Where did all the affordable .416's go?

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Northern Shooter

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I've been on the hunt now for a rifle chambered in one of the .416s for some time but they seem impossible to find.

Since CZ discontinued their 550 line and Sako discontinued their 85 line, finding a rifle chambered in .416 Rigby/Ruger/ RemMag for under $3,000 has been a challenge.

As far as I'm aware the Winchester Model 70 and the Ruger Guide Gun/African are the only remaining choices that are supposedly still in production, however they are continually out of stock.

Are there any others that I'm forgetting?

I know there are rifles out there from Heym/Rigby/H&H etc. but they cost many 10s of thousands.

Is buying second hand my only option for this hunt?
 
My .416 Rigby kicks like one. ;)

My .416 Wby kicks like my .308's they done good with their muzzle brake design quite effective at taming recoil here's my demo video -

 
I really wish we could see a resurgence in some of these big bore cartridges. The likes of the 375/416/458's are still very practical for large NA game, wish more manufacturers would offer rifles in these.
 
If you cannot find a rifle chambered to your choice of 416, you will need to find a donor rifle with a long enough action to accommodate the longer cartridges, and rebarrel it.
Another option is the 416 Taylor (necked up 338 Win Mag or necked down 458 Win Mag) as it does not need the longer action, and a 7mm Rem Mag, or 338 Win Mag can be rebarreled to this cartridge. Quality Cartridge does make properly headstamped brass that you can import, if you need it for an African hunt. This cartridge will duplicate the 416 Rem Mag and Rigby ballistics in a shorter case. Fun to shoot with 350 gr bullets (really liked the old 325 gr X bullet too!). Accurate too!
I could produce 1/2" cloverleaf groups at 100 yards with open sights with the first rifle I had in this chambering (built by Ralf Martini on a Ruger M77). I now have a LH Ruger M77 with a 22" barrel with NECG open sights.
 
It sounds like the Winchester will be the most likely to find in stock, for some reason the .416 Remington is the least appealing of the three 416s to me.

Are there any current production rifles chambered in .416 Rigby that don't cost $10,000+?
 
There are Ruger RSM’s around for 2-2.5k. Don’t look for anyone to chamber a new rifle in 416 Rigby or Remington
 
Northern Shooter said:
I really wish we could see a resurgence in some of these big bore cartridges. The likes of the 375/416/458's are still very practical for large NA game, wish more manufacturers would offer rifles in these.
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There seems to be a marked decrease in interest these large magnums over the last ten years for hunting here in NA. Many folks (incl. myself) are shooting smaller bore rifles. One would have to see their 1st born just to pay for the brass and bullets alone.

If the market was stronger, they'd be offered.
 
4fifty8 said:
My CZ 550 real nice .416 Rigby new 3G's & change single set trigger fancy walnut 1 of the retailers here had some about a year ago sold them all. https://i.imgur.com/Scx0d7W.jpg
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Were the .416 (and 458s, 505s) cz550 far more expensive than the 375s? I got my 375 in 2022 for $2,100 but I'm seeing old adds for the big bores at well over $3,000.
 
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SuperCub said:
There seems to be a marked decrease in interest these large magnums over the last ten years for hunting here in NA. Many folks (incl. myself) are shooting smaller bore rifles. One would have to see their 1st born just to pay for the brass and bullets alone.

If the market was stronger, they'd be offered.
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I feel like there is a strong case for marketing the 375s and the smaller of the big bores for North American application, especially in brown bear territory.

Market them as guide guns, Alaskan stopper rifles, close range moose thumpers, north american "safari" rifles etc.

That tactic seems to work for the 45-70.
 
4fifty8 said:
My .416 Rigby kicks like one. ;)

My .416 Wby kicks like my .308's they done good with their muzzle brake design quite effective at taming recoil here's my demo video -

Click to expand...

The Ruger African comes with a muzzle brake and thread protector standard from factory.
 
Thought my .416 Rigby CZ 550 American Safari Magnum price should be more with fancy grade Turkish walnut. https://i.imgur.com/49rkI4Q.jpg

Don't know if all muzzle brakes created equal my Ruger Hawkeye .338 WM with muzzle brake recoil reduction no where near as dramatic compared to my .416 Wby Mk V.

Mossberg 930 SG ported barrel doesn't do much to reduce recoil.

 
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Northern Shooter said:
I feel like there is a strong case for marketing the 375s and the smaller of the big bores for North American application, especially in brown bear territory.

Market them as guide guns, Alaskan stopper rifles, close range moose thumpers, north american "safari" rifles etc.

That tactic seems to work for the 45-70.
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Ruger has done all those rifles you mention and they seem to be slowing down as well. There's enough of those and 45-70s on the used market to keep gunnnutz happy for a while.

That segment of shooters is small overall compared to those who would buy their ammo from CDN Tire and Walmart.
 
SuperCub said:
Ruger has done all those rifles you mention and they seem to be slowing down as well. There's enough of those and 45-70s on the used market to keep gunnnutz happy for a while.

That segment of shooters is small overall compared to those who would buy their ammo from CDN Tire and Walmart.
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I'm going to reach out to Ruger directly to see when the next run on .416s will be. Our retailers and distributers don't seem to have any ETA's.
 
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