A buddy has just completed his 416 Rigby built on a mod 70 classic action and he is looking for loads that will have the same POI with a solid and a soft. He is also considering using Barnes’s X and solid??? He leave's for Zim in August.
If you have worked up any loads or have any other ideas please let us know.

Go to the load books and pick out one you like. I like H4350 and H4831SC. Every rifle will generally like different loads, but now always. My experience is that the Barnes bullets do very well for POI and velocity standpoint. Don't seem to gain as much velocity with the banded solids as will the copper clad solids. But, my 375 H&H shoots both 300gr. Barnes and both 350gr. Woodleighs to the same POI. The Barnes loaded with R15, the Woodleighs with H4350. It's gonna take a little trial and error unless you just get lucky, but H4350 and H4831 are a good place to start, IMHO.

David

Slower burning powders seem to fit the Rigby well. I use RL22, mostly because I buy it in 8lb chunks to reload about 4 or 5 cartridges, but 4831 should do well. I have been loading 400 gr TSX, they are longer than the cup/core bullets and may give you some feeding difficulties. The 350's don't present any problems.

John

Was it hard to fit the long .416 Rigby in the Model 70 action?

96 to 98 grains of H 4831 (long or short cut) will get you original 416 Rigby ballistics. 84 to 85 grains of RL 15 with the Kynoch foam over-powder spacers will give the same velocity with decreased recoil. Use Federal 215 primers with any 416 Rigby load.

I guess somebody will snicker but, I loaded 103 grs. of H4831 with the 400 gr. Hornady sofpoint and shot 20 rds off the bench to site it in. It shot well (about an inch) but I had to steel myself for each three round group. I had to go to the john several times between groups to keep from embarrasing myself. Then..... I get home and read an article that said, Jack O'Connors favorite load was 107 grs. of H4831. Well, up yours, Jack! 96 to 98 grs. sounds very good to me, I'll try it. My .404J with 94 grs. is, by comparison, a very pleasant load.

quote:

Originally posted by Masterifleman:
I guess somebody will snicker but, I loaded 103 grs. of H4831 with the 400 gr. Hornady sofpoint and shot 20 rds off the bench to site it in. It shot well (about an inch) but I had to steel myself for each three round group. I had to go to the john several times between groups to keep from embarrasing myself. Then..... I get home and read an article that said, Jack O'Connors favorite load was 107 grs. of H4831. Well, up yours, Jack! 96 to 98 grs. sounds very good to me, I'll try it. My .404J with 94 grs. is, by comparison, a very pleasant load.

I remember years ago loading 100grs of H4831 behind a 400gr Hornady in a BRNO 602 that was originally a 300Win Mag that I had rechambered and rebored. That was a nasty kicker!
Then again, I was much younger and less experienced

Must be doing around 2500fps...

I always loaded 96grs IMR4831 for about 2400fps in my rifle. A friend used 95grs H4350 in his with good accuracy.

I do not own a 416 but would love to own one though!

I recon the 4831 of the 1970's and earlier was a military surplus cannon powder which was slower than the new ones manufactured for Hodgdon by ADI Australia.

Has anyone tried N560 and compared it to Re22? Both are double based powders & I wonder if N560 works well on such calibers.

quote:

100grs of H4831 behind a 400gr Hornady in a BRNO 602

That's what my .416 is only re-barreled with the original BRNO stock and yes it is a nasty kicker. I plan on replacing the stock shortly.

I recently bought a CZ550 in .416, so will be interesting to see how the recoil is. I also have a CZ550 in .458Win so want to compare the two. They both have the straight American style stocks. One is wood and the other is laminate.

Hey guys,

If you use cut foam (try kynoc first) and RL15 you can load a .404 Rimless Nitro Express with 71.4 grains to equal the traditional velocity.

These loads knock the free recoil a lot.

I load the Barnes 400 Gr. banded solid in my Ruger 416 Rigby with H-4831. I found that I had to up the powder charge somewhat to achieve desired velocity levels. 105 Grs. produced a chronographed average velocity of approx. 2300 fps while the same powder charge produced approx. 2400 fps with Hornady 400 Gr. softs. I spoke to Barnes tech staff and they told me that was normal due to the reduced bearing surface of the banded solids. They said to up the powder charge. It took 108 grs. of H-4831 to produce 2400 fps.

This load worked great on elephant. My PH was very impressed by the penetration achieved with this load.

My favorite "plinking" load for my .416 Rigby was 96 grains of Reloder 22 and a 400 grain Hornady. In my CZ that load was running right at 2300 fps and it was a joy to shoot.

For my CZ 416 rigby I loaded 102 grains of H 4831, shooting 350 gr barnes tsx and solids. Averaging about 2300 fps.

Used the set up in Zim this past summer and it worked just fine.

The "go to" load for my .416 Rigby is 98 grains RL-22 in front of a Fed 215M primer and a 370 grain North Fork soft and Flat Nose solid. My practice load is the same powder and primer and 400 grain Hornady RN. It does 2400 plus and is extremely accurate with my Ruger # 1 Tropical. Good shooting.

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I recently bought a CZ550 in .416, so will be interesting to see how the recoil is. I also have a CZ550 in .458Win so want to compare the two.

I think that there will be little to no comparison with the .458 being much more pleasant to shoot. At least that's what I found with my two rifles in those calbers.

I load 102gr 7827ssc under a 400gr TSX. I get 2375fps. 100gr gets me the same velocity with a Barnes banded solid. Same poi. I used this powder as a substitute for RL22 when I couldn't get it, the same loads work. I now have an 8 pounder of the 7828ssc.
These loads are sub moa in my rifle, which is better than I need in a DGR, but it sure worked well on the klippy I shot last year!
These powders seem pretty much interchangeable for me with these loads. The cheaper Hornady interbonds I use for practice shoot pretty much to the same poi with the same powder charge as the TSX.

Getting the same POI is quite often a bit of a crap shoot. Some guns do it and others won't. Don't be surprised if you have to load to different velocities to get it to happen or to even get it close. Take a target with four or five aim points, using the bullseye vary your loads and keep the target. Now take solids and do the same thing to compare the points of impact. I have some guns that shoot everything to the same point of impact and others that one or two grains of powder move the POI around by a couple of inches.
Take good care
Dave

The difference between 2,300fps and 2,400fps is pain.

The RL-15 load is a bit more work to make, but the recoil is much lighter. There really isn't much difference in the pressure/time plot for the different powders.