Tapered bore hunting rifles?

[Minihuntur]

I recently read that Walter Gerlich (inventor of the German super high velocity tapered bore cannons of WWII) designed some tapered bore hunting rifles in conjunction with a gunmaker called Halbe. These used a barrel that started at the bullet diameter and tapered to a smaller diameter at the muzzle. The bullets had soft flanges on the side that would collapse as the bullet passed through the bore causing great pressure to build up behind the projectile resulting in a higher muzzle velocity. His 28mm cannons were capable of pushing a 4.62oz shell at almost 4600FPS! His hunting rifles were marketed under the name of Hal-Ger. Does anybody know any other info about these guns or possibly where I could get one:D
Minihuntur

[Brithunter]

Nope but I do wonder about him being the "Inventor" as the 577/450 has a tapered bore as does the 303 Enfield. Yep rifling grooves taper from 0.0075 down to 0.005"in depth.

[Catfish]

I guess you never do get to old to learn. I`ve been loading my own since the 60`s and playing with wildcats since the 80`s. I read alot about blastics and guns in general but never heard of the tapered bore. :rolleyes: Guess it must not be a real hot idea since it`s been around that long and no one is playing with it now. It is an interisting consept though.

[Jack]

Guys, Gerlich's tapered bore cannon was just a tad different than the tapered bore that's been used on our hunting rifles.
Gerlich's 28 MM cannon was 28 MM at the breech, and 20 MM at the muzzle!
As I recall, he had another similar cannon with a larger bore.
BTW, as far as tapered bores on civilian rifles, it's far from new, as others have mentioned. Harry Pope was making tapered bores on his target rifles before 1900, too.

[Minihuntur]

I believe that the British military was considering adopting one of Gerlich's .280 bolt actions. I dont know why they didnt but this .280 could push 180 gr. bullet at 3350FPS. At 300yds it could shoot a (then amazing) 3.65in. group. It could also fire the commercial .280 Ross cartridge. Im not sure if this gun used the tapered bore or just a lot of powder. As far as other tapered bore guns you are correct. Germany also used the 4.2cm PzJK 41 ,which tapered from 40.6mm to 29.4mm, and the 7.5cm PAK 41 which used a removable squeeze section on the muzzle to sqeeze the shell from 75mm to 55mm. The 4.2cm could propel a 11.85oz projectile at 4150FPS. The 7.5cm could push a 5.71 pound shell at almost 3700FPS making it one the most formidable tank killers of its day.
Minihuntur

[Brithunter]

Hmmm I think you mean the .276 Enfield and the P-13 rifle. Due to ammunition problems and unstable powder which resulted in a breech explosion and the shooter who was a member of the Selection commitee and he lost an eye. This was the ned really for the .276 the final nail in the coffin was of course the out break of WW1. The P-14 became the P-14 and eventually the US Rifle 1917.

Sir Charles Ross tried to get his .280 adopted but failed.