Pfeifer-Zeliska .600 Nitro Express Magnum
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All images and technical information on this web page about the Pfeifer-Zeliska, by courtesy and permission of Pfeifer Arms Ltd The worlds most powerful pistol is the Austrian Pfeifer-Zeliska .600 Nitro Express Magnum. It is chambered to fire the British developed .600 caliber rifle bullet originally made by Holland and Holland. This revolver was not originally a full production model but a one off, built especially for a wealthy Swiss gent...Mr. Zeliska. But if you would like one and I am sure that a few of you 'gunslingers' with a bit of disposable income would, then contact Pfeifer arms ( url near bottom of page ) and they will make one for you. Priced at 13,840 Euro's. This equates as $17,316* or £11,722* including Tax ( *at Exchange rate as of 20 November 2008 )
The Pfeifer Revolver is also available chambered for the .458 Winchester Magnum and qualifies as the second worlds most powerful handgun. The .600 Nitro Express Magnum revolver is a single action, 5 shot, old west style gun. A single action revolver is stronger in construction than a double action revolver due to the solid base frame that the cylinder sits in. The image below shows the colossal size of the revolver in the hands of a suitably impressed gun magazine photographer!
This is not a joke. This gun really exists. It's the absolute ultimate Magnum revolver and one that Smith & Wesson would rather you didn't know about as their market researcher would need medication ! Rumours that Smith & Wesson were actually thinking of developing a .75 caliber pistol have never been substantiated, or have never left the drawing board, and the possibility of such a gun coming from them is remote to say the least. Because of its size the Pfeifer-Zeliska .600 Nitro Express Magnum would really be required to be fired whilst resting on a bench clamp or small sand bags as shown in the image below. The gun weighs in at total of 13.23lbs and consequently is heavy enough to absorb most of the violent recoil. In fact it is said to be on scale to firing the Smith & Wesson .50 Magnum.
The recoil is not uncontrollable, but instead, tamed by the guns weight. A bi-pod and shoulder stock may be in order though. The .600 Nitro Express cartridge was originally developed in 1899 for big game hunters who went to Africa with the intention of killing Elephants, (something that I despise by the way) and was fired from a double barreled rifle. Even though Holland & Holland no longer manufacture these cartridges, they can still be sought through the gun trade, small reloading companies or even over the internet. One company still actually make these rounds and they are Kynoch at www.kynochusa.com The images below shows almost actual size of the .600 Nitro Express round, the bullet of which can go clean through a 10mm steel plate at 12 meters like a hot knife through butter. The cartridge on the end is a .700 Nitro Express which is currently the worlds most powerful Rifle cartridge and its probably just a matter of time until a Revolver is developed for it.
Relatively actual size @17" and onwards monitor. These .600 Nitro Express cartridges sell from about $40 each ! Of course the size of cartridge based ammunition can go on, up to an 88mm anti-tank round and beyond but as small arms go, these bullets/cartridges are colossal. Nitro Express in firearms terms actually applies to a cartridges charge or powder, that in this instance is made by mixing nitroglycerine with the already explosive gunpowder to make a nitrocellulose compound which is then dried and becomes many times more explosive than the original gunpowder. With a Bullet Weight of 900 grains and a muzzle velocity 1950 fps, it produces muzzle energy of 7591 ft/lbs or 3½ tons! the Pfeifer- Zeliska .600 Nitro Express Magnum is 8 times more powerful than a Smith and Wesson.44 magnum and 3 times more powerful than the Smith and Wesson .50 Magnum. As handguns go, this is the absolute ultimate. The 'Mag-Port' recoil compensation holes can be seen at the business end of the barrel, these holes let some of the blast out before the bullet has left the barrel, in so reducing the back pressure enough to lower the recoil to an acceptable degree. In fact the gun only rises up 60 degrees when fired. This might sound quite a lot, but a .44 Magnum Super Ruger BlackHawk is about the same, consequently, it wouldn't be that much of a surprise to experienced pistol and revolver shooters. The line of sight from rear to front sight is 440mm. This long sight range of course helps for long range shooting of which the .600 is more than capable. This revolver would really set its self apart if it was to have telescopic handgun sights fitted to it, as long range shooting would be this guns forté.
