As part of the blemished bullet sale at Midway they list Hornady's new 450gr .416" bullet intended for the .416 Barrett. At $26 for fifty I just have to try them in my .416 Remington. I get sub moa groups with the Barnes 350gr bullet and I'm wondering how the rifle will do with a Match style BTHP, BC should be upper .400's ? I'll be happy to get 2,200 fps, but I'm betting that down range they'll hit like Thor's hammer.

Waiting on the Big Brown Truck then let the load development begin.

I wanted to try them also in my 416 Ruger but they are extremely long. I talked to Hornady on Friday and they are using 1 in 12 twist barrels for the 450s. Most 416s are 1 in 14 twist barrels. Stability could be an issue with such a long projectile.

quote:

Originally posted by 30378:
I wanted to try them also in my 416 Ruger but they are extremely long. I talked to Hornady on Friday and they are using 1 in 12 twist barrels for the 450s. Most 416s are 1 in 14 twist barrels. Stability could be an issue with such a long projectile.

Stability is not usually a problem with expanding bullets in the big bores, even over-weight, long bullets. But the solids may give you trouble. Personally, I think 350 grain TTSX and flatnose solid is excellent in 416 for whatever walks.There is no need for 400 or 450 grain.

I had Douglas put a 1-12" twist on my rifle so it may stabilize these long bullets. If not then I'll have some 450gr paperweights.

I don't expect to shoot any living targets with them, just paper or steel at what ever distance proves to be practical.

Anyone know of a source for load data for the Woodleigh 450gr bullets?

Try contacting Woodleigh direct. They supplied me with info on the 350gr 375 bullets so I would guess that they have info for the 416 450's.

I've sent a request off to them, We'll see what they've got.

Huntingtons has Woodleigh 350 gr. 375 bullets, and 450 gr. bullets for the 416 Rem and also for the 404 Jeffeys..These bullets were designed for use in the 375 and 416 Rem..I was btw somewhat instramental in the development of these bullets in that I had many conversations with Geof in the beginning. He added the PP to the RN design. Geof was kind enough to send me 3 boxes of softs and 3 boxes of solids plus the same number of PP for both calibers to test in Tanzania..I shot a number of buffalo with them and shot into a lot of dead buffalo to get the expanded bullets out of them and send to Geof.

A great bullet with softs that have a world of penetration, and the solids are literally unstoppable.

I suggest the RN for herd shooting and the PP for use on Dagga boys, as the PPs penetrate buffalo a bit better, almost always leaving a large exit hole. The RN usually stop on the off side skin and don't penetrate to wound another buffalo, and some folks prefer a bullet to expend all its energy inside a buffalo. Given my druthers I'll take two holes in everything I shoot, and even prefer to let herd animal move around a bit until I can take a shot that will exit and not harm another animal..

Well the Big Brown Truck stopped by today and brought a package of blemished but quite useful bullets along with the .416s that may or may not work in my rifle. If the barrel does stabilize them they'll be used in a stunt round for whacking steel targets for S&G.

The 450 grainer is a long bullet at 1.87" but the bearing surface isn't much different than the Hornady 400gr Interlock. When loaded to 4" OAL the base of the 450gr will be near the same depth as the Interlock loaded to the cannelure.
At that depth they're still not touching the rifling. They also have to be single loaded and ejecting a loaded round is let's say "interesting".

For your viewing pleasure:



L to R
Dummy at 4.0" OAL / Blemished 450gr BTHP / 400gr Hornady Interlock / Barnes 350gr TSX / 168gr SMK.

I may get brave enough to work on a starting load tomorrow.

Let us know how they perform. I'd love to shoot them if they stabilize.

Any results from the range?

FYI the 350 gr. .375s and 450 gr. .416 Woodleigh bullets in both solids and softs and in the PP and RN are the same lengths as the conventional 300 gr. .375s and 400 gr. .416s. Geoff accomplished that with the ogive of the bullet..Therefore they shoot in either 1x12 or 1x14 twist equally as well as far as I can tell and I have tested them extensively in a number of guns.

Those heavy for caliber bullets in the 338, 9.3, 375 and 416s seem to one up the killing power in each caliber. The 375 hits like a .416 and the .416 hits like a 450 and so fourth or so it appears to me.

I love the 300 gr. bullets in the 338 and they kill buffalo as well as a 9.3x62, or .375 as far as I can tell...In the 9.3x62 with a long 26 inch tube to get the needed velocity of at least 2450 FPS the 320 gr. woodleigh is a real buff killer as one would expect.

Of note is Ganyana reports the short tube with lesser velocity didn't work out well for him with the 320 gr. Woodleighs on buff and he preferred the 286 gr. in his rifle. Also I suspect the RSA powders do not get the velocity of our RL-15 in that caliber.

Not scientific, but I pretty much leave science in town to the civilized bunch when I'm in the bush, and go with my instincts and what I see.

I suspect those long target bullets developed for the Barret are questionalbe in the .416 Remingtons, but you never know until you try them..The 416 Rem is easy to load and I have never owned one that was picky, they have all been accurate with about everything I have tried in them..

WOW! It's been a while since I made a trip out to the reloading shed! I've been hammered with work and shirked the more important things in life.

I'll get back on the stick and come up with something this weekend. (hopefully)