416 Ruger Alaskan?

SuperCub said:
It would help a lot with a proper fitted pad and ditch the break. Stock colour is kinda wonky too. Not sure why there is a swivel on the stock and the bbl. :rolleyes:

They shoulda just put a classic style brown laminated stock on the old Alaskan and left it as is otherwise.
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Agreed 100%. A nice brown laminate would have suited these rifles well. Instead they slap a gaudy grey stock and brake on it!
 
I have to say that if the OP wants a 416 or something big like that then a Taylor wouldn't be a terrible choice. I wouldn't want to take one to Africa but I don't have Douglas' money to afford a hunt being blown for lack of ammo. That said, I can't imagine a camp not having a camp rifle available. In fact, I used a camp rifle in Zimbabwe (the New King in fact) but we did end up running low on ammo for it in the end when the PH's 30-06 ate a scope mount and his 416 Remington (I know, quelle horreur, a PF and 416 Rem all at once - double dickdropoffitis!) gobbled up a scope reticle. If the rifle I used had gone mechanical I'm sure that another would have turned up to be pressed into service. Not sure if that makes Clarke or Douglas right. I guess they should just fight. I'd buy a ticket.
 
BigUglyMan said:
I have to say that if the OP wants a 416 or something big like that then a Taylor wouldn't be a terrible choice. I wouldn't want to take one to Africa but I don't have Douglas' money to afford a hunt being blown for lack of ammo. That said, I can't imagine a camp not having a camp rifle available. In fact, I used a camp rifle in Zimbabwe (the New King in fact) but we did end up running low on ammo for it in the end when the PH's 30-06 ate a scope mount and his 416 Remington (I know, quelle horreur, a PF and 416 Rem all at once - double dickdropoffitis!) gobbled up a scope reticle. If the rifle I used had gone mechanical I'm sure that another would have turned up to be pressed into service. Not sure if that makes Clarke or Douglas right. I guess they should just fight. I'd buy a ticket.
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:sok2 Oh no!! :sok2 Talking like that will make your #### fall off, quicker than putting a scope on a quality lever gun. Following that, you'll get the 'urge' for, a change in,;) appearl.
Laugh2
 
What you guys have to get straight is the time frames involved here. I took a 416 Taylor to Zim to hunt 25 years ago and I only took the Taylor 'cause my 450 Ackley decided it wanted a new stock 2 weeks before plane time. The pitiful 3/8" offering from Ruger didn't exist at the time and most all baggage arrived, if not that day then the next.
Things have changed, ammo must be shipped as a separate item now thus increasing the odds of it not arriving at all by about 1000%. I would never take a wildcat to Africa today, or if I was bent on it I would pre ship ammo.
BUM you are absolutely correct any camp worth hunting from will have a rifle and ammo just in case yours doesn't arrive, in no case will a PH let the hunt go south, just because your rifle or ammo didn't get there. There is always a buddy or camp rifle or the ph's second rifle, big guns are not scarce in Africa.
The local gun shops also have a good array of .375 H&H and .416s and .458s if the need comes to buy one, usually a good supply of CZs, Rems and Wins.
 
c-fbmi said:
....The pitiful 3/8" offering from Ruger....
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I'm curious as to why you think the .375 Ruger, and likely by extension the .416 Ruger are pitiful.
To me the case design makes a lot of sense, and I'm suprised it took so long for anyone to bring it out.
Had it been intoduced during the hay-day of Mauser sporterizing it likely would have caught on in a big way.
I don't have any prejudice towards the belted cases, quite the contrary.
I understand why we have available the offerings such as the Taylor rounds that we do, but really, what's wrong with the Rugers?
 
AG - several have reported their 416WSM creations will put a 350gr out the door at 2500MV with top loads and a 20" tube. Lots of shoulder left for headspace. The Win M70 short mag is often the preferred donor rifle as it has a generous mag box length of 3.1".
 
Whelen B said:
AG - several have reported their 416WSM creations will put a 350gr out the door at 2500MV with top loads and a 20" tube. Lots of shoulder left for headspace. The Win M70 short mag is often the preferred donor rifle as it has a generous mag box length of 3.1".
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Awesome Whelen, I can always count on you to answer questions I come up with. Have any links to where I can read up on them and explore that option?
 
Moose Masher said:
I'm curious as to why you think the .375 Ruger, and likely by extension the .416 Ruger are pitiful.
To me the case design makes a lot of sense, and I'm suprised it took so long for anyone to bring it out.
Had it been intoduced during the hay-day of Mauser sporterizing it likely would have caught on in a big way.
I don't have any prejudice towards the belted cases, quite the contrary.
I understand why we have available the offerings such as the Taylor rounds that we do, but really, what's wrong with the Rugers?
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Moose Masher;

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the case design or caliber, I just do that to send Gatehouse into dervish fits.

