I have the oppurtunity to buy a new .416 Taylor chamber reamer at a good price. I do a good deal of rebarreling and a few complete rifle projects. I know the .416 Taylor is a very good cartridge however I dont know how popular it is and if it is being used much in Africa now.

So all you gunsmiths and African hunters, is there any demand for this cartridge now?

My guess is I would be better off to invest in a .416 Remington reamer.

Or is there a new .416 cartridge in the future that will kill the .416 Remington?

Craftsman, I can't speak for others, but I will be getting a call any day from my gunsmith asking me to come pick up my .416 Taylor. He built it for me on a Czech 98 Vz-24 action with a Bell and Carlson Medalist aluminum bedding block stock and a stainless PacNor barrel. He was just waiting to fire up the bluing tanks. I think the cartridge still makes sense, as .458 brass will always be easy to come by, and so will .30-06 length actions, especially in view of all the excellent surplus Mausers that have poured in in the last couple of years. Also, I hate to say it but I enjoy shootin gcast bullets in big bores, and the Taylor seems well suited to that activity. I am sure the .416 Remington guys will always be big fans of their rifles too, but hasn't Remington already dropped the brass?

When I find the right action hopefully a stainless ruger mkII with mag bolt face. I would like to build a 416 taylor seems just right to me.

The current cartridge development seems to be with the short/fat cases. The trend before that was the big/long cases, with lots of velocity like the .30-.378. All that noise seems to have obscured the short magnum belted brass family.

The .416 Taylor almost made it to commercial introduction, but it just did not happen.

There are .416 proprietary cartridges out there too, the .416 Dakota seems to be a good example of that class of cartridges.

I would buy the reamer if you had a request to build the rifle, but failing that...

jim dodd

Just how much was the reamer? If it's more than 100, call Shawnie, at www.reamrentals.com and get one for 125 or so. Or rent one from her for like 30 bucks for 2 days.
If it's cheap, well, get it. You'll have more fun with it that anything else.
If you are NOT interested in it, let me know who to contact. I can always use more reamers, seriously.

The taylor is "perfect" for those guys with a 7mag, or 338 mag, that want to goto africa. It's the same stock/action (inletted, of course) and make a GREAT encono big bore.

jeffe

I'm not into fun and games. There's nothing this cartridge will do that a .416 Remington, .416 Rigby, or .416 Dakota won't do better, and besides, good factory ammo with proper headstamps is avaiable for all three of them. I can't see the point in owning a .416 Taylor when these other, more practical alternatives are available, and as a kicker the resale value of wildcats tends to be abysmal.

AD

I'm with Allan, why choose a second rate caliber and a wildcat to boot, when the same size action and same weight gun can be had in a 416 Rem that will out perform the 416 Taylor any way you cut it..plus it's not a wildcat and if you get seperated from your ammo, you can go buy a box...

The only justification for a Wildcat is to have something that the factories cannot duplicate, and that day has come to pass, the day of the wildcat is gone forever...its already been done. the rest is nothing more than fun and games and if that blows your skirt up then have at it, thats justification enough.

Thanks for your input gentlemen. My thoughts tend to run paralell with Allen and Ray.

I think the .416 Taylor is a fine cartridge but the .416 Rem is better and a factory round to boot. Just wanted to see if my perception of the market was on track.

The reamer is on sale at Midway, regular $83.00 for $74.00. Made by a fine company Pacific Tool and Grinding.

Ray and Allen, have you heard any rumors of a new version of the .416 bore being introduced by Remington or Winchester, to match their other line of short fat propriatory cartridges?

I have just received my old 30-06 action rebarrled for 416 taylor. Statred inletting the stock tonight. Just wanted to keep my first rifle action (the stock split 15 years ago) and wanted something for buff if I ever make it back to Africa. Joe

Ray and the others make a very good case for the newer, factory .416s. But if you have a Springfield or a Mauser .30-06-length action, the Taylor is still a good choice if you are a rifle crank and a handloader and want an effective and affordable big bore. If not, don't even consider it. Still, it was a good wildcat concept: neck down that darned .458 Win Mag case to the largest diameter where it becomes efficient and still has plenty of thump and is easy to neck down. The Taylor made a lot of sense in the years before Ruger and Remington started selling .416s for under $800. Maybe Remington will legitimize it as a classic 30 years from now, the way they did the .25-06 and others.

Wouldn't seem right for Remington to do the 416 Taylor in their Classic line. According to Ken Waters, both Winchester and Ruger actually made at least one rifle each, in 416 Taylor.

Perhaps Remington wasn't invited?

Anyhow, the Taylor worked for me at the time I was looking for a large bore (even if .416 is at the bottom of that scale) that would fit my M70 Classic "standard length" action.

This is the place for 416 Taylor folks. My webpage board is so slow that I haven't even checked it in a few weeks. Think I'll shut it down, but keep the data pages.

My Taylor project needs to be redone, since it was poorly put together in the first place. At that time, I'm sure I'll go with another cartridge, but I haven't decided which one yet. Maybe a 416 Rigby, or perhaps a jump up to the .458 level?

Still, the Taylor is a great way to start in the world of big bores. It needs no excuses in the performance department, but lacks in the fact it's still a wildcat and the pressure levels are a bit higher than the other .416's.