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Harry,

Thanks for the details. I found it interesting that you wanted to shed some weight on the Rigby. My 416 Taylor is but 7 and 1/2 pounds! Somewhat unusual.

Be well,

Bill

Fascinating.

Although I must say, Mr. Selby, that the notion of shaving down the stock of a vintage Rigby scares the hell out of me!

And isn't it great that Paul Roberts refused to take no for an answer on the export permit?

Loved the story, and the history.

Again, many thanks.

Harry said:

"I apologise for the rather lengthy response hopefully covering all queries.... in-fact I feel rather like a baboon being debugged by the rest of the troop."

And a much appreciated debugging of some other of us baboons was accomplished.

Thank you Sir!!!

A living link to a bygone era. Just think of it, Harry was initiated by Phillip Percival. Oh, how I wish he would write a book! A book about HIS life. Tales of growing up in Kenya, the post war years when he got started, his contemporaries, the Mau Mau years, Uhuru, his business ventures, his ambitions, about Botswana, his kids, his staff, and his guns. The people he knew, loved and loathed.

I wish he would do it like Finn Aagaard, and sit with a recorder and tell stories around the campfire. Sadly, I've had a publisher of such books say Harry will never do it. There is so much he has shared with a few, that many of the rest of us would enjoy.

Harry, if you read this, I'll buy the first 20 copies! Better yet, I'll supply the recorder and the campfire.

Maybe Mark or Gail would collect the stories?

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:
Harry said:

"I apologise for the rather lengthy response hopefully covering all queries.... in-fact I feel rather like a baboon being debugged by the rest of the troop."

I am honored to be considered a member of the troop.

quote:

Originally posted by 450/400 Jeffery's:
Oh, how I wish he would write a book! A book about HIS life. Tales of growing up in Kenya, the post war years when he got started, his contemporaries, the Mau Mau years, Uhuru, his business ventures, his ambitions, about Botswana, his kids, his staff, and his guns. The people he knew, loved and loathed.

Well said, may it please the court! A book by Harry Selby would be a major event in African hunting literature.

Please accept my pleadings in the same vein, as amicus curiae.

Also, be sure to visit Gail Selby Wentink's website:

http://gabrimaun.tripod.com/



from "Harry Selby - An African Legend" by Joe Coogan
"Like Harry, his children Mark and Gail grew up in the shadow of acacia trees and within the sound of roaring lions. At the age of 14, Gail hunted an elephant with her father taking a bull with 50-pound tusks. On that hunt she used a Rigby .275 originally belonging to the legendary elephant hunter Karamoja Bell, and which had been given to her brother Mark by his godfather, Robert Ruark."




Gail Selby with her father Harry Selby

Cheers!
-Bob F.

It is stories such as this that make AR such a great site. My thanks to those who shared this very interesting info and to Harry Selby for taking the time to respond.

Scott

In response to the question of whether HArry's 416 Rigby held 'four down' with room for one in the chamber, Harry inquired of D'Arcy Echols to offer an explanation of how this might have been accomplished. What follows is D'Arcy's response in technical terms I am sure you all will appreciate. I think we have all been treated to something quite special (and rare) to have such information about this rifle come straight from the 'horse's mouth' as it were and to also have one of America's premier gunbuilders offer his thoughts on the Rigby's seemingly enigmatic magazine.

Harry asked to pass his best regards to all of you reading and posting on this thread.


From D'Arcy:

"Harry
Glad to hear your on the mend. Yes I did read the thread on AR last night in fact. Every original 416 Rigby using a Magnum 98 action that I have ever worked on has held 4 rounds in the magazine and still allowed about an 1/8" additional spring compression to allow the full magazine payload to articulate up and down as the first round was stripped from the magazine.

