.458 Watts / .458 Lott
To all intents and purposes the .450 Watts and .458 Lott are the same cartridge, and originated in the early 1950’s in the USA. Essentially, the .450 Watts is a .375 case blown out to accept a .458 diameter bullet. This gives a slightly tapered case of approximately 2.85" length. Original loading data developed by the noted gunsmith, P.O. Ackley, lists the .450 Watts as driving a 500 grain bullet at 2500fps.

 

Classic Cartridges Articles

.450 Nitro Express
This round, one of the greatest and best dangerous game cartridges ever devised, was also the first. Not the first dangerous game calibre, but the first to use the then new smokeless powder and jacketed bullets. It was a revelation, and took the hunting world by storm.

 

Classic African Cartridges Series

Part VI: The 6.5 x 54 Mannlicher-Schoenauer
If there was ever a cartridge whose popularity was almost instantaneous it was the 6.5x54 Mannlicher-Schoenauer becoming one of those “all the rage” rifles within a year of its release to the civilian market in 1903.

Part VII: The 450/400 Nitro Express
Man has always looked for the perfect compromise, and the “all round cartridge” has been the hunter's Holy Grail since the invention of the brass case. The cartridge must produce sufficient power to cleanly take all game that may be realistically encountered, whilst producing as little recoil as is feasible.

Part VIII: The .303 British
Adopted in 1888, the .303 arrived in the midst of a huge global upheaval in small arms development. It really was a bit much - one had just adopted a single shot breechloading black powder military rifle in a then gee-whiz smallbore .45 calibre (the.450 Martini-Henry), which had all seemed pretty state-of-the-art at the time, and now there were all these .30 calibre repeating rifles with jacketed bullets propelled by some new fangled smokeless powder.

Part X: The .375 H&H Magnum
Introduced in 1912 by Messrs Holland & Holland of London, the .375 magnum has become the standard general purpose African cartridge. Adopted by the American gun trade in 1925, and the European manufacturers after the second world war, the .375 is easily the most commonly available big bore cartridge available anywhere in the world. Rifles chambered for it are also available from more manufacturers than for any other big bore cartridge.