After mucho anticipation I finally got to shoot my .416 Taylor the other night. COOL! I love it!

The rifle was almost complete, with some magazine work still to do, but the gunsmith and I pumped a few rounds through it to test 'er out. Didn't try producing any groups or anything, just wanted to get the feel of her. I was duly impressed. It will make a great elk rifle, and the gunsmith did a really nice job on it!

The details, for those interested, are as follows. Browning BBR action, Douglas barrel with 1-12" twist finished at 23", Richard's Microfit walnut/walnut laminate stock, Leupold Vari-X II 1-4X scope.

I am presently applying finish to the stock and hope to be doing load development on the weekend, in hopes of using it during elk season (which starts today!!).

BTW, the gunsmith on the project, about whom I cannot say enough good things, was Bill Leeper, a regular visitor to this forum.

Canuck

I'm in the same boat as you. I'm also finishing my .416 Taylor, these days. I have to have it ready for the 5th October, then the Norwegian moosehunt starts. The only thing left to do is fixing the scope (Leu.XIII 1,5-5) and to bluing it all.
Mine is buildt on a Mauser M98 action.
I'll start to develope some loads for the 340 grs. Woodleight bullet, as son as the scope are fixed.
I'm exited to see how it will do on moose.

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Shoot well, and hit hard.

Arild.

Very nice!

What kind of COL can you get with that Browning action?

If you can get some, I'd suggest trying RL-15 powder first.

Here's a picture of my 416 Taylor...

It a Winchester M70 Classic, Douglas 23" 1-12" twist stainless barrel, NECG iron sight, Leupold VariXIII 2.5x8 scope, Ive got some Leupold QR rings and mounts on order, to replace the cheap rings on it now. Oh yea, it's a "lefty".

I really look forward to hearing about your load development!

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Brian
The 416 Taylor WebPage!

Great gun, Canuck.
I'm with Brian on the RL-15. See my post on the Gunsmithing forum please.

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Good huntin', shootin', and spear chuckin',
RAB

BW,

That is a darn fine looking rifle! Mine will look quite a bit different (blued chrome moly & laminate stock), but they are quite similar where it counts. I look forward to comparing load info.

I am not yet sure of the max COL that the BBR magazine will accomodate. Presently I have only loaded 400gr Hornady RN's. I have seated them to the cannelure, in brass which is about .010 shorter than spec (necked up .338WM brass), so the cartridges are quite short. Once I get 'er shooting I'll play around with the COL some more. As an option I can open up the mag a little more if necessary.

I have started with RL 15. See, I was paying attention. I have used 71gr of RL 15 for the fire-forming loads (with the 400gr Hornady). After that I will work up to about 75gr, and will use the most accurate load for hunting this season. I will probably have to wait til next spring for most load development, as I will not have much time during hunting season, and winter follows soon after (unless someone plows the road into the range this year!).

Canuck

I am also putting the finishing touches on a 416Taylor. Mauser 98 Douglas 23" blued in a plain walnut stock.I'm waiting on dies but I made a set to get shooting.My best loads so far are using 4895.My rifle is lite at just over 8 lb. but the recoil is not bad.Good luck with yours.Mark

Mark,

While testing some of Noslers 400gr Partitions in my rifle, I tried one load of of H4985. The velocity was quite good, and I intend to experiment with this powder some more. Unfortunately I've darn near run out of this powder. BTW, the 400gr Partitions would not shoot in my rifle, I gave up on them completely. My hunting load this Fall, for Brown bears, will be North Fork 325gr bullets ahead of 75gr of RL-15.

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Brian
The 416 Taylor WebPage!

I like Rl-15 best although I've only used Barnes and Hornady bullets. Brian, I'd be interested in learning how the North Fork bullets work for you.

I've tryed my 416 Taylor this weekend and it kicks like hell!! I belive it has to do with the weight of the bitch; 3,5 kg W/scope.
I have fluted the barrel and cutted it down to 20 1/2". But it's not unshootable, just have to get use to it. My 460 Wby without recoil-breake is worse, even that it's weight is 5 kg.

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Shoot well, and hit hard.

Arild.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by 460wby:
You guy's sound like you have some very nice Taylor's. Reloder 15 is the powder for the Taylor and it is devastating on Moose.

460wby: Put a Pachmayer triple X magnum recoil pad on that gun and it will tame it. The model is a F990. 470 Mbogo

I'm looking for a 300gr load for my Taylor to use for deer season. With the R-15 what would a good starting point be? The rifle is built on a Ruger M77 action.

I haven't loaded very many 300gr bullets, but there's data from other sources on my webpage.

What type a bullet are you considering?

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Brian
The 416 Taylor WebPage!