Quote:
Originally Posted by stansdds
More like comparing the length of 357 Maximum to 38 Special.  |
Close.
Very Close.
The 460 is kind of the odd duck of the 1.6" "supermag" family.
They should have been called the "Gates" family IMHO as Elgin did the most to popularize them as IHMSA cartridges.
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If it wasn't for Starline, some of the older and now more obscure members of this family would be true wildcats or dead.
Super magnum - Wikipedia
S&W wasn't content with the performance of the 1.61" version and lengthened it to 1.8".
Almost a cut down 45-70 (2.1")!
They also goosed the pressure to 65 kpsi which was surely an engineering challenge.
Consequently it isn't a true Gates style cartridge but since there is no real 45 Supermag it does a great job of filling in.
A good example of marketing telling the engineers what to do.
The .500 S&W is more in line with the Gates philosophy.
Only .015" longer than the other supermags but with a pressure limit of 60 kpsi.
Most factory ammo is limited to 50 kspi however which I suspect we achieved during the early madness of loading up the .445.
Some of the Taffin tests and some of my loads in converted 30USA cases with less than normal capacity gave velocities
that were startling then and just plain scary now.
The .44 and .45 have always gone down different paths during the history of Colt vs. S&W.
This is no different today even with the success of S&W and the near demise of Colt.
As a .44 guy I will admit one of the biggest advantages of the .45 is the existence of cartridges like the 45 Alaskan, .458WM/Lott and the 450NE.
As an old guy the 444 is right at my limit for recoil as the rifles are relatively light for the energy released.
The 44 Alaskan is an imaginary cartridge for now.