Who uses this bullet in their .416's? I know Ray used it this year in Afica. I would like to hear more about what animals were taken and the bullet performance. Is this bullet constructed the same as the 410 grain Woodleigh softpoint? In your opinion, how would you rate this bullet against other 400 grain softs? Also, if anybody has any reloading data they would like to post. Thanks!

I suspect that I'm the only one that has used it on this board as its a very new bullet and I received some pre shipment samples to test as I was instagative in the production of the 350 375 and the 450 416 bullets in that Geoff and I corresponded a lot of its design....I settled on a load of 75 grs. of RL-15 in my 416 and have yet to chronograph that load but it sure worked on Buffalo....On a broadside shot the 450s will pass through some of the time, with a little angle they will not..They expand to a huge cross section and maintain their integrity every time. Internal damage and knockdown is apparant..I cleaned up the remenents of the permits we had and gave them and the Bridger solids a very good workout...I will be glad to send you photos of the expanded bullets if you like.

For photograph of the expanded bullets go to page 3 where Judge Ernest Gilbert posted photos of my expanded 450 gr. 416 bullets taken from Buffalo this year...along with a couple of the new 416 400 gr. Noslers...

How does your 450 grain load compare to your 400 grain load (i.e., how much do you reduce the powder charge)? I have a .416 Rigby and my thought process is: I should be able to easily get 2400fps with the heavier 450 grain bullet, with a higher sectional density. I do have a chronograph, so I can work up - what would be a good starting point in relation to a 400 grain load?

I would guess that considering the space in a 416 Rigby you probably wouldn't have to cut back at all from a 400 gr. as that guns runs at about 40,000 PSI or so.....but it is probably wise to drop down a couple of grains from the 416 starting loads in the manuals listed for the 400 gr. bullet and using your chronograph go up to 2400 and stop....

I shoot them at about 2350 I suspect in my 416 Rem...have not chronographed them but they sure thump buffalo and they are accrurate in my gun. I will do some testing in the spring when it warms up...I don't shoot in the Idaho cold...damn I need and indoor range.

How do I like the 450 as compared to the 400???

Apples to Oranges, they have a different job to do.....

The 450 Woodleighs are up close and personal stoppers in a solid and an excellent bullet for herd shooting as the expand large and stop on the off side skin most of the time...thats about the best you can ask of any bullet.....

For High grass at unknown ranges and hunting Dagga bulls I would opt for the new 400 gr. Nosler, as you can see in the photo it is designed to expand a little and penitrate like the dickens and it surly does that, it is a perfect Buff bullet for hunting dagga boys that stay away from the herds most of the time....

Also I like a bullet that will make two holes in a buff when I hunt the high grass, which I dearly love to do...I want blood everywhere, enough for a blind man to follow, not just a leaky nose...spewing out both sides, I want to know where he is in that grass, I want him to run out of gas asap....Most dependable is still probably a flat nose solid, but this new Nosler sure shows a lot of promise on about 5 bulls that I shot with them, while cleaning up the permits we purchased for the year....

Ray,
You need to move to Texas - we don't know what cold is!

Ray,
do we have too many choices? If you recall past performances.Could you please comment or compare the 400 gr. Nosler,your current supreme,with the 370gr Northfork you used last year?
For daggas and stoppers, BarnesX 400gr good enough or whats better
Thanks

sheephunter

My opinion on that bullet and I have stated it before that if you own a .416 Rigby in particular well you could utilise that extra case capacity to drive the 450 gr .416 bullet the same speeds some of the bridesmaid .416 calibers can drive the 400 grainer. With this bullet I would think your begginning to get near .458 win/lott/ackely territory. Penetration would be excellent kind of like a giant 6.5x55 swede, I mean a 410 gr woodleigh is a long bullet anyway. The beauty of the .416 Rigby case it has the capacity to do this and still have reasonable pressures.

I would consider the .375 rounds that are bigger than the .375 H&H could also be utilised in this manner. A .378 weatherby would also benifit from utilising the 350 gr woodleigh and then it would be running at speeds that protect bullet integrity.

If you have a .416 Rigby in particular and you are going to Africa for big stuff I reckon this bullet would be a bloody ripper

Mr. D,
the bullets you mention are al in the same ball park, I doubt that you could go wron with any of them...The 450 Woodleigh and Northfork are both par excellent for herd hunting...

I have yet to use a bullet that I like better than the new 416, 400 gr. Noslers for hunting bachlor bulls.

PC,
I don't know how these new bullets would stand up under the additional velocity as they are so perfect at 2400 FPS I would not want to change anything..I would be interrested if anyone does try them out in the faster calibers....

My guess is the Northfork can take anything you give, not so the Woodleigh or the Nosler as I believe they are 2400 FPS bullets, but thats only an opine on my part, nothing more...

Ray,

the rigby case would be ideal for running the heavy woodleigh at 2400 fps and still having reasonable pressures I reckon. What do you think ??

I though You could use the .378 case in the same manner but do you reckon it would go heaps more than 2400-2500 with the 350 gr .375 ??

PC,
I don't really know what these bullet would do steamed upl, but the 350 375 and the 450 416 do work perfectly at 2300 to 2400 FPS. so I suspect you could up them some, but they expand awfully big at 2400, about like a quarter or bigger. Try them on roos or something as fast as you can drive them and let me know...

I do know the PP is considerably tougher than the RN bullet in those weights at least according to Geoff and my magazine stack...so perhaps that would be the way to go.

MHC-TX,
I am a native born Texan, raised in the big bend town of Marathon and Marfa...

Live in Houston, was a DEA agent there, quit a town, never want to live there again, too tough and too humid