Development
The .577/500 No. 2 BPE was developed as a black powder round some time before 1879 by necking down the .577 Black Powder Express to .507-inches (12.9 mm)Wieland. for use in single or combination gun, double rifles, as well as a variety of Martini rifle, Martini-based lever action, lever rifles. Like the .450 Black Powder Express, the .577/500 BPE came in several case lengths, the most common having a 3-inch case. A -inch variant would later be loaded with cordite to become the .577/500 Nitro Express. For some time the .577/500 No. 2 BPE was loaded with cordite to become the ''.577/500 No. 2 Nitro for Black'', the same cartridge loaded with mild loadings of cordite, carefully balanced through trial to replicate the ballistics of the black powder version.Use
The .577/500 No. 2 BPE was a popular cartridge in India for hunting all thin-skinned game up to tigers. It did not face competition from comparable .450 rounds there in the decades following 1907 due to Gun law in India#History, the ban on British military calibres. Like the .500 Black Powder Express, the .577/500 No. 2 BPE was never popular in Africa, not being powerful enough for thick-skinned game such as elephants. Moderately popular in its day, the round has long since ceased to be offered commercially.See also
*12mm caliber *Express (weaponry) *List of rifle cartridgesReferences
Footnotes
Bibliography
* Barnes, Frank C, ''Cartridges of the World'', ed 13, Gun Digest Books, Iola, 2012, .External links