My #1 son actually has one and used it in Africa a couple years ago with stupendous success, using 260 gn Accubonds. He made some very long shots with that combo, to collect some very nice trophies.

I designed and built a whole line of virtually identical cartridges about 25 years ago based on the 8 X 68 mm case, improved to 30 deg. Didn't go up to 375 but did go 9.3 mm.

The Ruger is the ballistic twin to the old wildcat 375-300 WM which is a helluva cartridge and does everything the 375 Wby does, another great cartridge.

The only reason I don't have one right now, or the 416, is the garbage Horn brass which is all that's available for it. Even the new Nosler loads will be in Hornady brass, so no help there. If Win, Rem or Lapua tooled up and made brass for them, I would have both in a heartbeat. My bets are on Norma if anyone picks it up at all, which would be better than Hornady but still not my first choice.

It is a marvelous cartridge, but unlike Gatehouse, I do not believe it will send the H&H into obsolecence. In fact, I believe we are seeing just the opposite happening already, 375 Ruger sales are waning and the 416 stumbled and fell flat out of the gate, so I really wonder if we will see either one of these in 10 years. Lack of the big ammo companies latching on to it has also been an indicator that sales, and the future are definately in question. It needs a Jack O'Connor style advocate to get it hopping.
 
AG - a few links below to get u started on the 416WSM idea. I'm sure there are many others out there that have built them. I'd use 325WSM to neck up that much - prefer it anyway even for my 350WSM cases. Don't want to thin out the necks more than needed.
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Patrick and Ed T report 2500MV with 350gr Noslers and Speers here. That group specialize in light "Ramblin rifles" with nuff snuff for the big bears they ramble across.

http://www.kifaruforums.net/archive/index.php/t-6880.html

Note comments here by Con, EFW and AK416 re velocities achievable. That PS - "Precision Shooting" - article mentioned would be interesting to read - reboring a 7mm WSM in steps up to 416.

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/4784254/1
 
Whelen B;

Are you having any neck splitting problems? My 300 WSM is the worst neck splitter I have ever come across, I posted a queiry here a while back and it would seem to be across all the WSM calibers. I've even picked up factory loads that had split necks on the first firing. Are you annealing as you go up?
 
No problems at all necking up from 300WSM or 325WSM to 350WSM. I have necked up a lot of virgin brass and also some once fired to date. I even necked up a lot of Win nickel plated 300WSM range pick up with zero problems - I wondered if I might have issues with the plated stuff. I like/use Hornady dies for the necking up because I believe their elliptical expander ball is the best for such - stressing/working the brass less.

My practice is IF I ever get even one cracked neck reject in normal firing/loading procedures - including necking up - the whole lot gets annealed. If I was in your shoes I'd be annealing all my WSM cases. That should fix things. The factory don't always get it right IMO.

I think I remember your item on problems with your WSM brass which just left me with wondering at the time. I just now dug out a bag of about 30 range pick up 300WSM fired from a few different rifles. Upon a quick inspection I could find no cracks. I also help a buddy reload for his 300WSM semi - no issues with brass. If you have an over generous neck cut in your chamber cracked brass may be more common.

My WSM brass so far has been the epitomy of easy peasy to maintain and load and reload - tough as nails. I may have thrown out a cracked neck or two but nothing unusual. Mine are loaded "up there" so I expect some attrition. I buy bags of WW 325WSM virgin brass to feed my 350WSM fun.

Good luck finding the Gremlins.
 
I had a 416 Ruger Alaskan and and 375 Alaskan. Sold the 375 during a brain fart. The 416 was too much recoil for me. I have an African now, restocked in a grey Boyds laminate and love it. Better bullet selection in the 375 for my liking. I get 2850 FPS with 260 grain Accubond. That gives me .30-06 trajectory and as much energy at 300M that a .300 WM has at the muzzle. Good enough for me and anything I will EVER hunt, unless the 6-49 pans out, but I'm not banking on that happening.
 
lol, I should have said that the part I found interesting in the article was what the author decided to go with for a finished weight with that rifle...quite lightweight!
 
AG said:
lol, I should have said that the part I found interesting in the article was what the author decided to go with for a finished weight with that rifle...quite lightweight!
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The author of that article is a regular poster on Accurate Reloading. Look over some of his posts there before making any decisions based on his recommendations. Even when he makes what appears to be a sound assertion, his generally troll-like behaviour makes almost anything he says suspect. That's when he's not busy flogging his handmade leather trinkets and his how-to books on elephant hunting. If I actually gave a crap, I'd be curious to see if they are self-published.
 
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