http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.700_Nitro_Express www.hollandandholland.com This is the largest rifle cartridge in the world available for civilian use. It's the .700 Nitro Express (yes, 70 caliber). It is manufactured by legendary British gunmaker Holland and Holland, who basically coined the term "elephant gun" with their legendary double-rifles. The guns themselves are stunning peices of art and can cost well over $100,000. The .700 is their biggest round yet and is used primarily for large-game hunting: elephant, cape buffalo, etc. It's sheer size and power makes it difficult to fire, and the guns that fire it are very large and heavy, but if you want the baddest elephant gun on the planet this is way to go. The .700NE is the largest available round to civilians, but it is not necessarily the most powerful. The .50BMG round used in big-bore sniper rifles is considerably narrower in diameter, but it is of a longer and more aerodynamic design. The .50BMG actually is probably more powerful in terms of foot-pounds of energy mainly because the huge high-tech sniper rifles that use the round fire it at such a high velocity. An indication of this is that most .50BMG sniper rifles have lethally accurate ranges of over 1500m while a typical big-bore double-rifle has a range a couple times shorter.
Looks like it's meant for killing animals and shit, doesn't look like it could penetrate armor at all. I mean, it is made for big-game hunting, so yeah.
Well yeah, something designed for soft targets won't really penetrate armor, and contrarywise, something designed to punch through armor won't do very well against a soft target.
Holland and Holland? Yeah, that'll be cheap <A BORDER="0" HREF="http://www.supercars.net/PitLane?displayFAQ=y"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="pitlane/emoticons/tongue.gif"></A>
A .50 BMG can produce between 10,000 and 13,000 foot pounds or more depending on powder and bullet used, as well as which type of rifle it was fired from. The .50 BMG with a 750gr bullet can be loaded to leave the muzzle at 2900 fps, giving it a muzzle energy of 13,000 ft-lbs. It still has 7404 ft-lbs at 1000 yds, 3321 at 2000 yds, and 2085 at 2500 yds.
don't know about the rest of the world but in the use you are .50 bmg costs a few grand but they are legal. I know a guy that has one.
bb-guns are not even legal here <A BORDER="0" HREF="http://www.supercars.net/PitLane?displayFAQ=y"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="pitlane/emoticons/wink.gif"></A>. allthough i have one.
"The .700 is their biggest round yet and is used primarily for large-game hunting: elephant, cape buffalo, etc."
I was at a Cabellas (hunters and outfiters store) and they had a few 700 nitro rounds there and i couldnt belive that they were real i thought they were paper weights.