The .470 was introduced in 1900 and, according to John Taylor, was designed by Joseph Lang. It is another extremely popular cartridge of the British gun trade and was adopted by most rifle makers. It was used mostly in double-barrel rifles and was a favorite of elephant hunters. Like most cartridges in this group, it originated as a replacement for the .450 Nitro Express, which was banned in India and the Sudan for a number of years. Holland & Holland, Purdey, and others still make guns in this chambering, in England. It was (and still is) Rigby’s choice, when it gave up the .450 NE.

The .470 Nitro was probably the most popular and widely used of the various .47-caliber cartridges. It is certainly the most enduring. It had plenty of killing power for any of the heavy or dangerous varieties of game, and it is potent lion or tiger medicine in a tight spot. It can, like any powerful cartridge, be used for smaller game than that for which it was designed, and that, in fact, is how most of the big double-barrel rifles are still used today.

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