Sportsmans warehouse doesn't even have a 416 in stock.Which brand would you buy for a cape buffalo hunt?

There's an M-70 in the classified right here at AR that I'd buy if I really wanted a .416

If you want new, there are the ones at CDNN noted below.

Seriously, other than me and Vapodog, most of the posters on AR are honest and will tell you if a rifle they have for sale is a shooter.

Lawndart

Off the shelf, you could buy a Ruger M77 Rigby .416, Winchester M70 .416 Rem, or a CZ .416 Rigby (I think). I would buy a .416 Wby with a kevlar/aluminium bedding block stock (I have one of these). But that comes out of their custom shop and takes time and a little money. Ruger makes a good .416 Rigby rifle for a reasonable price. Remingtom also makes a good .416 as well. All of these are good rifles. If I had to rank these rifles I would say the Wby is best, then the Ruger, Remington, Winchester, with the CZ last.

I would go for a cz but thats me, add a McMillan desert camo stock if you wish

Ugly game deserves to be shot with a "manly rifle"! Cabela's calls it "...large and definitely masculine..." It'a a nice way of saying ugly! They have rather hopeful price tag on that .416"Handful" Hannibal. I have examined one in .500A2 at a local shop and must say running over it with a Rover would probably not hurt it one bit.

Your best chance of not getting a defective rifle would be to get, in order of preference:

1. CZ550 or

2. Win M70

The Rugers have ejection problems and the Rem 700's have holt handle, safety and extractor problems. But even a CZ or Win needs to be cleaned up by a competent gunsmith before use.

[EDITED TO ADD:]

My response applies only if you want an el cheapo gun. If you want a good one, get one from Reimer Johannsen, Gottfried Prechtl, Ryan Breeding, Fred Wells, Duane Wiebe, Karl Heinz Ritterbusch, etc.

A Weatherby DGR or Weathrby Safari.

For something flash the Wby DGR with titanium nitride dinish and Desert or Snow Camo stock an all all steel bottom meal and Kreiger cut rifle barrel and Kreiger ation work.

http://www.hendershots.net/images/gunroom/w375-5.jpg

http://www.weatherby.com/_images/products/rifles/_enlar...r_desertcamo_big.jpg

http://www.weatherby.com/_images/products/rifles/_enlar...dgr_snowcamo_big.jpg

http://www.hendershots.net/images/gunroom/DGR.jpg



Mike

Mike: I bought the Weatherby DGR in .416 four or so years ago and I love it...it is a real thumper. I would highly recommend this rifle to anyone. The problem with these guns is that you have to order it, you cannot just go down to the shop and get one off the rack. These are powerful, accurate, reliable rifles though.

I would PM Will and see if he has any CZ 550 416 Rigbys left for $730.00. Second choice would be a Winchester Safari from CDNN in 416 Remington for $889.00. Or maybe the other way around if you want cheaper ammo.

Robert,

I am toing and froing betweem a set of DGR Snows and Desert titanium Nitrides and set of the Safaris.

Mike

Also HS Precision for out of box accuracy and reliability of centre line feed, which the Wbys also have.

Mike

There is a 416 Remington Model 70 from the custom shop in the classifieds offered by Whamp that has good potential. IMHO it is certainly woth a look.

cz 550 416 rigby 750 (used to be 630, so it's not the value it was a year ago) myself, i can just add a longer pad to get require LOP

win m70 416 rem, 900....(requires stock replacement for me)

parts gun
416 taylor
$100 barrel
$100 mauser
$100 trigger, sights, pad
$100 gunsmiffin
$100 boydstock andjunk
500.. and a can of bbqgrill paint

jeffe

Go with a Winchester M-70 Safari Express I bought one and I love it. It is one of the best rifles I have ever owned. The only things I have had done to it was a trigger job and I had NECG sights installed on it.

I'll side with andy375hh on this one go for the winnie I have played with several of the cz's and have really not been impressed by them, they are great guns but just don't do it for me. I really enjoy the classic lines and the feel of the model 70's and I have yet to get one that was not a shooter, sure they have had other problems but they shot well.

