I see alot of posts about the 416Rigby and the 416 remington.I was wondering about the 416 Dakota and the 416 weatherby. How are these cartridges in the field . also other then Recoil why would you not choose the .460 weatherby magnum over the .416 weatherby magnum. Also i noticed that the Dakota 450 and there 416 are non belted magnums., i read somewhere that this type of case would feed better and may be more accurate, is this true and why. I hope you guys can help me with these Questions as i have no experience with these big bores but i have fallen into the magnum craze and want a rifle for the biggest bears and african game. Maybe some time in the future i will be lucky enough to go on one of these hunts. Sorry if i asked to many questions hear.

I had to choose between them recently,as I convinced myself I needed a Africa DG hunt badly.
Each and every caliber has its proponents,so dont look for answers that will show the way.
I started with serial questions.I determined I wanted a .416 rather than more or less
Looking at all .416 ,the Rem Mag is cheapest to reload for-by a wide margin.The difference in power is there.More power = more recoil.Do I need more power?No

sheephunter

Most of the cartridges you mentioned are more efficient than the Weatherby's by a good margin. As to choosing a biggie as a beginner, I prowl around the shooting ranges in your area and check out anybody shootin anything 375 and bigger. Desire is half the battle since going up in caliber can hammer you if you're not paying attention. There several members on this forum that live in NY. Maybe you could PM these guys and ask to try their rifles and you buy the ammo. I don't know how close everybody is to each other but that's one way.

Tanoose



The 416 Remington comes in the Model 70, a well liked and well respected rifle by many. Of all the 416 factory rounds it has the cheapest brass and if required cases can be made from 375 H&H brass.



The 416 Rigby has all the tradition and the special feel that comes with the big cartridges. Offers a lot more reloading flexibility than the 416 Remington but at a cost of very high recoil. In other words the flexibility it offers reloaders is all in the area of performance that is well above the much smaller 416 Remington. The 416 Rigby is also available in the low price CZ. In the Ruger it comes at a medium price and as a very complete looking rifle. Both the CZ and Ruger Express rifle are well liked.



The 416 Weatherby is expensive and many simply don't don't like the glitz of the Weatherby rifles or the push feed action. If you want to use factroy ammunition then at the power level of the 416 Wby factory ammo the detachable muzzle brake that comes standard will need to be used. Many experienced African hunters also feel that the 2700 f/s of the 400 grain factory load leads to performance problems as compared to the 2400 of the Rem and Rigby factory loads.



The 416 Dakota is expensive and with expensive cases/ammo.



Quite some time ago, maybe 12 months or more ago, I put up a thread on Big Bores forum asking what 416 people owned. The most popular on this site (at least of the people who responded) were the 416 Rigby and the wildcat 416 Taylor, which is the 458 Winchester necked down to 416.



From memory there were about 100 replies and only about 4 Dakotas and 4 Weatherbys.



Mike

I have and regularly shoot a 416 Weatherby. Bought it with the intention of taking it to Alaska for bear and eventually to Africa for buffalo. I will be using it for Elk in Colorado this October ('04).
Best advice is above - try whatever you can and make a choice based on your personal experience as well as the great advice of the experienced people on this board.
As far as recoil - I'd say that is pretty individual. I am one of those small guys (5'5") who just "rolls with the punch". Yesterday I put 25 full-bore rounds (40g Hornady clocked on my Oehler at 2769fps avg) as well as 40 "plinking rounds" (same 400grainer at an avg of 2300fps). All from the bench with a wool overcoat and long-sleeved t-shirt (as you know, it was 6deg Farenheit here). I did have the muzzle brake on, though.
I am in RI (not too far from any part of NYC) and again, you can come up anytime and we can head to the range.
Stay well,
Paul

An interesting read is on page 3 of this forum entitled "Your experience with the 416 Taylor" Lots of information on the verious 416s

I see 416 Taylors selling fairly well. You won't make any money off it, and the moeny you spend customizing will go down the tube, but I'd dare say you could find someone willing to buy a used 416 C-T for the same price as a used 338 in similar condition. You just won't find as many people. That's how it goes with big bores in general, though.
I think it's an awesome round, picture of efficiency, but I don't think I'd chamber a modern action in it, since most of them will handle the Remington just fine. You get better performance, either speedwise or pressurewise.
As for the Dakota, I think they did a pretty good job on the dimensions of that one. I'd be happy with a 416 Dakota, but I'd use 404 Norma brass. In fact, I'd just have my own wildcat chambered, with the shoulder moved forward at least .05", maybe a bit more.
IN FACT, I think I've about talked myself into making a 3.8" 416-404 Imp for the CZ 550 Mag. A 450g Bridger (if/when) at 2400 fps, with four more downstairs....
I'll call it the 416 Taylor Monster.