[d20 Modern] Holland & Holland .600 Nitro Express

[Gomez]

I am working on stating out weapons for a Victorian Era (1850-1905) game. I came across this legendry weapon. The Holland and Holland .600 Nitro Express double rifle. This Elephant gun was the most powerful rifle during it's time. It was capable of killing a elephant with a single head shot. Is there any stats on this weapon? If not what do you think would be the stats for it. Thanks.

 

[deltadave]

I would give it similar stats to a modern .50 Cal rifle, with a bit shorter range.

 

[Henry]

I would imagine something like 2d10 (or possibly 2d12, depending on how devastating you want to model it), with an 80 foot range increment. One question I'd have is: how much energy is transferred to the target with a .600 H&H verus say a Barret light Fifty? The .50 round is a smaller profile round, but more aerodynamic.I've never seen an actual .600 round, but I've imagined them to be basically hopped-up shotgun slugs.

EDIT - more info on the .600:

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~mickay/nitro.htm

Most interesting points:

The .460 weatherby magnum now holds the record for "most energy per round" at 8,245 foot pounds. The .600 nitro clocked in at a, ahem, respectable 7,591 fp.

I am mistaken on the "shotgun slug" idea - it's a true cartridge, and a 900 grain one at that. The rifle weighs around 16 pounds.


Bullet Weight; 900 grains

Muzzle Velocity; 1950 fps, Energy; 7591 ft/lbs

@50 yards

Velocity; 1794 fps, Energy; 6427 ft/lbs, Time of Flt; .08 sec

@100 yards

Velocity; 1646 fps, Energy; 5413 ft/lbs, Time of Flt; .17 sec

Anybody want to use Wulf Ratbane's Grim Tales rules to calculate expected damage off these figures? I'm afraid my copy is at home.

 

[Galethorn]

Well, since GT only goes up to .50cal, I had to estimate...but 4d8 or 3d10 seems to make the most sense. Ow.

Range-wise, the muzzle velocity would say that a 200ft increment would make the most sense, but that's also just a guestimate.

 

[Gomez]

After doing some research, I found some Holland and Holland double rifles for sale. They dated from the 1920's to 1950's and the price range was from $120,000 to $250,000. WOW!
Holland and Holland also produced a .700 caliber double rifle.

Also I found this monster of a gun. It's called a 4-Bore. It weighs a whopping 24 pounds.

The gun on the left is a Holland and Holland .500 Express.
The gun on the right is a 4-Bore double rifle.

The so-called 4-Bore’s bullet diameters varied widely in the cartridge versions usually around .935 to .955 with the true one inch size normally found only in the old muzzle loading rifles. The 4-Bore size being an old reference measurement of 4-Balls to the pound of lead, which computes out to 1750 grains of weight. The cartridge rifles usually fired projectiles weighing around 1850 grains. Holland and Holland’s custom built the one and only Nitro loaded 4-Bore for a Maharajah.

 

[Krieg]

The .460 weatherby magnum now holds the record for "most energy per round" at 8,245 foot pounds. The .600 nitro clocked in at a, ahem, respectable 7,591 fp.

.577 Tyrannosaur w/23" barrel:

186 grains VVN50 + 750 grain bullet = 2581 fps MV and 11,100 ft lbs ME


.50 BMG:

720 grain FMJ Military Ball at 2810 fps MV = 12,600 ft lbs ME*

*That is out of an M2 HMG. The numbers would not be terribly different out of a rifle.

 

[Gomez]

Here is a guy shooting a 4-bore.

Here is how not to shoot a 4-bore.

 

[Krieg]

No character would be complete without a back-up pistol:

 

[deltadave]

If Gomez is talking about victorian era then the propellent is either Black Powder or Cordite, neither of which are as efficient or powerful as modern propellents. The .50 round with modern propellent is probably just about the same foot pound range as a black powder 600 Express round. Somewhat higher velocity, lots less mass = rough equivalency (e=m*v*v).

 

[Henry]

I KNEW Hellboy's Gun had to have a real-life inspiration.

MY LORD!

...and the funny part is that the guy firing that pistol in the photo looks vaguely like Gary Gygax.

I don't know if I'd put the damage at 3d10, necessarily, because (1) Krieg makes a good point that there are even bigger guns out there, and (2) the info stated that it was reputed to kill an elephant outright with a head shot, which to me screams "crit hit." A crit hit on a 2d10 weapon is still 4d10 - enough to force an elephant to make a mass damage save...