Anybody got any ideas for the new 450 gr Woodleighs in the old Rigby cartridge? I know there is supposed to be room at the top in the "low pressure Rigby". How much of what powder to get into the low 2300's? Or is this figure realistic? Thanks "D"

Looking at the reloading data in Barnes No.2 manual, I would say that you should be able to achieve this and then some. For H4350 powder, they list a max vel of 2943 fps for a 300 gr. X bullet, 2751 fps for a 350 gr. X bullet, and 2600 fps for a 400 gr. X bullet. Extapolating that out to a 450 gr. bullet, then I would guess that you should be able to get around 2490 fps, IF things are linear. As to the charge weight, I wouldn't hazard a guess. While these loads are for X bullets, the charge to drive an X bullet at a given velocity is usually less than that needed to drive a lead core bullet to the same velocity. Good luck.

I extrapolated the 450 gr bullet length to be 1.36 inches. Using that and QuickLoad I get the following for a 24 inch barrel:
original Rigby pressures:
41,245PSI/103gr/RL-25/2261fps
"modern pressure"
55,000PSI/110gr/RL-25/2450fps.
55,000PSI/110gr/H1000/2425fps.

This is purely theoretical, cross-check six ways from Sunday before you use it!

Don

Thanks guys. If I had my Druthers, I Druther use H4831 or IMR 4350 since I already have a large tin of each of those. I have a little RE 22 and 25. Thanks again for your responses so far. Any other ideas? "D"

[This message has been edited by D Hunter (edited 05-06-2001).]

Hi D Hunter

With Woodleigh 450 gr RN-SN bullets i use H1000 with 100gr.-Norma brass-Fed 215-2195fps-COAL 94,5mm- from 25" barrel or
H4831/97- Norma brass-Fed 215-2136fps-COAL 94,5mm or
MRP/98,1-Norma brass-Fed 215-2285fps-COAL 94,5mm or
N165/104-Norma brass-Fed 215-2386fps-COAL 94,5mm
All these loads are safe in my rifle and have been used on African game with amazing results.
Double check before make any test.
Another fine bullet in 450 gr. is the Belgian Degol RN-SN.