Magnum (caliber)
Magnum is an additional designation for cartridges that have higher ballistic performance compared to other cartridges of the same caliber class .
Use of terms
The name is not based on any standardization, it is added by the manufacturers to the brand name as an indication of the special performance of a cartridge type. Most of these cartridges have a larger propellant charge with adapted combustion behavior. With these so-called magnum cartridges or magnum calibers, the gas pressure , the speed of the projectile and thus its kinetic energy are higher than with comparable calibers . Weapons must be structurally set up for such cartridges, with the cartridge chamber and bolt or barrel and drum bridge (for revolvers ) being designed for the higher loads.
weapons
Magnum cartridges are used for handguns , hunting rifle cartridges and also for shotguns (e.g. 12/76 Magnum).
When used in handguns, they were and are mainly fired from heavy revolvers . It was not until the 1980s that semiautomatic self - loading pistols, such as the Desert Eagle, for example , which were set up for magnum cartridges, came onto the market in significant numbers. Because of their size and weight, they are rarely used as official weapons ; they are mainly used by sport shooters and, if national laws permit, as hunting weapons . Shotgun barrels in magnum calibers (e.g. 12/76 Magnum) are marked accordingly with a V (stamped) during the bullet test . Drawn barrels, such as those for rifles and handguns, are marked with an N despite the magnum caliber (e.g. with the federal eagle N until 2015 or with the CIP N since 2015).
Cartridges
The best-known magnum calibers for revolvers are .357 Magnum , .41 Magnum and .44 Magnum . They all go back to initiatives of the well-known American marksman and weapons expert Elmer Keith in the first half of the 20th century . More magnum calibers have recently been added, some of which do not bear the name Magnum , such as B. .454 Casull , .480 Ruger , .500 S & W , .500 Wyoming Express , .475 Linebaugh , .500 Linebaugh maximum and more.
Revolvers in calibers .357 and .44 have the advantage that they can also be used to fire the widespread, less powerful .38 Special or .44 Special cartridges (sometimes more expensive than .44 Magnum). The reverse must never happen: If a .357 magnum cartridge is fired from a .38 revolver, there is a risk of the gun exploding with life-threatening injuries for the shooter and the spectator with the first shot, as the weapon components are not suitable for the .357- Magnum cartridges are designed to generate gas pressure. In order to avoid such mix-ups, the cartridge case of .357 magnum cartridges is about 3 mm longer, which means that when a .38 special revolver is loaded with .357 magnum cartridges, the cartridge does not fit into the chamber and by three Protrudes millimeters. Pivoting and rotating the misloaded drum is not possible in this way because of the cartridges protruding from it.
In the case of rifle cartridges, special calibers for large and large game hunting are marked with the addition of magnum , e.g. B. 300 Winchester Magnum , .375 Holland & Holland Magnum , .458 Winchester Magnum . The American designer and entrepreneur Roy Weatherby has established an entire family of weapons and cartridges on the market that are uncompromisingly designed for maximum ballistic performance - right up to the .460 Weatherby Magnum .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Collective record of hunting rifle cartridges ( memento of March 27, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ "Revolver unlimited", DWJ 9/1989, p. 1227