The approximate construction date of your rifle suggest that Rigby no longer had any Magnum actions in house so they used the Std 98 instead. I gather it was assembled from a variety of inventoried parts that they still had on hand. The magazine used could have been an original # 20 magazine box suitable for the 416. The underside of the actions rails, feed well and length would have had to have been modified so as to match the opening at the top of the magazine or nothing would have worked. The follower used in your original rifle would not have been a Std 98 8x57 follower as it would have been so narrow compared to this retro fit box that it would have shot up through the rails when ever you opened the bolt with an empty magazine and would not have held the last round in the magazine as it would have been way to narrow to hold the last round under the rail. They may have used a follower from a 404 Jeffery or just a shortened 416 follower they had on hand. A lot would depend on the actual magazine spring itself and how it collapsed as rounds were fed into the magazine. Properly made the "W" shaped magazine spring would allow the follower and spring to collapse almost straight down with the round "eyes" at the end of each leg of the spring to nestled just behind or ahead of the eye above or below it. There would have been a recessed pocket for the spring and follower to nestle into as well on the interior side floor plate allowing more available room in the magazine for the 4th round. There is also a chance that the spring originally used collapsed on an angle or a slant and the "smith" was required to shorten the follower by .100 to .200 at the front or rear or both to prevent the follower from dragging along the front or rear wall of the magazine and retarding the last or 4th round going into the magazine. It is my guess that the craftsman that did the work on your original rifle certainly knew "sheep shit from cotton seed" and understood what parts had to used especially when starting off with a Std 98. Talent like that is rare

When the rifle went back to be re-barreled I would guess that the "new team" decided that the original follower was to short and replaced it with a Brno 602 follower and 602 magazine spring that would not allow the "eyes" of the magazine spring to collapse into the underside of the follower or the follower to nestle into recessed floor plate. If the original magazine spring did collapse on a slight angle the NEW IMPROVED longer follower would begin to drag on the front or rear walls of the magazine tying up the works. This is all speculation on my part but I have seen this many times in the past.

I'm curious, what did you ever do with the 3 position Rabourn safety I fit to your 416 ? All the current pics show your rifle with the original 98 bolt sleeve installed. If you still have it and are not using it I'll buy it back from you as those are now impossible to find and they are the best retro fit safety I have ever used on a 98.

I hope this sheds some light on your question, I'd be willing to bet you're correct that at one time it did in fact hold 4 down in the magazine. Then it got "fixed"

Best
D'Arcy"



PS In regards to the Raebourn safety D'Arcy mentions being installed, Harry asked me to clarify that the purchaser of the 416 insisted on having the original Mauser safety installed so Harry simply removed the Raebourn safety and re-installed the original Mauser safety. -Baxter


Once again, many thanks to Harry and now D'Arcy for giving us such great information on this iconic rifle!

Cheers,

_Baxter

The original magazine spring and follower would restore "Sally" to "4+1 Five-shooter."

The Ol'Girl has really been around! Even D'Arcy has had his mitts on her!
I wonder if this was before or after her make-over at Rigby's of London?
Here's to when Harry met Sally!

RIP
Harry's 416 bolt was hand delivered to me via a friend of Harry's at one of the SCI conventions many years ago. If I remember correctly I installed the Rabourn Safety, rust blued the parts in a couple days and sent it back on it's way to Botswana. The pics seen on this thread show the original 98 sleeve in place which makes sense that the new owner would want the rifle in the original condition.

Well, this thread settles it. I bought an extra LH Ruger 375 African that I will now convert to a 416 Ruger. From what I understand all I need is a new barrel and some minor gunsmithing. It isn't a Rigby, but it will still push a 400 grain bullet 2400 fps. If it was good enough for Harry Selby then it is certainly good enough for me.

quote:

Originally posted by DArcy_Echols_Co:
RIP
Harry's 416 bolt was hand delivered to me via a friend of Harry's at one of the SCI conventions many years ago. If I remember correctly I installed the Rabourn Safety, rust blued the parts in a couple days and sent it back on it's way to Botswana.

Now that is the type of service Mr. Selby deserves, even though he is far to modest to believe it himself.

Mr. Echols, I had to chuckle when you said that you turned around the rifle in a few days. It didn't surprise me a bit, but then I know what type of rifle-builder/hunter/businessman you are.

I get the impression that Harry Selby does not consider himself a legend. The only problem there is that the rest of us do(as we should).