Hello to all out there. I am a new member to this great site, lots of good info. I am new to the "big bore" scene and was looking for info, thanks in advance for any info you can give me. I am looking into purchasing a rifle in 416Rigby. I am considering the CZ550 Safari Magnum. Is this a good product? What other options are there as far as manufacturers? All input and info is appreciated.
Thank you
Anthony

I have a cz .416 Rigby and love the thing. I added a custom Kevlar/fiberglass stock and have a leupold fixed 2.5x in warne fixed mounts on it. I shoot woodleigh 410 gr softs in it and I reckon there great value for money. I would not have bothered replacing the stock if I had my time again. The hogs back is fine I also have a cz .458 Lott with hogsback stock and it handles recoil just nicely and even like the looks of it. I did have 2 extra cross bolts added and also had it bedded etc.

Get the cz and don't look back

Use the search tool and check out the CZs. There are almost no bad comments. The Rugers seem popular too but a little more controversy about quality.

Thanks for the input. I too have heard not so good comments about Ruger, the primary gripe I hear is about there barrels not be up to par. It will be a few months before I can afford a new rifle so it gives me plenty of time to do more re-search.
thanks again
Anthony

The Ruger is more bang for the buck as you get a intregal quarter rib, barrel band swivel, barrel band front sight, M-70 type safty and Circasian Walnut stock....Lot of gun for the money, that barrel alone on a custom rifle would cost you $2500.00...

The CZ is a good gun, but needs a lot of work on it IMO......

When you say "but needs a lot of work on it" what type of work are we looking at? Would this work take the price up to or beyond the ruger?
Thanks
Anthony

I've owned four 416 Rigbys: one Ruger, two CZ550s and a custom Brevex Magnum pictured below.
The Ruger was a beautiful rifle, gorgeous full fiddleback "Circassian" walnut, nice features like integral quarter rib, barrel band, etc. but was muzzle heavy and held a limited number of rounds in the magazine.
The CZs were also nice but have unusual Teutonic or Continental style stocks, which could have been remedied with a rasp, ebony forend tip, Old English pad, steel grip cap and classic style checkering. CZ's are by far the best rifle for the money, IMO.
I like custom rifles though, and had this Brevex made. It was originally a 338-378KT, made by Champlin & Haskins in the 1960s, but I rebarreled it to 416 and changed some other things.





[ 11-17-2003, 02:53: Message edited by: fla3006 ]

Thats a nice lookin rifle. Don't the Ruger and CZ hold the same number of rounds(3)? Or is ruger 2 in the mag 1 in the tube? I know CZ is 3 in the mag.
Thanks
Anthony

The Ruger will hold 3 rounds in the magazine and it will strip off that third round when you close the bolt. The CZ will hold four in the magazine and strips off that fourth round when you close the bolt.

Lucs

The Ruger in .416 holds 3+1. The Ruger in .375 holds 4+1. I think the CZ holds 4+1 in .416.

all good stuff to know. what about the reliability of them? so far I havn't heard of or read anything to bad about either. And the best part they are in my price range. What if any re-loading manuals havve info for the 416rigby?
Thanks
Anthony

I like the Ruger myself. However, I bought my Ruger used and significantly modified. As a matter of fact, mine has been rebored and rechambered to 500 A Square. It also has a recoil plated installed between the barrel and the action, a second recoil lug dovetailed into the bottom barrel rib, an extended magazine, modified magazine floor plate, and a custom stock. In this configuration I have fired over 500 rounds without a single problem.

The only problem I have heard of with the CZ rifles is that the firing pin spring is retained by somekinda wire clip. Supposedly this wire clip is prone to falling off and the firing pin spring is no longer held under pressure. Bottom line, clip falls off, you don't know it, and when you squeeze trigger gun does nothing. Bad thing if you are shooting at something that wants to stomp or eat you.

Lucs

[ 11-18-2003, 02:52: Message edited by: 500 A2 ]

>>>>>>>>Bottom line, clip falls off, you don't know it, and when you squeeze trigger gun does nothing. Bad thing if you are shooting at something that wants to stomp or eat you.

Very good point. The more re-search I do and the more people I talk to the more I lean towads the Ruger. Granted it is hard to pass up the price of the CZ's but an old saying keeps sticking with me, "You get what you pay for." And with my luck murphys law "anything that can go wrong will" applies to me.
Tahnks
Anthony

500 A2 has his Ruger fixed right, and at great expense it was. Absolutely nothing wrong with it now. I own one but haven't bothered to fix it as yet, but it is only a .416 Rigby, not a brute like his.

The CZ can be made into a sound rifle much easier.

Only one out of 9 of my CZ's had the C-clip.

CZ USA has replaced it free of charge. The entire firing pin and bolt shroud assembly came by UPS shipment prompted by my emails.

