I'm seriously considering having a .416 Howell built, do any of you bigbore fans have any information concerning this cartridge?

Thanks
-Mr Mike

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If There's Lead In The Air, There's Hope!!!

Mike,

I see that you've already found the "Ask Ken Howell" section over on the 24HourCampfire website.

So, I'll just mention that Ken has graciously allowed me to post his 375 & 416 Howell data on my 416 Taylor webpage. Here's the direct link to his data...

http://www.geocities.com/bw_99835/page24.htm

To be honest, I'd like to rechamber my Taylor to the Howell, and still consider it from time to time. But, where the real challenge lies, is to work up some load data for his 458 Howell cartridge. I've never seen data for that one. Not even from the good Doctor himself.

Good luck in your search!

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Brian

Mike, give me an email, I am working on two now. Address below.

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Currently in Exile on the Beautiful Olympic Peninsula of Washington State.

My Warden sometimes allows me to respond to email. NEW Address is rifles@earthlink.net

***********Jail Flash*******
Web site under construction: http://home.earthlink.net/~rifles/

BW:
Thanks BW, I had found your website a couple of days ago, there is some real good information there.

John:
Thanks John, you and I are already exchanging emails, you're the one who single-handedly set this whole mess in motion!!

-Mr Mike

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If There's Lead In The Air, There's Hope!!!

[This message has been edited by Mr Mike (edited 03-23-2002).]

[This message has been edited by Mr Mike (edited 03-23-2002).]

Mike, I call it "Sorting Out". 'Cause there be all sorts of rifle and cartridge combinations, takes a gent a long time to sort them out. Some are better than others. Have fun deciding!

John,

I'll go with "sorting", sounds better anyway.

The .416 Howell really sounds like something I am missing in my life , I was hoping to hear from someone whe had some actual experience with it. I'm also trying to get in touch with Dr. Howell to see about purchasing one of his books that I'm hoping will have some more data in it.

Thanks for being so patient with me in our recent email exchanges, I'm sure I asked some real dumb questions, I seem to have a propensity for doing that. You've been a real trooper.

-Mr Mike

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If There's Lead In The Air, There's Hope!!!

Gents,
Please humour my ignorance, but what is a .416 Howell and how does it compare to other .416's??

Thanks,

Peter

Pete check out the link to BW's page for dat, but in a nutshell it is based on .404 Brass but cut short enough to fit in a standard length action, I believe it must be neck reamed as well!

Mr. Mike the book has the cartridge dimensions but no load data for anything....I would give you the specs, but I loaned littlebit my book and I'm sure John has all of that info.

Oh by the way Pete it propels 400gr bullets to 2,400fps

Mike

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Victory through superior firepower!

[This message has been edited by ready_on_the_right (edited 03-24-2002).]

Thanks guys...what advantage does it have over the .416 Taylor??

Mr Mike -- Dr. Howell posted a few months ago that he was recovering from a stroke and would be off the board for a while. A search would turn up several threads of interest.

Pete E -- The advantages are two: 1) no belt to complicate feeding; and 2) for any given length, a .404 case has about a 10% capacity advantage over a belted case. The .416 is one of a series designed in the '70s that includes a .450 and a .375. The .375 looks very much like the much later .375 Dakota and the .450 has also been cloned (knowingly or not) by others.

I have looked at building a .416 Howell for some time. It is an absolutely brilliant design. The crux, for me anyway: do I start with a P-14 and go the .416 Rigby route or stay with a '98 and a standard length. The Howell cartridge is strictly a roll-your-own proposition. I think I'd try sizing up a .375 Dakota case before cutting and reaming basic .404. I'm not allergic to wildcats, but the possibility of needing and not finding correct ammo is a real consideration.

I think the round has been pretty well described. I guess I can be somewhat blamed for bringing this round back as well. I don't recall how it came about, but Ken offered up his original chamber reamer about two years back, and I bought it. I sent it on down to John with thoughts of building one, but already had John working on a 500 Jeffrey, and came accross some 458 barrels so decided to have another 458 built, so have put the 416 idea on hold.

Anyhow, it is the 404 case shortened to 2.5", with the shoulder kicked back. Case capacity is within a grain or two of the 416 rem mag. My other thought on building a Howell is the relatively cheap ultra mag brass can be used, and the slightly rebated rim will work fine on the 404 bolt head.

For reloading dies, RCBS has Ken's original reamer. When I first looked into the project, they quoted $120 for a two die set, but now they are quoting something like $200! The answer is CH4D, I don't recall what they qouted me, but it was $120-140.

Advantages over the taylor is 400 gr @ 2400 fps at reasoanable pressure. Disadvantage is more exspensive dies and brass. I have a couple articles on the round, with some load data.

I'm not sure why Dakota didn't bring this out along with their 330 & 375. Very impressive power from a standard length case.

Dakota does offer a 404 Dakota Short Magnum, which is the same length as their 330 and 375, but uses .423" bullets like the 404 Jeffery...