Which is more powerful.?

Question

i've always thought a barrets .50 cal was the most powerful rifle, but i saw the .700 Nitro Magnum, which is more powerful.

Answer 1

The 50 BMG fires an 800 gr barnes bullet at 2895fps which develops 14,895 ft·lbf (20,195 J) of energy at the muzzel.

As soon as someone develops a higher powered cartridge that doesn't get fired from the barrel of a tank let me know.

Answer 2

the 700 nitro express if hand loaded correctly can produce 14,886 ft lbs of energy with a heavier 1000 grain projectile as opposed to the 50's biggest 800 but the 50 is alltogether more devastating on game because it has not even 500 ft lbs less energy than the 700 but it does lack in weight but is made up by the 50's ridiculously high BC and SD which willbasically mean how long the bullet is thus higher penetration and as for sectional density that means how well balanced and propportioned the bullet is which means it flies better and flatter which means the bullet will be more stable in flight which will increase penetration but if you want the simple which is more powerful it would be the 50 because very few people hand load for the 700 which means its typically less powerful and its lower BC and SD decreases penetration and flight stability and range also because of its weight but the weight would play a better role in penetration but the bullet is yes a low SD and BC which is a thumbs down in penetration but also the 700 has a bigger bullet which means more blood loss or drain of the inside materieal on targets but the 50 is a higher velocity round too which means a flatter trajecory and higher internal damage and ballistics hope this helps

Answer 3

The problem with your question is in defining what you mean by "power." Many people use muzzle energy as a surrogate marker for effectiveness, but that isn't really appropriate, especially with the big boys. If you're trying to stop a charging elephant, for instance, the greater momentum of the 600 NE is as good as you get. If you're trying to disable a truck a half mile away, then the 50 BMG round is the obvious choice, and energy is probably a better marker than momentum for that purpose. 700 NE isn't really practical, it's just that when Mr. Feldstein asked Holland and Holland to build him a 600 NE, they declined, so he had Jim Bell help him design something that Holland would build for him. Since he could have gotten a 577 NE, or gone to somebody else for a 600, the only way to go was to 700.

Just for grins and educational purposes, the other surrogate marker that's sometimes useful as a power ranking is John Taylor's KO values, a combination of momentum and frontal area. He didn't get the details right, but his idea is pretty sound for the purposes for which it's intended.

Answer 4

.50 BMG

But i don't really think anything you shot with either of them would notice the difference.  

Answer 5

.50 cal BMG

The .700 Nitro Express develops an approximate average of 8900 foot pounds (12 kJ) of muzzle energy with a 1,000 gr (65 g) bullet at 2,000 ft/s (610 m/s)

A .50 BMG round can produce between 10,000 and 13,000 foot pounds (between 14 and 18 kilojoules) or more, depending on its powder and bullet type, as well as the rifle it was fired from.

Answer 6

For sheer velocity and energy, the .50 BMG is more powerful.

BTW, it is not a ."700 Nitro Magnum." the proper name is .700 Nitro Express.

The .700 Nitro Express  propels a 1,000 grain bullet at 2,000 feet per second and produces 8900 foot-ppunds of energy.

The .50 Browning Machine Gun cartridges throws 720 grain bullet at 2810 feet per second and produces 12,630 foot-pounds of energy.

The .50 BMG has a much longer useful range as well.  It is capable of making hits at ranges well over one mile.  The 700 NE on the other hand is generally used at ranges well under 100 yards..

Doc

Answer 7

Technically a pea shooter which hits the target is more powerful than a bazooka which misses. That said, more recoil than one may ignore, messes with one's aim. How much this is, varies with the situation. A new shooter filled with awe at their first deer shot, likely won't notice recoil which will leave a blue spot, but on their third deer, the "new" has worn off, and they may be greatly overbracing for heavy recoil so much that it delays the shot and the game is moving off, resulting in "hurry-up" yanking the trigger, for a bad hit. "Appropriate technology" suggests that enough power to reliably do the job is near the top of the bell curve of desirable results. Regards, Larry.