Playing around with the thought of rebarreling my Ruger 338 winnie to a bigger bore.
Options are 416 Taylor or perhaps the 425 Express.

Some clame to reach the same fps ( 2400 ) with the 400 gr bullet as the 404 Jeffery.

Any of you gals and girls have any experience with this one, and is the M77 mkII a fair piece for such a conversion ??

Regards Arild

Either will work. The 416 has a better selection of bullets, and would be my choice. - Dan

I agree with Dan; both will work. They approximate the larger cartridge's ballistics by operating at higher pressures.

Savage chambered rifles in the .425 Express some years back. If a Ruger is supposed to be a strong action, it should handle the .425.

The question is: do you want something chambered for a common or uncommon wildcat?
.423 bullets are a bit harder to come by, but are available (Swift,Barnes,et al.).

I'm not a Ruger b/a fan, but if you put a high-quality barrel, change the trigger, and bed the action properly, it should work.

George

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Shoot straight, shoot often, but by all means, use enough gun!

I've had both a 425 Express and a 416 Taylor (still have a box of a-square 425 brass and a box of .423 400 grain Solids). The 425 was a little easier to get velocity out of than the 416. Other than that no difference.

But when I had these two it was before the days of cheap 416's and plentiful 416 bullets.

Now for the $400 cost of re-barreling, plus your 338 as a trade-in you could have a 416 Rigby (CZ550) and $200 left over.

Or you could buy a 416 Rem Win MOD 70 Safari (around $800.) and have nothing left over.

Either way you would have more value than any wildcat.

Other than just wanting something different, it just doesn't make economic sense.

Not trying to bust your bubble, I enjoyed building mine, and sometimes being rational is no damn fun.

Regards,

Bob

Arild,

I never had one, but I have load data for the 425 Express on my webpage...

http://www.geocities.com/bw_99835/page18.htm

Shadow,

I'd like to add more data to that webpage. If your willing to share, I'd like to add yours.

There's a picture on that page too, of a 300 Win Mag case with a 400gr .416 Hornady seated in it. Kinda gives an idea about how it might look.

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Brian

Thanx guys...Just playing with the idee so far. A CZ550 in 416 Rigby is defenately tempting as well.

regards Arild

BW,

Sure, here it is, from my reloading notes.

Remington Model 30 Action, 24" barrel

A-Square 400 Grain Dead Tough Soft
A-Square cases
Federal 215 primers
76 grains 4320
2416 FPS

A-Square 400 grain Solids
A-Square Cases
Federal 215 Primers
74 grains 4320
2396 FPS

Those were my working loads. Please work up from below.

Regards,

Bob