.416 guys step up...

icehunter121

icehunter121

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I would have made this a poll but cant figure out how to do it. From bouncing around all the forums in here I couldnt find a answer and right now left is rirht,right is upside down...etc etc..

So...which .416 do you prefer? Currently I have a Rigby but might be swayed into a remington just for the ####s and giggles factor...:cool:

Seems like a good debate for a snowy saturday morning...
 
I've done the Rigby thing, and after several years decided that the cost of brass was prohibitive for regular shooting. If I was ever to revisit that bore size again, which is unlikely, I think I would choose a .416 Ultra wildcat. The .375 Ultra brass is much cheaper than the Rigby stuff, and offers the same high performance - low pressure advantages that is not shared by the smaller Remington and Ruger versions.

The reason that I would be unlikely to go that route again is that I currently shoot the .375 Ultra which nearly produces .416 performance when loaded with 380 gr Rhino bullets, so the next performance step going forward would be a .458 Ultra, similar to the older .460 G&A driving a 500 gr bullet at 2400 fps or a 550 gr Woodleigh at 2300 from a 20" barrel.
 
The thing I like about the Rigby is that you dont have to stay with the traditional 400 grain slug at 2400 fps but can hop em up to the WBY velocity as its basically the same brass. Years back I had a .416 rem in the Sako 75 hunter model. Never did fire it and sold it for a song at the time. I wish I could find another one of those right now..
 
I've got a .416 Rigby, but don't have any of the others to compare it too. It shoots through elephants and buffalo though.
The Norma brass is pricey, but it seems to last forever. I got 1000 training shots out of my first 50 bag of brass, and I still have it. Hornady makes brass now too. A new bag of brass for an expensive hunting trip won't wreck the budget.
I'm torn between going up a notch to the .45s, dropping back to the .375 and staying there, or staying with the .416.
 
I have a .458 and a .460 wby mag also...I like em all. Recoil off the bench is definately rated in the high slot...but its still fun. Kinda funny when out shooting them off the bench no one wants to try them out.


Hows about any .416 taylor owners out there....lets keep this going or are we just a small bunch of recoil junkies??
 
I have two .416 Taylors, one a custom Oberndorf Mauser and the other a re-barrelled Rem. Model 721 with nothing else done to it. The stocks of each are decidedly different but I enjoy shooting both. Recoil is tolerable even with full-house loads (2375fps with 400gr. Hornady's). With 300gr. Barnes TSX flat-base, it shoots nearly as flat as a 180gr. 30-06 load. I chose the Taylor because brass is readily available (.458 Win. necked down) and inexpensive compared to all of the other .416 chambering options. I carried the Rem. last season but the moose were uncooperative. Looking forward to the fall....
 
416 Rem mag all the way baby! I'v been shooting one for over 8 years and dont hunt much with any other gun anymore. Do you need it that big? absolutly not but if you shoot it well there's no such thing as too dead! Good luck and enjoy!
 
Since your talking 40 calibres does anyone have experiance with the 404 jeffrey? It looks like a tame 40 with good balistics and would make a fine big game gun for anything you hunted in canada or africa. As i don nnot know anyone who has one i would appreciate some comments by you fine gentleman, keep on shooten straight dale in t-bay:)
 
416 Rem

416Moose-1.jpg



Had a 416 Rigby for a while but it kicked too much.:p
 
zywina said:
Since your talking 40 calibres does anyone have experiance with the 404 jeffrey? It looks like a tame 40 with good balistics and would make a fine big game gun for anything you hunted in canada or africa. As i don nnot know anyone who has one i would appreciate some comments by you fine gentleman, keep on shooten straight dale in t-bay:)
Click to expand...


In case you didn't know, the .404 Jeffrey is actually .423 caliber... but I suppose you knew that.
 
I have a 416 Rigby, just broke down my long time 416 Rem, and I am in the process of building a 416 Ultra (just got the barrel).

