What about the 350 Rigby? Have hunted afew years with a 35 Whelen and resently purchased an older Husky in 9.3x62; a 36 Whelen. Is the next step up a 350 Rigby? While I've seen the name there doesn't appear to be much writen about it.

Original ballistics that are very similar to what the .35 Whelen can do.

See: http://www.kynochammunition.co.uk/


From left to right: .303, .350 Rigby, 9x57 Mauser, 9.3x62 Mauser, .375 (straight)

Here's an article about the .350 Rigby (rimless):
http://www.sahunt.co.za/sahunter/reload/350magnumrigby.html

-Bob F.

CARNE,
I think the next step up is the .358 Norma Magnum!

Husky

CARNE,

Part of the lack of 350 Rigbys is that they should be built on a magnum length action, as you can see in the picture the case is considerably longer then the 9.3x62. Secondly, the "origional: ballistics of the Rigby can be matched today with the 35 Whelen. The beauty of the Rigby though is that it operates at lower pressure or you can load it to the full potential and get 358 Norma Mag type ballistics.

IMO, if you want to go bigger get a 375 H&H.

BigBullet

BFaucett
You make a good point about the ballistics being simular. Nosler offers 35 Whelen in 225 grain that has a muzzle velocity of 2725. Not really a a big differience. Thats really a big part of what I was asking; what are the ballistics of a 350 Rigby.

www.noslerammunition.com/35WHELEN225PT.html


Which brings us up to Husky's 358 Norma, BigBullet's 375 H&H and there's the 9.3x64. All somewhat simular cartriges that have excess power fora deer hunter that would hunt moose or elk from time to time. Perhaps I will stay where I am at with the Whelen.

Don't beleive the length of the action is an issue in this case. Have a Browning 1885 which I would have rebored and chambered.

Actually you forgot the 358 STA. It is the same length as a 375 H&H, just necked down to .358 with an improved shoulder. For the record the Norma uses a 2.5" case, compared to the 2.85" of the STA. Check out loadammo.com and set up a free account. They have all kinds of cartridge drawings, and reloadersnest.com has a couple recipes there.

The 35 Newton is bigger than the Norma. Haven't done a comparison, but I bet it's almost up there with the STA. The Norma is (nom) .511" at the base, the Newton is .523" and they're both about 2.5" long. The Jeffery case is about .542" adn that one equals the full-length blown-out H&H, to give perspective. You can make the Newton out of 8x68mm RWS brass; gooid stuff. The nom base dia for that is .001" smaller than Newton specs. (Hmmm....)
Saeed's 375-404 is ~3.6" long, like the Rigby, and it's base is about .542", so necking the Jeffery down to 35 would give an idea of the ballistics of the Rigby, plus some (mine does 2900+ with 280g, on the hot side). Brass for the Rigby may be pretty rare. Have never seen it, nor looked for it, so I can't say.
In (not)short, it's yet another great, moderate to high performance 35 that never caught on here.

Not to mention that brass for anything with the name Rigby in it is pretty expensive.

quote:

Originally posted by gixxer:
Actually you forgot the 358 STA. It is the same length as a 375 H&H, just necked down to .358 with an improved shoulder. For the record the Norma uses a 2.5" case, compared to the 2.85" of the STA. ...<snip>...

And, let’s not forget about the predecessor to the .358 STA; the .35 Griffin & Howe Magnum. (aka .350 G&H Magnum)

“In 1925 Griffin & Howe introduced its .35 Griffin & Howe Magnum caliber, which was based on the Holland & Holland .375 case.â€
http://www.griffinhowe.com/history.cfm

-Bob F.

[url="http://www.hunt101.com/?p=242342&c=500&z=1"] [/url]

[url="http://www.hunt101.com/?p=242345&c=500&z=1"] [/url]

My .350 Rigby(if I did the posting right).

Joe

ovis,

Very, very nice rifle!!!

-Bob F.

I shoot a couple of STA's and they are trully awesome. However I am casting my eyes lustfully at the Rigby. My justification to whomever may have a concern is to take advantage of all those .358 bullets I have collected for the STA's. When I got my .416 Rem, all I heard from my buddies was, yea but it is still not a Rigby, which prompted me to get a the Rigby. Just to cut them off at the pass, a .350 Rigby would stop all possibilities of that occuring again. Good shooting.

I built one on a VZ-24 mauser action. Case capacity is within a grain of the 358 Norma. It is essentially the 375 H&H sans belt, and a 45 degree shoulder, and a touch shorter @ 2.76" though it pre-dates the 375 by two years. Gently tapered cases feed super slick, and the 350 is no exception.

If you found an original Rigby at a reasonable price, I'd be all over it. If you were buildging one from scratch, I'd say go 358 Norma or 358 STA. Bertram brass is crap, and Hornbear is a bear to come by. You can make it out of 375 H&H brass, but it is a major PITA.

I've settled on 66gr of Varget under a 250 gr hornady rn, clocks 2700 even from a 24" tube, and prints 3 into a 5/8-3/4" groups with boring regularity.

It is a superb round, but just like all the other commercial 35 cal offerings, it never took off in the market place.

There may be 1 more but I've heard even less about 9.3x66 Sako
250 GR
Velocity in meters 840 M 780M 723M 668m

Energy in Joules 5715 4928 4229 3610

Haven't seen that the ammo or guns are in US. Comments?

Federal's Premium load for the .35 Whelen basically duplicates the old load for the .350 Rigby, except with a much better bullet, the Trophy Bonded Bearclaw. Back in the old stories of Africa, I have never read a bad word about the .350 Rigby.

That is agreat looking Rifle !!

I considered the .350 Rigby chambering for a "Sunday Best" semi custom rifle I am having built.

I considered the power level, availability of ammunition 'on the shelf', handloading etc. Even allowing for the certain something about having an unusual calibre I decided against this round.

I think it is no better than the 9.3x62. The power levels are comparable. There is the advantage of slightly larger cross sectional area, a wider range of bullet weights and types and wide availability of the ammunition generally (in Europe and ? Africa?).

There is also the plus you do not need a magnum length action. A 9.3x62 can be built on a standard Mauser 98 action. Romance / nostalgia aside, and I really liked the posting of the images of the 350 Rigby here, and Nitro Express Forum?, practicality wins for me.

keep posting those images, you can never have enough of beauty and style etc.

I agree that the 9.3X62 is the more practical choice for a new rifle, and almost wish I'd gone that route, or the 358 Norma for my rifle.

If you can find an original 350, as Joe did, then it is definately a round worth making work.

At the Allentown PA show a couple of weeks ago I bought a Savage 99 from a dealer who also had a Sako rebarreled for the old old classic 1920s wildcat .35 G&H Magnum, 26" barrel, did not look in the bore, outside 95%+, I think he asked about $700. This was the .375 necked down. Attractive rifle but I am too lazy to handload any more. Have the dealer's name if anyone is interested.

Should also note that at last year's Las Vegas show Jerry Fisher had a .350 Rigby Mauser for sale, not his, not a Rigby, no maker's name but a very nice looking rifle with express sights, mint condition, I think asking $1800. He may still have it.

I've had a few 35's and by far the most user freindly is the Norma. With 225's at 2950 or 280 Swifts its equal to the 375 and thats plenty for the USA. I recently cut my barrel to 21 and lost 75fps which isn't much and its a lot handier in the field. Brass is easiely made from 338 as well. Good Luck