.600 Nitro Express

The .600 Nitro Express is a round in the Nitro Express series which was introduced in 1903. It is the second largest calibre in the Nitro Express line, exceeded only by Holland & Holland's .700 Nitro Express round.

Performance
All .600 Nitro Express cartridges carried a 900 gr projectile. Early versions were loaded with cordite. While the .700 Nitro is of course larger, the .600 Nitro is the largest dangerous game caliber to have been used during the heyday of African ivory hunting. The .700 was a 1980s creation as a result of a well-to-do gentleman being denied a .600 NE calibered rifle from renowned maker Holland and Holland.

Though the .600 was larger than the .577, it was not nearly as popular among professional hunters of the day. In use, a professional hunter would carry this rifle only when expecting a charge, or when the hunter was in the "thick brush", with a gun-bearer carrying it at other times. The rifles chambered for these rounds were most often side-by-side double rifles with boxlock actions made by the Jeffery Company of England. However, Jeffery did introduce their Model 1904 Farquharson-based falling block, single shot rifle in 1904 specifically for the 600 NE.