First off there is no such thing as a bad 416!
All of them have fantastic smashing power for any North American animal.

The 416 Rem is a great choice....Certainly the most sensible. With a 350 grain X it shoots plenty flat too. Why did I take mine down?....Boredom. :redface:
Case capacity could be better and pressure lower, but if you load your own there is no reason to have a pressure issue.

The 416 Rigby is one of the greatest rounds in history. Problem is I have shot Remington rifles for so long anything else is well..Something foreign and something unfamiliar. Magnum actions are big, heavy, and quite frankly clunky...I own a few and still like them, just not when the going is serious.
If I grew up shooting Brnos I am sure a Remington would feel all wrong.

The 416 Ultra is my attempt at a compromise. In terms of case capacity I think it is perfect for the 416.
The 416 Ruger would be similar to the Remington. Might be the way to go if you like the Ruger it comes in.

I really like my 375 Ultra. As Boomer suggested it really has closed the gap between 375 and 416.
For North American hunting it is a better choice.

Recoil in all of these is the real deal....You've been warned! :D
 
Rigby shooter here. Plenty of recoil and plenty of hitting power. Can't say what I would have done if the new Ruger 416's were out then but it's all I want in a big bore.
 
I can' t think of any reason for me to have a .416, but if I did come up with a reason (which is not unheard of) I'd go with.416 RUger, mostly so I could bring more dancing bananas to CGN.
:dancingbanana:
 
I'm not a Remington M700 fan. Never have been. I prefer CRF actions, whether there's any real need or advantage. My traditional bent away from the PF action along with my being a bit of an old timer stuck in a young feller's body has steered me away from the 416 Remington. The pressure is too high for my liking for use in Africa. Now, I've never had a case stick in the chamber of a rifle or an extractor tear through the extractor groove of the case, but I know that these things have happened in Africa with a M700 in 416 Rem. I've never heard of them happening with a Mauser action and 416 Rigby.

That said, if you were building a stainless CRF M70 with a fiberglass stock in 416 Remington for use in coastal BC or Alaska I would be the first to applaud and tell you go for it. Why? Well, the 416 Remington and Rigby both fit in the same sized action but the Rigby is far pudgier than the Remmy so you could easily fit an extra round in the magazine - maybe 2. And we all know that when things go pear shaped there is no such thing as too much mag capacity.

So I suppose that, for North America, if you handed me the above fantasy rifle to go bear or moose hunting I would gather my things and be merrily on my way to the mountain. But were I headed to Africa I would rather take a 416 Rigby in a Mauser action, or suitable modern facsimilie. Now, the astute reader will be asking himself "Why are fewer rounds OK in the African context? More is better, right?" Well, yes, it is...if you're talking about rounds in the rifle. But personally I'd feel better with the lower pressure Rigby and having my PH armed with a double (2 shots) or a magazine rifle (3-5 shots). I know that the Rigby will feed, extract and eject every time. No belt to foul the feeding, no 60,000 PSI chamber pressure, no fingernail extractor (let's face it - most 416 Remingtons are built on the M700, not a CRF action).

On paper the two are indistinguishable. At this point the 416 Ruger is only available in the short-barrelled stainless version of the Hawkeye so it should be considered a proprietary cartridge similar to the Lazzeroni and Weatherby cartridge families.

There really isn't a poor choice in the 416 family, even including the proprietaries and the wildcats. But for me, I'd take the Rigby. Hunting is partly about nostalgia and tradition and for me the 416 Rigby is the first class ticket in the bore diameter.

And in case you were wondering, my 416 is a Ruger M77 RSM in the Rigby.
 
I've had a couple Rigbys and a couple Rems. I'm back to a mod. 70 Safari Express 416 rem. and I've got a Stainless 416 factory Win. take off barrel in my safe for a stainless classic action. The Rigby for the cool factor, the Rem for practicallity. I've only shot game with the Rem. and it worked very well.
 
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