Jim Watson
Member
The main reason British Magnum hunting cartridges were more sedate back in the day is that they were loaded with cordite, and they were used in the hottest places in Africa, which were basically the hottest places on earth. The ammo was temperature sensitive and anybody shooting at something that bites darned well wanted to ensure that the empty could be ejected, and a new round chambered without any hitches. It is the same reason that the British liked those long sloping shoulders.
those imperialist British thought of everything. I wish the British and Japanese would have done more firearms and cartridge development. Just imagine the ideas they would have produced.
The British did a lot of development.
They not only used voluminous cartridges to keep pressures down and make opening and extraction from singles and doubles easier they also had different loads. You could get "tropical" ammunition loaded lighter than the stuff made for temperate climes. That depended on you staying in one zone, your double rifle and/or your express sights were regulated for one or the other.
Jeffrey were innovators. They had the biggest brass per calibre, with thicker rims for better extraction than cases based on black powder rounds, and they had the most different loads to suit the climate.
In firearms, one double rifle or shotgun looks a lot like the next but get inside and you see a wide variety of action designs.