As a single action revolver, the hammer needs to be cocked before the gun can be fired. At one time, this is was way that all revolvers were cocked, including all the Colt revolvers of the old west.
The cartridges are loaded through a 'gate' on the right side of the cylinder housing, one at a time, the spent cartridge cases are also ejected through this gate, by pushing back the extractor rod that lies under the barrel. The ejector rod has a stroke of 170mm and pushes the 76mm long Nitro Express cases out 60mm from the back of the cylinder leaving 17mm of the case still in the chamber, enough for them to be extracted by hand. As the Nitro Express cases are heavy and expensive and can also be reloaded, they aren't damaged by falling to the ground. This is quite a good innovation which shows that there has been a lot of thought put into the manufacturing of this gun.
Nice polished woodwork there ! The gun is made from super hard
42CrMo4 Tungsten steel and can withstand the gas pressure of the .60 Nitro
Express Magnum cartridge of 2500 BAR without a hitch. The cylinders pivot is 8mm
in diameter and is bolted to the frame for extra strength. The empty cylinder
with its highly polished chambers weighs a massive 4.5lb on its own.
Also on the right lower sides of the gun, the inscriptions are gold filled. The inscriptions read, 'MOD. ZELISKA CAL. 600 NE', on the left side the manufacturer's address 'K. PFIEFER WAFFEN, FELDKIRCH, AUSTRIA'. Most of the guns metal work was made on conventional milling and drilling machines, then each part was finished to a very high standard by fine filing and polishing to give the gun a superb finish. With a price of $17,316 ( @ 20 Nov 2008) though, the price of this unique gun is just as exclusive as the caliber!
Click the picture to go to the Austrian Pfeifer custom gun website The text below is duplicated direct from their site incase the link gets broken. Pfeifer Waffen Feldkirch Forget everything you’ve heard about magnum revolvers, this is the ultimate gun. Measured by muzzle energy, it is the most powerful in the world. Cal.600 Nitro Magnum Every
single part is made by hand and is matched individually for each Zeliska
revolver. The Zeliska revolver is unique and a masterpiece of the art of gunsmithing. Due
to the weight of the gun, shooting the Zeliska is no problem for a skilled
marksman. There won’t be any permanent damage inflicted to your wrist. The Zeliska is also available in cal .458 Win Mag, take into consideration that the price for this ammunition is much lower than .600 Nitro Magnum.
Technical Data
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Its a very impressive revolver, a revolver that truly is the Worlds Most Powerful...EVER ! But its not alone... ...The Thomson Contender 'Encore' .600 Nitro Express Magnum is a single shot target pistol, its very light and dangerously uncontrollable when fired.
A nice looking pistol, but looks can be deceptive ! The recoil in such a relatively light gun at 6lbs can in fact throw the pistol out of your hands as the video grab below testifies. I have painted a yellow arrow that points at the Thomson Contender .600 Nitro Express, (its the blurry grey object ) as it flies over the Gents head after he fired it on the shooting range. He was lucky the gun didn't smash him in the face ! phew...close one ! |
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To clear up any confusion: The video below shows the Thompson Contender Encore .600 being fired NOT the Pfeifer-Zeliska. |
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A never again to be experienced exploit in pistol shooting ! .600 Nitro Express ballistics: 900 or 1040 grain bullet 1600 -2100 fps velocity 8000- 10,000 ft.lbs Muzzle Energy or over 4 tons of energy. This 1040 grain bullet can of course be fired in the Zeliska, but a bit more safely, as with the Zeliska the recoil is arrested quite well. Note: All handgun bullets can never be as powerful as when fired through a rifle, and the .600 Nitro Express is then even more powerful. |
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