With all due respect to 500grains, I purchased a new Ruger 416 Rigby Magnum bolt action and a CZ 550 in 416 Rigby.
I found the following :

The fit and finish on the Ruger is far above the CZ

The open sights on the Ruger were "right on" with Federal 400gn Partitions and TBBC solids. The CZ is 8 inches low and 5 inches to the left.

The "ejection problems" with the Ruger disappeared at about 120 rounds. The rifle just needed shot in. A good idea with a DGR anyhow.

The CZ needed scope rings which ain't cheap.

The CZ stock as it comes feels like a 4x4 post.

The Ruger at 100 yrds puts the Partitions and TBBC solids 1 inch apart.

Guess which rifle is going to Tanzania with me for buff on July 15th ???...............JJ

I think the Ruger offers a lot of rifle for the money. You can get a CZ & spend $500-600 & get a bit better rifle, but that's time & money. I like the M70 but the .416Rem. leaves me luke warm, you'll still have to spend some money to get decent sights on it.

Ditto on the Ruger RSM. It fit me better than the CZ, stock as well as the open sights, and was ready out of the box (after a brief shakedown cruise, of course).

I wanted a Rigby, this and the CZ were my only choices. The additional work required by the CZ plus the downtime (I'm no gunsmith) getting the upgrades on the CZ played into the Ruger's corner.

Sportsman's Warehouse in Albuquerque and Phoenix both had WRA M70's in 416 Remington (375 H&H and 458 as well, $919.00) my last visit to these locations 1-3 weeks ago.

Perhaps they can do an inter-store transfer.

I'm planning a Buff trip in 2007 so this will be my tool for the hunt, unless something drastically changes.

quote:

Originally posted by JJ_Miller:
With all due respect to 500grains, I purchased a new Ruger 416 Rigby Magnum bolt action and a CZ 550 in 416 Rigby.
I found the following :

The fit and finish on the Ruger is far above the CZ

The open sights on the Ruger were "right on" with Federal 400gn Partitions and TBBC solids. The CZ is 8 inches low and 5 inches to the left.

The "ejection problems" with the Ruger disappeared at about 120 rounds. The rifle just needed shot in. A good idea with a DGR anyhow.

The CZ needed scope rings which ain't cheap.

The CZ stock as it comes feels like a 4x4 post.

The Ruger at 100 yrds puts the Partitions and TBBC solids 1 inch apart.

Guess which rifle is going to Tanzania with me for buff on July 15th ???...............JJ

Ditto -my Ruger is going to Zim this year rather than my CZ after ramp polishing and action smoothing. Charlie.

I don't know how much you want to spend on a rifle but I have a rifle that I took in trade..

Its a Remington Enfield action on a full blown tricked out African/English style custom rifle complete with leather covered recoil pad, exhibition wood, nicely checkered, drop box, quarter rib, barrel band swivel, barrel band front sight, D&T, cock on opening, rust blue,Krieger barrel, got it all....$2500.00 and thats a steal for sure, you couldn't get the metal done for that....

OOPs its a .416 Rigby...

I don't have any experience with the CZ guns, but I do like my Rugers.

They aren't perfect, though. When I first got the .416, it wouldn't reliably feed either factory loads or handloads in Norma brass. It went right back to the factory and was returned with a very slickly polished action that feeds perfectly.

That was, however, the only serious problem I've had. The trigger, of course, needed the atentions of a good 'smith, and I'm not happy with the safety: in the fully locked position, it's very hard to find, at least if you're in a hurry. I keep promising myself to have it welded up and reshaped someday, but haven't yet goatten around to it.

I've personally never seen nor experienced ejection troubles with any Ruger; it's news to me.

I've also heard a great deal about the Ruger bedding being inadequate, especially at the tang. Mine has had no troubles after several hundred rounds.

Wood quality can be spotty. Mine is pretty nice; I've seen better, and also much worse. I'm not thrilled with the grain direction through the pistol grip and wouldn't be terribly surprised if it turned itself into a handgun someday, but have had no troules so far. At any rate, considering the additional cost over the "plain" grades of Rugers, I would be inclined to return a Magnum rifle if the wood was as plain as some of that I've seen.

Finally, the buttstock is simply too damned small. There isn't enough area at the pad, and the pad itself is hardly better than a steel buttplate. A decelerator pad helped, but more than ten rounds in a day results in the gun gathering dust in the safe for a few months while I learn to stop hating it. Again.

