$5.40 per shot. Ridiculous.
Not compared with handloading .458 WM.
Point was they were cheap compared to their normal price, but never mind.
I'm amazed and thanks for clarifying.
As an obsessive handloader, I have never allowed a factory round to be shot in my .375 or .458, including while hunting DG in Africa.
With prices like this, how can anyone afford to shoot a .470 NE enough to become proficient enough for hunting? I guess it might not matter if you can afford a quality double rifle. As for me, the price difference between that and Model 70s allowed me to hunt more.
Another question: What are solids good for any more? Americans are not allowed to bring back elephant bulls from most of the countries where they are found, rhinos are practically extinct, and more and more PHs recommend well constructed "soft" points for buffalo, at least for the first shot or two.
Head shots on hippo? Small bucks that you don't want to overly damage?
Well its not a bad price considering how much of it they actually make a year! The costs are the same as say a 458 winchester! If you are only making 10000 rounds of 470 NE vis 5 million 458's economics of scale come in! The whole reason that the 458 was introduced was for economic reasons, a less costly cartridge to shoot that performed about the same as the 470! A 200 dollar at the time M-70 vs 10K for a Holland and Holland Double! Winchester sold a boat load of 458's while at the same time Holland and Holland were lucky if they made 25 guns! When you drop 50K to go hunt elephant, paying 6 bucks for the cartridge along with what a decent double costs these days don't seem all that out of line! Then again I have no real interest to hunt in Africa anymore period! I would rather take the cash, spend it hunting Black tails on Kodiak, and going down to NZ for trout fishing!
A couple of thoughts. People that buy doubles, usually don't quibble with pesky issues like costs of ammo and in my observation, tend to buy it by the case. As far as solids is concerned, there is still plenty of non-US elephant hunters out there, not to mention the thought it's probably safe to assume Trump will drain the Swamp at USFWS and we'll be back to normal again. Further, there is still a use for solids. Hippo on dry land comes to mind, as well as White Rhino which can still be imported, not to mention the fact many PHs still carry solids as their daily carry. Lastly, the fact the solids are on sale is a good indicator as to the reason why.
I hand load for my 450NE, and even I'm shooting cup and core Hornadys, rounds are still pricey.
Another thought: Often the hunters who can afford big doubles and use them in Africa are also avid shotgunners who prefer double-barreled scatterguns. Or at least I know this is true of several of my acquaintance.
The guy I'm most familiar with, a good friend who lives about an hour away, has several professional-level clay-target throwers on his country place. During the nicer 2/3 of the Montana year, he regularly holds weekend shoots for anybody interested, and he alone probably puts 10,000 rounds through his side-by-side shotguns each year.
One of the advantages of double rifles is aside from the weight, they handle very much like double shotguns--and many 10-gauges resemble heavy double rifles in both weight and balance. If you're a shotgunner who often shoots doubles, it's easy to transfer the same skills to a double rifle, especially one that fits you, as they should. Often a practiced shotgunner can hit closer targets with a double rifle only using the front sight.
Does anyone know what caliber double rifle James Bond used in SKYFALL?