A while back someone asked (which stirred up some debate about rationale) about reduced loads for the 416.

Loaded up some .416 Weatherby Magnum rounds as "plinkers".
Here are the recipe and results:

2x fired brass
Speer 350g Mag Tip seated to OAL of 3.70"
100g Alliant Reloder 22
Federal 215 primer

Weather: 43 degrees

Oehler Model 35P

2257 from cold barrel (1st shot)
2281 fps avg - 40fps spread (I shot several strings of 3 as fast as I could rake the bolt, reloaded and did it again).

At 100 yards, 9 bullets clustered within 2.5" doing this from a bench with the the butt supported only by my shoulder and the forend gripped lightly in my hand and wrist supported by a rolled up carpet.

When I whip up the next batch, I will shoot more deliberately for accuracy.

After loading these up, I took a look in my new Swift reloading manual which ahs a starting load for the .416 Rigby with their 350g A-frame of 92g of RL22. I will probably give that a try as well.

Stay well,

Paul

I use the "cheap" 350 grain mag-tip for practice on my 416 Rem. I shoot them at 2400 fps and get 1.5 MOA pretty reliably from the bench.

Off-hand is an entirely different story!

Don G <> Can you share that load info. Thanks Maddog

HI

DON_G, how far out have you shot those 350 mag-tip, I will be getting my 416Rigby soon and these,350mag-tip, are the ones I will also use, I would like to get 2700fps with them, any suggestions on load and powder for that speed and bullet weight?.Thanks,Kev

Buying bullet's from some one else are we



Kev ! shame on you





---------Butch is sending me some jacket's i will send you a few so you can look at them and see if that is the wall thickness you want in the .510 Diam ----------.070

to 1.00 walls



It should only be 4 or 5 more day i hope



Butch just emailed me and told me that he wont ship it till Monday .thats ok it take's 3 day to get here when he ship's

man my typing stink's sec revi/s

My plinking load for the 416 Rigby is:

Norma case (or Federal)
CCI 250 primer
Speer 350 gr Mag Tip (most excellent elk bullet by the way)
104 grains of IMR4350
Muzzle velocity of 2785 fps (avg of 10 shot string)
Extreme spread - 14 fps (from above 10 shot string)
Grouped 3" @ 200 yards. (7 rounds were inside 2")

The rifle has a 24" barrel.

Scott

Yo Kev, go to Nickudu's Files and go to the Archives under the 1984 articles. There's an article by Ross Seyfried where he writes about reloading the 416 Rigby with mainly Barnes bullets. It should give you a starter to play with.

Please forgive me, since I have no experience with the Rigby, but is 350gr at 2281fps as "soft" as it gets? It doesn't seem that much less than the standard 400gr at 2400fps

My only real experience with soft loads is my 300WinMag. I've gotten good accuracy with two loads, a 150gr ProHunter at 2000fps and a 135gr HorndaySP at 2500fps. These seem, to me, much "softer" than the load you list.

Are there softer loads you can safely shoot in the Rigby? Just asking because one day I might have want a Rigby in the safe.

You can go much softer with some cast bullets at 1800+/-. There is a thread about a week old that has some light loads started by RedLabel.

I've shot the 350 gr MagTip w/80 gr H380 as a plinking load in my 416 Rem. I get about 2411 fps.

78 gr IMR4895 gets 2618 fps and no pressure signs QL says it's getting close to 60000 PSI (65000 max).

Unfortunately I lost my load book during the divorce

At anything over 2600 fps you will be getting towards max pressure.

Others really like H414 and RL-17.

RCBS 350grain gas check bullet cast from wheelweights.
35 grains Accurate Arms XMP5744 gives 1,640fps in my 24" barrel 416 Rem. You can go all the way up to 55 grains but then it's not a plinking load! I use magnum primers, btw.
Fun to shoot, and cheap.

I just started load development using XMP5477 and 300g Hawk bullets. Accuracy was good for 54 to 56g and measured volocity of around 2150fps (after correction within about 4% of quickload) so pressures quite low. A little more expensive than cast but ...

rgds,

steve

My full power load for the .416 Rigby and a 350 grain Barnes X bullet is 98.0 grains of IMR 4350 with FED 215 primers on Norma cases going at 2687 fps. Yields a 3/4" group from a 26" bbl CZ 550. Is more comfortable to shoot than factory 400s, and with the high BC it has very good trajectory ... matching a .338 Win Mag with 250's.

The best reduced load for a 400 grain GC cast bullet is 105 grains of 8700, FED 215 on Norma cases. It goes 1968 fps. Is a pussy cat to shoot.

Have acquired some XMR 5744 and use it in .470 with good success. Will try it in the Rigby, but have not done so yet.

As always ... careful with all handloading data!

HI,

Thanks,Scott I will shoot the same thing,Kev

Gonzo FreakPower asked

Quote:

---

Are there softer loads you can safely shoot in the Rigby?

---

The Swift manual has 93.5g of RL22 as a starting load behind their 350g A-frame in the .416 Rigby for 2397fps. I will cook up some with this powder weight for my .416WBY and will chrono when I have a chance (probably next week). I expect that the velocity will be somewhat lower based on my experience with the 100g load listed above (giving ~2600fps in the Rigby case vs my rifle at 2281fps) - perhaps due to the difference in case capacity (125 vs 135g water)?
Stay well,
Paul

Kev,

You might want to back off a few grains first and work your way back up. That isn't a maximum load in my rifle, as I have gone to 107 grains (muzzle velocity with that one is 2865 fps but accuracy was off, like 3" @ 100 yds ), but it may well be in yours!

Pressure for the 104 grain load measured 56700 psi max with the strain gage. The real pressure could be anywhere within 5% of that number, or 59,600 psi on the high side down to 54,000 on the low side. Again in your rifle it could be substantially higher, or lower. So please work your way up.

Scott