the hand held anti-tank round that you fired.

I don't benchrest the .416, it's offhand or nothing.

And that is why I shoot some of the weapons I do standing.

Reaper, that H&H has a pretty hefty "rearward punch", So does some of the other mentioned weapons, I guess you are one of the lucky "recoil toloerant" individuals. Now the .50 is flinch inducing to the obsedrvers, not the shooter.

Me, I have to concentrate like mad to be sure and shoot one of those monsters regularly. :boohoo

Longrange,
The Reaper transmits the shock and stress back into the weapon he's firing.

Thank you for saying you stand up too, as you know my shooting is limited to hunting antlered game, mostly. Any shot I take is usually from a standing position at moving game so I'd better practice as I will shoot.

I finally figured that flinching doesn't change the felt recoil so I just let the recoil happen and my shot groups tightened way up.

One of the J.D.Jones custom built rifles I've fired was a .500 Nitro Express built on a (very light) Ruger No. 1 action. The recoil caused me to momentarily forget I was having fun. I think that may be the highest horsepower to weight ratio firearm I've shot.

Newton's first law:
Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it.

Newton's third law:
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Given .500 nitro express, one rifle with mass of 5 kg and one 10 kg.

Which rifle has more recoil?

Answer due at the end of class.

Damn you gentlemen play with .375 H&H's for fun.

I think I'll stick with my .338 win mag. It has enough "felt" recoil to keep me in my place.

Hijack in progress.... :D

If you want to shoot a big gun that's fine by me. I'll stick to calibers that I can tolerate. I'll use one of my .270 Win's. all day long on the range and in the woods. I don't go after game in the field that necessitates a larger round. God bless those that do.

If I go on a hunt for Elk or Grizzley Bears I'll rachet up to a 7mm or .300 Win Mag but that's as far as I'll go. Those rounds rattle my teeth when I shoot them too.

I never understood the need for the big rounds. Shot placement is like real estate; location, location, location.

JMHOYMV. :D

Doc