Our campaign here has made CZ take note. They are fixing the problem.

Stay tuned.

Antonio,

I have the Ruger in .416 Rigby, and mine is virtually stock..I have nothing but the highest regard for this rifle. I've handled a number of Ruger Safari Magnum rifles, and they all seem to be made to the highest quality standards.

It points easily, shoots accurately, and feeds reliably. I don't need more in a DG rifle

It's going to depend on your budget, taste and useage. If you just want to play with the Rigby round the CZ is a good place to start (heck you might even like the feel of the "Hogback" stock, I do).
Barral bands, stock appearance, quarter ribs, etc. are (to me) a taste thing.
"C-clip" issues might or might not be a problem for your usage, and if they are, CZ is addressing the problem with them.
With the Ruger your paying for them (the cosmetics) "up front" weather you want them or not. With the CZ you can add them "down the road" as budget allows.

Only two significant problems with the CZ 550 in .416 Rigby:

1) The stock needs to be rebedded and bolted. These rifles are known to break stocks if not properly bedded.

2) Make sure the firing pin spring is retained with the double nut rather than the clip arrangement.

A very nice thing to do is also to have the magazine follower reshapped to allow 4+1 rather than 3+1.

All in all, the CZ is a fine rifle, but needs just a little work. Probably similar areas should be checked on any rifle to be used for DG.

The cartridge is awesome! Much power! Braggin' rights on most ranges are included ;>

FLA30-06,

Nice gun!

I also prefer the Mauser with a drop box and most of the bells and whistles...

Welcome aboard Antonio.

WyoJoe thanks for the welcoming. This is a great place to be. The Ruger is about as high as my budget is going to allow for now. I just bought a Browning safe as well so things are getting tight. As far as what i'm going to be doing with it, for now I am just going to be getting familiar with it. Then in a few years (hopefully) I will be going to Africa, and maybe even an Alaskan grizz hunt. As my taste goes, I like the bells and whistles. And the Ruger does look alot better than the CZ IMO... I don't realy care for the feel of the stock style on the CZ's. It's lookin more and more like the Ruger for me.

Thanks for all info and input, keep it comin.
Anthony

RIP, I did not fix anything! That is they way I bought it. The rifle cost me less than $1500 with dies, did I do bad? Are the Rugers common on dealers shelves? I have never actually seen one at a dealer.

Lucs

500 A2 - Todd E/Axel - You back to troll again?

[ 11-19-2003, 02:20: Message edited by: Pecos45 ]

Pecos45,
Now that you mention it ... oh well, 500A2 has described what must be done to make a Ruger RSM sound.

500A2,
If you got all that for $1500, that would indeed be a good deal. Must have been real hardship for anyone who did all that to want to get rid of it. You didn't get it from Todd E, did you?

AMFYOYO

hi antonio,how far up in maine are you,it is too bad i didnt find this forum and your posting sooner i had recently within the year traded cz550 in 375 to kittery trading post do you know enough people around your state dealing in high grade big bore rifles?if not let me know i might be able to help .

Paul j.Antonino wakefield,mass.

500a2,
To clear something up, would you mind having a briend taking a picture of yourself, and the gun, and a sign that says "AR ROCKS, Trolls SUCK" or words to that effect and POST it?
'
If you don't have a digital camera, or your friend's cam stinks, feel free to snailmail me a hardcopy, and I'll scan and post for you. Might want a second picture of the muzzle, next to a dime.

just trying to help you not get labeled a troll

jeffe

jeffeosso, thank you for the offer, but I really don't understand it. I really don't understand any of these strange remarks being made about me by several people. Anyway, I think I have gotten the right feedback from those of you who know the 505 Gibbs. Really I don't care if you label me a troll or not, afterall you are entitled to your opinions just like the next guy.

RIP, the asking price was much higher than $1500. I talked them down significantly since it was a wildcat and all. I think that they must have also screwed over the previous owner and wanted to get it off their shelf to have accepted what I offered.

Lucs

[ 11-20-2003, 06:51: Message edited by: 500 A2 ]

I think the boy's got amnesia.

For the life of me, I cannot see why some are classifying this man as a trol, its shamefull and uncalled for IMO...He has done nothing other than tell us about a nice rifle...

I could have bought a simular rifle used from Brockmans a couple of months ago, but in 458 Lott, at $1200., so I don't see this as trol control...

Seems to me we should reserve those comments for the ones that earn it and not become a lynch mob.

Well he made a post earlier in the year saying he dropped two buff to the shot with a lungshot apeice.
His only two buff ever.

And he has just told us on the other thread now of his only two buff "one was shot in the head, and the other took two shots in the chest".

Now I think we really need to see some pictures of these buff to help him remember where the bullets hit.

The headshot one should be easy for us to pick.

