.460 Rowland: Not an Elephant Gun, But Getting Close

The .460 Rowland cartridge packs .44 Magnum power in a cartridge the size of a .45 ACP (the case is slightly longer but the bullet is seated deeper). A number of .45 ACP pistols can be converted to fire the Rowland by simply swapping out the recoil spring and barrel. This is an impressive feat, considering .44 Magnum-level semi-automatics were traditionally gas-powered, such as the Desert Eagle, rather than short recoil tilt barrel action.

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The .460 cartridge operates at 40,000 psi, twice the pressure of a .45 ACP, but not much more than the 10mm Auto maximum SAAMI spec pressure despite being a good 25% more powerful. A large compensator is required, both to add weight to the barrel and reduce the recoil.

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