RIP and Ray,

Do either of you think a 416 x 404 with a blown out shoulder to increase powder capacity like Saeed has on his 375 x 404 or the 460 GA, would have any real advantage over a std 404???

Ive got alot of 404 brass I dont know what to do with now that I rechambered my 458 x 404 improved to 450 Dakota.

Was just wondering if any of you know anyone whose made a 416 x 404?

Andy

Rip thanks for the report! Nice Rifle!

Fred, you're kill'n me!

Just wait'n for mine to be completed!

I sure don't! Once you get that 400 grainer up to 2400 fps, anything over that just risks over-expansion. If you need something more in the way of stopping effect than you can get from the 416's/404, cartridges, you need to do what you already have done, go up to .458 . . . and from there to .505! Besides, how much more dead than dead can you get?

Andy,
That would be the .416 Dakota. Saeed uses that case to make his .375/404 by necking it down to a double shoulder for fireforming.

Unlike Oldsarge, I see two advantage over the .404 Jeffery of the .416 Dakota: Bullet availability and flatter shooting with those more available 300 to 350 grain spitzers. Definite African Sheep Rifle applications. And for Oldsarge, we can keep the 400 grainers down to 2400 fps but easily step the 350 grainers out at 2700 fps for the African Sheep Rifle II.

You also can get three rounds of the .416 Dakota into an M70 .375 H&H magazine, though the Rigby sized box with 3.8" box length would allow 4 (or 5 with tweaking) rounds and all the bullet nose length you could ever need for utilizing powder capacity of the case.

I have the brass and dies for the .416 Dakota. I am just waiting for them to make a stainless 76 action that I can put in a synthetic stock. I am sure Ray will gag, but that is to be the African Sheep Rifle II.

Rusty,
Thanks. I had the North Fork truncated cone/FN solid in my magazine. After the bison died so definitively quickly with one shot from the .404 Jeffery North Fork soft, I did not want to spoil any meat with an insurance shot. I am sure the solid from the .404 Jeffery would have zipped right through, however.

Now I gotta go back and shoot one with the solid.

Oldsarge,
Looks like the 380gr/.423cal North Forks can handle 2530 fps MV. You must surely agree that Saeed has been very successful with tough bullets at 2700+fps, and he can use one rifle for 500 yard shots or 50 yard shots, though mere mortals must know their limitations.

The .375, .416, and .404/.423 rifles can be shot prone or crouching under a bush, near and far, to better effect than the .458's and .505's, eh? For most mere mortals anyway.

And GSC makes some nifty 320gr/.423cal bullets ...

I suppose that if you insist on something larger than a .375 for those long shots in the Kalahari or the Ethiopian highlands, a .416 Dakota is a good choice. But then, so is a .416 Rem or Rigby, if you can stand the recoil. I guess that I'm a tad sluggish in the central nervous system and such things don't bother me much. I can even happily deal with a .450 Rigby so long as the velocity is kept down around 2300 and have dreamed of a .505 (Go you CZ!!). However, most folk are better wired than I and that hot a big bore hurts. Since most African game is shot under 150 yards I still don't see the point. But, whatever makes you giggle . . .

Still waiting for that stainless Dakota 76, tee hee, which is expected about mid 2005, ho ho. That should be good for some kicks and giggles.