| Grenadier |
| (.375 member) |
| 23/03/10 10:25 AM |
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Re: conical bullet weight for paradox like guns, and gauge g
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Quote:
Now you truely have a shotgun and 100yd plus rifle all in one "the Explora" shooting a 730gr LT bullet at 1250fps. He then introduced the Super magnum Explora gun shooting the LT bullet or a rounded paradox waisted slug at 1500fps for close in dangerous game.
This was not lost on Holland and they in turn offered magnum guns and experimented with various capped bullets. While WR Exploras and Super magnum Exploras loads were standardized, I believe the post 1900 Holland 12's varied to some extent. I have seen guns regulated to various cordite loads that must have also varied the regulated velocity. The weight of these guns were still at 7.5 to 8 lbs or maybe a tad more.
When a bullet begins to transition from supersonic to subsonic it becomes unstable and erratic. Accuracy is greatly diminished. A lead Paradox bullet leaving the muzzle at 1250 is going to become subsonic somewhere close to 125 yards. So, yes, the faster bullet will have more kinetic energy within 100 yards but will not be of much practical use far beyond that because of accuracy issues. The cost to getting the big bullets to go that fast is, as you mentioned, a heavier gun. My 1911 'Royal' ejector with a 15" stock weighs 7 pounds, 3 ounces, my 'Royal' non-ejector with a shorter stock is about 7 pounds even. The H&H magnum 'Paradox' guns were advertised as weighing 8 to 8-1/4 pounds and they probably handled accordingly. Whether or not the additional energy is worth having a heavier gun is a matter of preference. The standard Paradox seems capable of taking any thin skinned game and I don't think a 1250fps bullet of soft construction would be a good choice for thick skinned game. With little additional usefulness to be gained from the faster bullet, I would rather retain the 7 pound "bird gun" handling qualities of the standard Nitro-Paradox gun.
The WR Super Magnum Explora bullet is a different story. With a muzzle velocity of 1500fps it wouldn't become subsonic till way out there. That would mean a considerable increase in both energy and effective range. The 1910 H&H catalog lists a Long Range Paradox with similar results. I would imagine that all these guns must have weighed well over 8 pounds but I don't know. I have never seen nor handled one.