.577 N.E. 3''

The .577 Nitro Express is a large-bore centerfire rifle cartridge designed to hunt large game such as elephant. This cartridge is used almost exclusively in single-shot and double-express rifles for hunting in the Tropics or hot climates in general and is a cartridge associated with the golden age of African safaris and Indian shikars. Following the success of the development in 1898 of the revolutionary .450 Nitro Express by John Rigby & Company, achieved by loading the old .450 Black Powder Express with cordite, similar conversions were made to other black powder Express cartridges, including the .577 Black Powder Express in its various case lengths. Once a standard rifle caliber, the rise of Mauser's Gewehr 98 bolt-action rifles offered cheaper alternatives to the expensive double rifles required by the Nitro Express cartridges. Several manufacturers still make rifles chambered in .577 Nitro Express, including Butch Searcy & Co., Hambrusch Hunting Weapons, Hartmann & Weiss, Heym, Holland & Holland, James Purdey and Sons and Westley Richards.