To augment the comments by Mike375, let me say that I ALMOST agree with 500grains that there can be no ideal cartridge that masters all situations. This is, in fact, unnecesary in most of North America (except for areas in which you may run into brown bear) where you set out to hunt a particular animal during a particular season or you plan a trip wholly centered on a particular species. For example, even if you ran into a black bear on your elk hunt, the 30-06 or .300win in your hands would be plenty effective even if you had tags for both. In an environment of truly diversified herbivores (not to mention the presence of leopard and lion) like Africa, however, it is VERY convenient to be toting a single gun that can do it all from shorter ranges on buffs and eles to at least intermediate ranges on medium or large antelope. I think the .416 Rigby or Mr. Atkinson's venerable .404 Jeffery both accomplish this task admirably.

JohnTheGreek

And the 40th post saying in limbo the same thing about nothing just occured.
416 and ok or maybe or that is that.
nuff said

Gentlemen:
There is no need to beat-around-the-bush, the 416 caliber is simply the best all-around African cartridge. Period. Re you suprised, I said that....
George

Smile when you say that smallfry

ZERO - I've been catching up on my woodchuck hunting between the weddings of my two sons.
Thanks for asking.

Will - Yes buddy, it is much easier to build a light .416 Rem than a Rigby. There are lighter actions for the Rem which are not very suitable for the Rigby. Winchester and Remington, to name a few. The Rigby needs a larger action in my opinion, especially if maximum magazine capacity is an issue. No??
I have decided that I will not concern myself with getting slammed a bit harder by a "light for caliber" rifle. It only takes a split second to fire the round which concludes your hunt but you may well have to carry the rifle all day, everyday, until that moment arrives. As such, my .505 is 10 pounds, my .458 Lott was 9.25 pounds and my .416 is 8 pounds, built on the Model 70 action.

500 - I do not disaggree at all in wanting a specialized rifle for specific work. I am merely being receptive to the fact that all these .416's are extremely versatile and much more shootable than larger cartridges. As such, they get my vote for general use by the general hunting public, especially in the Remington version.

Nickudu

Thanks for clearing that up for me...the difference in action weights. But... if you go to a light fiberglass/kelvar stock, I suspect you can make a long action 416 as lightweight as desired, surely as light as 8 lbs.

But you have now forced my hand, as I have no first hand experience to prove my point.

Will,
No point to "prove" ... you may be right.
I suspect it may be difficult to lighten up a "five shot" Rigby merely through restocking. I'm talkin about scoped rifles.
Another purnt is that while I certainly do approve of the looks of deep or dropped magazine rifles, I find them less comfortable and a bit unweildy to cradle in my palm while sneaking around the bush. I find myself too often distracted from the job at hand, giving thought to gripping my rifle. The standard 3 shot magazine of, let's say a Model 70, feels better to me in actual use.
Everybody's different! A guy my exact size but with longer fingers may not even notice subtle differences like this.

"There is no reason to beat about the bush: everything considered, Remingtons new 416 Mag. is the finest standard-production cartridge ever developed in this country, and, quite arguably, in the world for all-around use on dangerous game and the largest beasts." --Finn Aagaard

Since he spent his hunting career with both a 375 and a 458 I think he was qualified to make the call.

Joe.

I should know better, and let this topic die, but maybe this will kill it anyway.

If any are qualified to discuss the attributes of the 416's, it would include Mr. Hoffman and Tony Sanchez-Arino, who used them many years. And we know how they feel about the 416's, be it a Hoffman or Rigby.

It wouldn't be my first choice for a strictly specialized, single animal, hunt. But the beauty of a 400 gr. 416 at ~2400 fps is that it has one of the highest values of penetration index (132), which ranks right up there with kinetic energy in importance.

I'll certainly go with the 416 cal. and a 400 gr. bullet at from 2150 to 2400 FPS for the big stuff...

It works like a charm for the plainsgame with either the 300 or 350 gr. softs, but I tend to just shoot everything with the 400's and let it go at that..

If its to far and/or I miss, I tend not to dwell on thoes triveal matters these days, as another whatever is just around the corner...If I missed a no,1 in the record book,I still wouldn't fret, I just put my give-a-sh--er in neutral...and let it go.

------------------
Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com

Will:

As far as I know, the term "beanfield" rifle was coined by Kenny Jarret, a famous American rifle builder, to mean a very flat-shooting rifle-caliber...

Antonio

Antonio,
In the Sonoran Desert area they refer to it as the "Mexican Jumping Beanfield Rifle" and they say it's great for jack rabbits!

Ray , was reading your reply the "416 with a 300 gr. at 2900 FPS or 350 gr. at 2700 FPS is a real sho nuff plainsgame rifle..and with a 400 gr. at 2400 FPS will handle the rest of the worlds dangerous game with ease."

I'm having trouble finding loading data for my Rigby. what powder are you using for the 300 gr (I'm assuming!) Barnes bullet, to get you 2900 fps. been using Saeed's 101 gr 4350 with 400 gr Hornadys and get great groups. appx.1" with iron sights. IF I do my part from a Bench.