Will .450 Dakota resize to .450 Rigby?

29 August 2017, 05:46

jlabreck7316

Just curious, since the Dakota dimensions are a little longer (2.900 OAL vs. 2.894, 2.343 to the shoulder vs. 2.323) if running .450 Dakota brass through .450 Rigby dies would result in a .450 Rigby case (after trimming to length)?

I'm sitting on 200+ .450 Dakota cases that I came up with on AR in a couple lots, and I have a .416 Rigby RSM MKII I scored from Biebs. .450 Rigby dies are available (not special order) and the ballistics are basically identical at equal pressures, so why not chamber it for .450 Rigby, buy a set of dies, make some brass, and be done?

BTW, does anyone else back themselves into a rifle build like this? Buy the brass first so you NEED to have a rifle for it, then find a donor rifle that's close, then send it off to Wayne for more of his magic, and voila! Another beauty for the rack.

29 August 2017, 09:05

RIP

I would not do it.

Base diameter of the .450 Rigby is 0.5890" maximum: Like the .416 Rigby.

Base diameter of the .450 Dakota is 0.5820" maximum: More like a 460 Wby with the belt turned off.

The .450 Dakota came first and it came when .416 Rigby brass was hard to find.
I reckon it came first from turning the belts off 460 WbyMag cases.

I have a .450 Dakota Magnum Mauser, made by SIG on a Prechtl action. It is sweet.
Gets 4 down in the box.
Less crowded than it would be with the .450 Rigby.

Ordering the proper dies for the brass is going to be the better way to go.
And yes, like you I have been crazy enough to start a project only with brass, then found a donor rifle, and so on.
Lots of us riflecranks have.

My first one was a 404 Jeffery after finding some brass in a shop in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Rip
.

29 August 2017, 11:06

jlabreck7316

So what I think you're saying is that I should buy .450 Rigby dies and .450 Rigby brass and have a .450 Rigby built... and buy .450 Dakota dies to go with my current brass... and have a .450 Dakota built too... I like the way you think!

Thanks for the input RIP. I didn't think about the 0.005-0.007" difference in the case head/body diameter being a problem, because I assumed with proper head spacing that the Dakota case would just "grow" minimally during fire forming to the limits of the Rigby chamber.

29 August 2017, 17:00

jeffeosso

yes, it will, the base is likely going to be undersized - i wouldn't load it to full pressure

30 August 2017, 03:23

Mike McGuire

quote:
Originally posted by RIP:
I would not do it.

Base diameter of the .450 Rigby is 0.5890" maximum: Like the .416 Rigby.

Base diameter of the .450 Dakota is 0.5820" maximum: More like a 460 Wby with the belt turned off.

The .450 Dakota came first and it came when .416 Rigby brass was hard to find.
I reckon it came first from turning the belts off 460 WbyMag cases.

I have a .450 Dakota Magnum Mauser, made by SIG on a Prechtl action. It is sweet.
Gets 4 down in the box.
Less crowded than it would be with the .450 Rigby.

Ordering the proper dies for the brass is going to be the better way to go.
And yes, like you I have been crazy enough to start a project only with brass, then found a donor rifle, and so on.
Lots of us riflecranks have.
My first one was a 404 Jeffery after finding some brass in a shop in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Rip
.

As above.

Lazzeroni years ago told me on the phone (and maybe Dakota are the same) that his cases were slightly smaller on the case head to prevent people making brass for his calibres with 416 Rigby brass.