I have my first trip planned this September for Zim with Charlton McCallum. Going for buff, kudu, zebra, maybe hippo and whatever plains game may still be on quota. I am taking my 7mm Rem Mag that I have shot for years, plus a Rifles, Inc. custom 416 that I will receive in March/April. I would normally handload for the 416, but brass is nowhere to be found. My initial plan is to buy some Hornady factory, which I can get for approx. $3 or less per round to learn to shoot the gun, and then take whatever factory ammo in a a premium bullet (Barnes, Swift, or Trophy Bonded) that Lex says that the gun likes the best when he breaks it in. Any pointers from you vastly experienced folks and/or other suggestions would be much appreciated.

Jamison International 416 rem brass 25 for 20 cases

Find the bullet and load, and practice offhand and sticks, at 50 yds....and then practice,practice,practice.

400 gr Swift A Frames for buff all the way.

Congrats, drj! Your .416 will certainly do the trick.

Here's a link to a fairly recent thread with some good tips on how to shoot a big bore.

How to Do It

As soon as you get it, shoot it as much as you can. Assuming you will be shooting factory, try different brands, loads, bullets, etc, Find out what she likes. Any good quality bullet will work if it hits the mark. Swift A-Frame, Trophy Bonded Bear Claw, Noslers -- some folks even think hightly of those mono-metal bullets like the Barnes. Good Luck -- you cut it a bit close on the delivery of the rifle. ht edo.clattes

Jamison and Quality Cartridge brass should be available now. Hornady brass should be on the shelves very soon. Get brass, RL-15, and 350 TSX bullets. Load to 2500-2600fps and use that single rifle and single load for everything. Load plenty and shoot often at realistic distances away from a bench. Using current pricing, you'll be running around $50 bucks or so per box off new brass. On the reloaded brass you'll be running around $25 bucks per box. Make things simple, If you have a chance to shoot, spend 100% trigger time with that one rifle.

Best

quote:

Originally posted by drj:
I have my first trip planned this September for Zim with Charlton McCallum. Going for buff, kudu, zebra, maybe hippo and whatever plains game may still be on quota. I am taking my 7mm Rem Mag that I have shot for years, plus a Rifles, Inc. custom 416 that I will receive in March/April. I would normally handload for the 416, but brass is nowhere to be found. My initial plan is to buy some Hornady factory, which I can get for approx. $3 or less per round to learn to shoot the gun, and then take whatever factory ammo in a a premium bullet (Barnes, Swift, or Trophy Bonded) that Lex says that the gun likes the best when he breaks it in. Any pointers from you vastly experienced folks and/or other suggestions would be much appreciated.

Hi drj

Welcome to AR, and more than that, welcome to Big Bore Forum! If you are interested in hand loading for your new 416 Remington, let me know. I have plenty of 416 Rem brass, new. I will loan you some. Also, while you are getting some good advice about bullets, there are some I would like you to try out, the new NonCons and solids by CEB I just had done in 416 caliber. Drop in on the Terminal Performance thread here in big bores and browse around the last 10 pages or so and you will see some 416 work done. If interested let me know.

Michael

You should expect a Rifles, Inc. product to be delivered with a history of what shoots very well. Factory ammo is costly though Hornady is much more reasonable. For your intended bag about ten cartridges is all you need with good shooting. I bought Remington 400 gr. ammo with Swift A Frame bullets and will probably wear out the package before I shoot all of the cartridges. Absolutely do not shoot from a seated bench. Make up some shooting sticks for 100 yard practice and also shoot at 25-50 yards offhand. We practice before a hunt primarily with a bolt action .22 LR to work on sight alignment and trigger squeeze. Regardless of caliber if you get these two elements correct accuracy will be obtained. If this is your first "heavy" the recoil will be eye-opening, especially if Rifles delivers at a weight of 7 1/2 lbs. or less. The elements of accurate shooting are identical until the primer pops so do not beat yourself and wallet up with excess recoil.

I took a 416 rem on my plains game hunt. 350 gr tsx were 1/2 moa a out to 300 yards. Longest shoot about 325-350 on a blue wildebeast, a zebra at 225 or so. It hit like a hammer.
Get a set of collet dies, and factory crimp from lee along with a full length die from hornaday or redding. Mine like rl 15. Neck size only and the brass will last a long time, load for accuracy a 150 fps won't make a differance to any thing you are going to kill as long as you are up over 2300 fps.


JD