As I have stated a couple of times here, I'm traveling to RSA to hunt with Steyn Caracal for gemsbok, kudu, & lioness in 2009.

I was lucky enough to win a CZ .416 Rigby & 1.75-6 Leupold scope @ the SCI banquet in Portland, OR. My question is how far should I sight it in for? With ammo at $145- $229 per 20 I don't really want to waste a bunch at the range.

I would suggest dead-on at 100 yards. The normal recommendation might be zeroed at 50 yards, but that will leave you struggling if you have to reach out for a kudu or Gemsbok. The .416 Rigby is flat enough between 50 and 100 yards that you shouldn't have a problem.
Good Luck.

Bill

Bill,

If you are going to go after lion, you may want to shoot more than one or two boxes before you go, so reloading might be the right avenue to save on ammo.

Doing some rapid fire with a .416, if only to gain confidence in the rifle and yourself, should be a part of your pre-hunt training. On a lion I would want to be confident on free-hand shooting over the iron sights.

i would strongly suggest that you either start reloading or find someone who does so you can get some practice in. i sure don't want to sepnd the dollars on an african hunt and go with a unfamiliar rifle

Far be it from me to tell you how to spend your money Bill. But if you're springing for the big bucks for a trip to SA for a lioness, do yourself a favour & practise with that rifle - you won't be sorry. At those prices, most of the big-bore guys over here reload - it's the only way to stay solvent.

You may also want to just make sure that you're happy with the conditions that you're hunting the lioness under i.e. especially if you're looking for a true wild lion hunt.

Zeroed at 100 yards you will be roughly 6 inches down at 200yards. Personally i would zero an inch high at 100 and shoot it on the range out to 200yds and see where it prints. I also agree with ignobilis about checking out things

quote:

Originally posted by Scott450:
Zeroed at 100 yards you will be roughly 6 inches down at 200yards. Personally i would zero an inch high at 100 and shoot it on the range out to 200yds and see where it prints. I also agree with ignobilis about checking out things

I shoot a 404jeffery, pretty close to the Rigby, & I agree w/ Scott. A 100yd zero will leave you 5"-6" low @ 200yds. I would opt for 1.5"-2" high @ 100yds, that should put you on @ 150yds & about 3" low @ 200yds & 16" low @ 300.

Point well taken, gentlemen. I will practice with it!!! I will also have my Remington 700 in .338 WM loaded with .250 Nosler particians max gr handloads. This rifle & I are very old friends and I shoot it well off hand.

I've made a 1/2 dozen or so shots on elk off hand with that ol' 700 that the person with me said, "I wouldn't belive it if I hadn't seen it."

Now elk are not especially dangerous game but the adrenalin is still flowing in these veins.

THANKS GUYS!

My CZ 550 Safari in 416 Rigby, right out of the box at 100 yards, shot about 3 inches to the left, with very minor adjustments it was shooting great groups off the sticks. I shoot open sights on it and a 50 yard shot is pretty easy, 100 yard shots open sights took a little work. Bullets off the shelf are pricey so if you reload there are several guys on this web sight that can give you some really good loads to try and save you a little work and a lot of money.In factory ammo I am shooting Federal capeshock 400 grain Barnes triple X out of it right now and I am happy with its accuracy, you can probably load something better with practice but for getting the feel of the weapon,,,hard to argue with what is shooting well out of it now. Shooting a 400 grain solid Hornaday DGS round and its point of impact is the same with my rifle. I am sure you will make sure how yours shoot as well before heading over. I wanted to see what factory loads shot best incase ammo didn't arrive and I had to buy some there in Africa off the shelf. Several guys here have worked up really good loads for their guns only to get there and their ammo somehow disappeared in transit.Be prepared. Mr. Murphy again! If you have it zeroed at 100 yards you will be good easy to 200. I am used to shooting scoped and non-scoped weapons. A bullseye without a scope at 200 yards is small! Practice and build confidence now, Things can happen quick in the bush! After 200 yards it starts dropping like a bowling ball out of a plane. My plan is to use the 416 rigby on the close big stuff,, the 375 H&H with scope on the long stuff.

This may be inexpensive enough to shoot and get comfortable with the rifle.
Developing your own personal loads will come later.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link....23a&_requestid=70756

Thank you for the link on the better priced ammo I will be re-loading for it. My buddy that I'm going with has a .416 Rem & told me to get dies & we could do it at his place.

If you have a load worked up for the Rigby, would you please post it for me?