.240 Apex

The .240 Apex (also known as the .240 Belted Nitro Express and the .240 Magnum Rimless) is a centrefire sporting rifle cartridge developed in England in the 1920s, primarily for use in hunting deer and plains game. This round has always been particularly closely associated with the firm of Holland and Holland, rifle and gun makers of London, England, which has built more magazine and double rifles in this calibre than anyone else. A rimmed variant of this cartridge, known as the .240 Magnum Flanged, was developed for use in double rifles.

Overview
A number of Lloyd rifles were made in the period 1930 - 1950 for the .240 Apex cartridge, and David Lloyd took it as the starting point in his development of his .244 H&H Magnum cartridge, which uses the same distinctive .245in diameter bullet, but fired from a very much larger case.

The ballistic performance of the .240 Apex in factory loads is very similar to that of the .243 Winchester, with a 100 grain bullet giving a muzzle velocity of approximately 2,900 feet per second. When it is loaded at the same pressure as the .243 WSSM using modern powders, the .240 Apex has the potential for slightly better performance.

The case dimensions of the .240 are not unlike those of the "wildcat" 6mm-06 (the .30-'06 cartridge case necked down to accept a 6mm/.244 bullet), but the .240 case has a slightly smaller diameter, and the case is distinctive in appearance owing to its long neck.

Most bolt-action rifles made for the .240 Apex will be amply strong enough to handle handloaded cartridges at high pressure. However, caution is required in reloading the rimmed version of the .240 - the Magnum Flanged cartridge - for older double rifles, which in any event will have had their sights set for the zero to which the original load shot.

Categories
Cartridge:rifles