And that, apparently, is my review of the Ruger!

I vote for the Winchester Model 70 (neither CZ nor R-ugh-er make a LH big bore).

George

Around here, the CZ's had a reputation for splitting their stocks repeatedly. Did they ever get that problem resolved?

I use the M70 Safari Express in 416 Rem Mag. It had a feeding problem that was solved with a new magazine spring from Winchester. The original was very weak.

It is very accurate, the first three shots touch each other at 100 yds. The next three may be just as accurate but the shooters concentration wanders between shots 4 and 6

RiflemanZ,

If you don't mind a push feed, a close friend of mine has a Sako 416 Rem here in Appleton. He is an FFL dealer though he only handles personal clients. He has used the rifle on a buffalo hunt and several of his trophies are at Scheels and Gander Mountain here. Let me know if you want me to put you in touch with him - I shall have no role here apart from the introduction.

Best wishes!

Buy my brand-spanking-new Winchester in .416 Remington Mag that's in classified... It's way under retail.. in fact, under wholesale, even including being ppd.

Well, you could get 30 extra KO points and similar practical trajectory. There is this big Heym Magnum bolt gun in .500 in very good shape for $4,000. It has a generous leather covered pad (original issue pad is almost useless) and some ammo with it. You would get a quick handling/well balanced stopper in classic Brit caliber. It would no doubt rattle you a lot when fired.

I would get a Blaser R 93 Safari in 416 Remington Mag.

.416 Rem mag in a Blaser, out of the box ready to go! Great choice

Aleko

Hi Rifleman Z

Go for the rigby at anytime!. Much more flexable in powders, much more flexable in bullets( 260-500grain).NO magnumbelt, and a nice big case you don`t fumble with when reaching for more ammo in your belt or pocket!.
Get the mauser magnumactiom THAT works, and a great flexabillity in cartridge overall length you have to play with!.

CZ-550!

quote:

Originally posted by RiflemanZ:
Sportsmans warehouse doesn't even have a 416 in stock.Which brand would you buy for a cape buffalo hunt?

If you dont care in recoil this one:

http://www.heym-waffenfabrik.de/S_Buechs/S_MagBue/s_ExpLht/st_ExpLht.html

Otherwise this one:
http://www.heym-waffenfabrik.de/S_Buechs/S_MagBue/st_MagBu.html

quote:

Otherwise this one:
http://www.heym-waffenfabrik.de/S_Buechs/S_MagBue/st_MagBu.html

Huh. A ten pound magazine rifle in .600 Nitro. And that's if you don't like recoil!

A .416 Rigby in the "right" action can't really be beat as a good all-around one rifle choice.

I just ordered a .416 Ruger, and was surprised by the deal I got. I will find out Thursday how it comes out. There's a guy in Charleston WV who has advertised for years in Gun List who appears to be a major Ruger dealer. I live about 60 miles away in Kentucky, and have never bought from him, but whenever I call he seems to have any model of Ruger made. That is the only line he sells, I believe.

I called and asked if he had any 416's and was told he had those and 375's, in addition to some discontinued Express rifles. I told him I wanted to come up and look at the gun before closing the deal, since there is a lot of variation in wood, and I wanted a really presentable rifle. He told me fine, but about 30 minutes later called back and told me that, since I was really wanting good wood, he had called his rep at Ruger and asked him to pull out the nicest wood they had in stock and ship it to him, since the sale depended on it. He told me I could pick it up afte 10:30 on Thursday. I had never heard of doing this with Ruger. Hopefully, it will turn out well.

The price quoted was $1357, which seemed reasonable. I have to pay state sales tax since I am picking it up, but that will be worth it in order to see the gun before purchase.

Do the Jefferson thing, decide what it has to have and look for the gun with all those options, then put up the money start shooting at quit talking to us.

quote:

There's a guy in Charleston WV who has advertised for years in Gun List who appears to be a major Ruger dealer.

Is that the "Boggs" fellow? I've had mixed luck with him, but overall am quite pleased. I'd like to know how he can undercut everyone else's price to such a degree.

ArtS

You won't be disappointed with the Ruger, especially if the wood is representative of the ones I've got. Wish I had a camera so that I can send them to get them posted. Before I get another gun, I'm getting a camera.