Karl

[ 11-20-2003, 08:08: Message edited by: Karl ]

hey paul, I am about an hour north of the kittery trading post. I moved here 2 years ago and havn't realy been able to find much in the way of big bore rifles let alone dealers. A couple local shops don't have a problem getting them in for me though and at a good price too. Iv'e only been to kittery once, nice place, good selection, a lil pricey, and poor service IMO. How is their selection of the big bores?
Thanks
Anthony

CZ's are O.K. The big Ruger M77's in .416 are better, but I'm a No. 1 fan!

Karl,
Hmmmm, guess we'll see how it plays out? Didn't know about the other.

Antonio, if the bells and whistles matter you'll never find them at a better price in a new gun (or a good used one) than the Ruger. I know, I've been looking hard. I only owned one Ruger and bought it at a Wal-Mart as a "Repaired" factory return for next to nothing. It was a great little gun and I wished I'd kept it.

The Ruger .416 Rigby is O.K., the CZ 550 Magnum is better, I'm a big Ruger No.1 fan!

If you were having a fine custom rifle built in .416 Rigby, would you want a barrel recoil lug in addition to an action recoil lug, or would you rather have the gunsmith grind the action lug off that Oberndorf Magnum Mauser and slap a ruger recoil plate onto it?

Karl, what I said back in December is attached. The quotation you are refering to seems to have been taken out of context. If you feel I am a troll fine you are entitled to your own opinions. I do not post here often, so just do me a favor and ignore me and I will do likewise.

Here is the post in question.

quote:

---

500 A2
One Of Us
Member # 10003

posted 12-22-2002 18:33
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have just gotten back from shooting two buffalo with my 500 A^2. I was using the 570 grain Woodleigh soft poimts in front of 123 grains of IMR4350. All three bullets were recovered.

Bullet number one was a head on head shot. The bullet was found just inside the neck under the hide. The entire front of the bullet was gone! There was really no mushroom just the cannelure on down to the base as a solid hunk of copper wrapped lead.

Bullets two and three were both side shots into the lungs. Both bullets were found in the chest cavity. Both bullets were badly mutiliated! I hve not weighed them, but would guess they are only around 150 grains.

Both buffalo died without undo concern, but I was surprised by the condition of these premium bullets! Is this "normal"?

Thanks,
Lucs

---

I did edit this post as I noticed that I had fat fingered the load and originally typed in 133 grains of powder, which is incorrect. Buffalo number two did not drop until hit with bullet number 2. The first round got his attention, but did not drop him. The buffalo just stood there looking very sick, you know, sides heaving as if he was about to vomit.

Back to the topic at hand. I still think the Ruger is a much better looking rifle. As to quality and function, out of the box, I cannot comment on either the Ruger or CZ as I have not owned a CZ and my Ruger is far from stock.

Lucs

[ 11-21-2003, 02:17: Message edited by: 500 A2 ]

Yes well researched on your own post from December. I see you've resurrected the photos that 470mbogo(I think) posted for you at the time. No buff photos yet? Too much time digging the bullets out to take the photos no doubt

Anyway its the comments you made about 6 months later that seem to vary from the December story a, and you STILL HAVEN"T explained ,no doubt its all quite innocent..

quote:

---

Originally posted by 500 A2:

---

Buffalo number two did not drop until hit with bullet number 2. The first round got his attention, but did not drop him. The buffalo just stood there looking very sick, you know, sides heaving as if he was about to vomit.

[/QUOTE]

500 A2
One Of Us
Member # 10003

posted 07-04-2003 03:34
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Overkill,
They fell over at the shot. As I recall one just laid there and gushed out blood, while the second one lay on it's side and kicked one hind leg for a few minutes. Nothing too impressive about the "toughness" of these two buffalo, or perhaps it is the "knock down power" of the 500 A2 that is impressive.

Hang on a minute I thought buff two stayed standing at the shot and required a second???

500 A2
One Of Us
Member # 10003

posted 07-06-2003 00:12
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ray,

Those examples you site, were they shot with soft points or solids? I have found that solids just don't have much of an effect unless the brain or spinal cord is struck. A gentleman in my hunting party was using solids and he emptied his 416 Rem into a buffalo with no discernible effect. The buffalo did run off, but didn't seem to be too badly injured. It is my understanding that this is very common. The solid versus soft debate rages on though. I prefer the soft points, but the penetration is not nearly as good as that possible with a solid. The recovered bullets were over an 1.25" in diamete In the two buffalo I shot with 570 Woodleigh soft points, the bullets only penetrated about 24". That 24" was enough to give an instant kill with a lung shot in both cases.

An instant kill with a lungshot in both cases-just like what you told Overkill earlier...

Maybe the headshot one got up 6 months later and then you had to lungshoot it again.

If you post some pics we might be able to help peice it all together for you.

Karl.

[ 11-21-2003, 08:31: Message edited by: Karl ]