.400/375 Belted Nitro Express

The .400/375 Belted Nitro Express, also known as the .400/375 Holland & Holland and the .375 Velopex is a rifle cartridge designed by Holland & Holland and introduced in 1905.

.400/375 Belted Nitro Express
TypeRifle
Place of originUnited Kingdom
Production history
DesignerHolland & Holland
Designed1905
Produced1905
Specifications
Case typeBelted, bottleneck
Bullet diameter.375 in (9.5 mm)
Neck diameter.397 in (10.1 mm)
Shoulder diameter.435 in (11.0 mm)
Base diameter.470 in (11.9 mm)
Rim diameter.466 in (11.8 mm)
Case length2.5 in (64 mm)
Overall length3 in (76 mm)
Ballistic performance
Bullet mass/type Velocity Energy
270 gr (17 g) 2,150 ft/s (660 m/s)
235 gr (15 g) 2,400 ft/s (730 m/s) 2,840 ft⋅lbf (3,850 J)
Test barrel length: 27 inches
Source(s): Kynoch[1] & Barnes & Amber.[2]

Development

The .400/375 Belted Nitro Express was developed to compete with the 9.5×57mm Mannlicher–Schönauer, marketed in the UK and British Empire as the .375 Rimless Nitro Express 2​1⁄4 inch.

The cartridge is unique in that it was the first ever cartridge to use a belted rim. The addition of a belt to a rimless cartridge design provided the advantage of allowing for correct headspacing of highly tapered cartridges (an advantage of rimmed cartridges) and smooth feeding through magazine rifles (the advantage of rimless cartridges).[3]

The .400/375 Belted Nitro Express almost died at birth, as in 1905 a Berlin gunmaker, Ottoman Bock, designed the 9.3×62mm to fit into the Model 1898 Mauser bolt-action rifle, this cartridge easily eclipsed both the 9.5×57mm and the .400/375 Belted NE.[3] In 1912 Holland & Holland created the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum utilising the same caliber in a much larger belted case, and the .400/375 Belted NE faded from production.

Kynoch still manufacture .400/375 Belted NE ammunition with a lighter loading.[1]

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See also

References

Footnotes
  1. "Kynoch, .375 2​1⁄2 inch". Archived from the original on 2015-01-03. Retrieved 2014-12-31.
  2. Barnes & Amber, p 432.
  3. Ganyana.

Bibliography
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