| 3DogMike |
| (.400 member) |
| 08/12/25 01:27 AM |
|
Re: Proofmark puzzle
|
Quote:
I've only held one nitro express .577. It was a monster and I don't remember the make. bad on me. It was back in the 70's when I saw it. Huge action compared to any shotgun action I've seen, much larger than my 10 bore of later years. I would suggest it was 14 pounds and that number seems familiar.
Greener's "The GUN" 9th edition has glowing "letter reports" on the BP version of the .577 using 160gr. pdr and 560 gr. bullets.
That was my point earlier, the true "Nitro" rifles are/were way more stout than the BP rifles. Depending upon the loading, maker, and era the BP rifles were anywhere from 9lbs to ~12 1/2lbs. True Nitro rifles from back in the day were, as Daryl noted, usually on the order of 13-14lbs or a bit more. However, there always seem to be exceptions?
Get out an accurate scale and weigh the thing.
As well, figure out if the chambers are 2 3/4", 3", or 3 1/4", all were available in BP, NfB, Light Nitro, and Nitro loadings, the 2 3/4" is the odd one out because these days it is a hand loading only deal. The nice thing about the 2 3/4" is that it will keep "Joe Lunchbucket" from casually dropping a .577 3" 750 Nitro load into a possibly BP Express rifle.
Beware tho of vintage rifles that "may" have originally been a shorter BP Express version of .577 then had the chambers lengthened to 3" when the shorter cartridges became unavailable. They will work as originally intended with Black or Nitro for Black loadings but could be damaged or destroyed by a careless (ignorant) use of a full house .577 3" Nitro load.
Once again, weigh the rifle to get a better idea of what it might be.
- Mike