Thread: Magnum or not a magnum

Originally Posted by Tahr

a gun designed to fire cartridges that are more powerful than its calibre would suggest.

That sounds like a good defintion. Theres no other defining feature, marketing
is the real back story.

As a note, the “Magnum” era began with the term first being used by the British firm of Holland & Holland to describe its . 375 H&H Express rifle cartridge in 1912. However, it was first used to describe a handgun cartridge with the . 357 Smith & Wesson Magnum.

in case b, and maybe others it translates to 'we souped up the cartridge you are familiar with and made it go a big faster"
in case a, when big guns started with .4 or .5 and ended in 'nitro express', H&H had to come up with something that made a .3xx sound bigger