Well spring black bear season is only 3 months away and I thought I would use the Speer magTip in my .416 Taylor as I already had a load worked up for it. But I am thinking lately about trying the 400gr Hornady RN. It will likely be over bait, but could just as well be by stalking, Nothing past 200 yards. I think maybe I just like shooting the thing and load development is just another excuse.

NBHunter,

Go for it! My Taylor really liked the 400 grain RN Hornadys! RL-15 worked really well.

Good Hunting,

ditto what Andy said... rl 15 and 400 gr hornady SPs.
jeffe

I will be taking out my Ruger No.1 416 Remington Mag this spring for blackies. Last year I shot 350 gr. Speer Mag-Tips, but my friend used a 400 gr. Hornady RNSP to take a bear at 150 yards the week before I started my hunting. The bullet hit the bear in the lungs, and exited (DUH! ). 15 yards is all the bear made it. The muzzle velocity for the 400 gr. load was 2375 fps, 78 grs. RL15.

I couldn't find a bear big enought to warrant the ass stomp it would of recieved from my 416. Too bad.

I used the 350 gr. Speer @ 2540 fps to take a moose and a mule deer this past September. Great bullet performance in both cases, and they both exited (again, DUH! ). I was within a few pine trees of getting a HUGE black bear, thing was the size of a MACK truck, I swear I can also state that the 350 gr. Speer is a real good lumberjack type bullet, almost mowed the 2 trees I hit down! When I chopped it out of the 2nd tree, it was mushroomed perfectly. I weighed it at home, 77% I think.

I would pick the 350 gr. Speer. The extra velocity will help bullet expansion at 200 yards. A 400 gr. RNSP @ 2400 fps is chugging along at 1890 fps, a 350 gr. Speer @ 2550 fps is going 2050 fps. Not much, but the 400 gr. Hornady is very stout, might not open up as much, that's it. A 350 gr. will still penetrate very deep.

I was thinking of trying a 300 gr. or 350 gr. X this spring. But the 350 gr. Mag-Tip worked so well last fall, I think I will stick with it. Plus, it is cheap(.75 cents CND) compared to the gold jacketed X. That way I can practice more with the load I put together.

The 410 gr woodleigh RN is the bullet I am shooting in my .416 Rigby and it is a good bullet, but probably not as cheap as the speers.

The 400 grs Hornady! 28 mm 3 shot at 100m in my Taylor. Haven`t seen the need for anything else yet.

The 350 grain speer .416 did not expand on an elk. It went through like an FMJ.

On a bear I would use a soft bullet like a Hawk.

I find it hard to believe it didn't expand for the reason that I have never recovered a speer bullet that still had its jacket let alone not expand until I used these.

Did your elk not have mech for a wound channel, was the bullets path straight through?

It was 2350 fps on a broadside shot at about 80 yards. There was a nice little pencil hole through the skin on both sides. The elk only went a couple hundred yards before dropping. The problem was that it went over a hill so we thought we were in for some lengthy tracking. It took us over an hour of painstaking work looking for each new teenie tiny drop of blood (about 10 feet apart) to track it down to where it lay in some medium-tall sagebrush. I now consider the Speer 350 a practice bullet.

NBHunter,
I second, third and fourth the 400 grain Hornady and Rel-15 powder! It is accurate in my Taylor and the velocity match seems perfect for the construction of this round nose! Have had EXCEPTIONAL(!!!!!!!) luck with this combo!
best,
bhtr

So no one has ever seen a speer 350gr come apart on any NA game??? That's good to know.

What's the overall length of your 416 talor round with a hornady 400gr round nose properly seated? Are you seating to the canelure?

cgdavid,
I do not seat to the cannelure on my loads with the Hornady 400 gr round nose. I also have a stock of Barnes originals in 400 grain "sans the can."
My overall loaded length (attributed to a Mauser 98 action and a little magazine extending) is: 3.330.

best,
bhtr

I seat my 350gr. so the base of the bullet is even with the base of the neck. My barrel has a lot of freebore so there's more room for powder.