Another 416 Hoffman comes to Wisconsin - I'm really excited about this one.

You may recall, just 3 weeks ago I found a bargain rifle in 416 Hoffman cal.

see the post:

http://forums.accuratereloadin...921018432#7921018432

Well, while searching for some 416 Hoffman ammo for that rifle, I ran across an A-Square rifle on Gun Broker, in the same 416 Hoffman caliber. This one was a "Deluxe" model with a stock of upgraded wood with a high-gloss finish, 4-panel checkering, and a metal grip cap. It was in near "MINT" condition. This is my second A-Square rifle, and my second rifle in 416 Hoffman caliber.

( I already had one A-Square in 416 Rigby cal. That one has the "Appearance Package" upgrade with an ebony forend tip and bright blue metal - but the stock is ho-hum plain grain with dull finish and no checkering. )

In researching the current prices of A-Square rifles being offered on various sites, I found this one had a Bargain Buy-It-Now price, and an even lower opening bid - which I quickly placed. I took a chance and laid in the weeds waiting to see if anyone else would bid on it. No one did, and it was mine - at about half the price of other A-Square rifles.

I know that some think that A-Square rifles are ugly, clunky, and un-attractive, but this one is not. Although, like most A-Square rifles, it is somewhat "utilitarian in nature, it has many of the features that make it a desireable Custom Dangerous Game rifle. It has a 23" barrel with a muzzle-brake which extends it's length to 24-3/4". It has a barrel band sling swivel. The barrel also has a welded-on second recoil lug under the 3-leaf rear sight. In addition, the action is full-lenth "piller-bedded" as is also the bottom metal. The magazine box is welded in place to the action to keep it from shifting during recoil and the floor-plate has a take-down button added. It also has a fully adjustable Timney trigger and has the "cock-on-open" modification. It weighs 9 pounds 11 ounces with a 13-3/4" LOP over a brown Decellerator recoil pad. I added a Nikon Monark 1.5-6x scope, which brought the weight up to 10 pounds 11 ounces. Although it was made from a Winchester M-1917 action, it has been smoothed and it feeds flawlessly from 3-down in the magazine and 1 up in the chamber.

I think that people shy away from 416 Hoffman caliber rifles thinking that they don't want a rifle that requires special hand-loaded ammunition. Well this is not the case with the 416 Hoffman. You can actually describe the caliber as "416 Hoffman / 416 Remington" because the rifle will digest both. The 416 Remington case is about 0.040" inches shorter to the shoulder and 0.003" smaller at the shoulder diameter. Because the cartridge head-spaces on the belt - rifles chambered for the 416 Hoffman can shoot both with equal accuracy. ( But not the other way around - 416 Remington rifles cannot shoot the 416 Hoffman cartridge ) And, if you hand-load, you can reload the fired cases with either 416 Hoffman dies, or 416 Remington dies.

In reading George Hoffman's book, "A Country Boy in Africa", he talks much about his developement of the 416 Hoffman cartridge and actually describes the interchangeable ammunition of the 416 Hoffman/Remington.

As for shooting - the muzzle brake on this rifle REALLY WORKS. I actually did all my shooting "sitting at the bench" in a T-shirt, with hand-loads that clocked 2300 fps with a 400g Hornady Round Nose bullet. The recoil felt about the same as a standard hunting rifle in .308 Winchester caliber. After sighting-in the rifle with the added scope, I fired 8 shots at 50 yards that all went into the same 1-1/4" dia ragged hole - which is about as good as I could aim and hold with the scope set at 6x.

Any other 416 Hoffman owners out there? Your comments are welcome.

I like the A-Square rifles. Good buy!

That looks nice. I've never seen and ASquare without the chunk o'wood stock. Didn't know they offered other designs.

Jeremy

Thor strikes again in Wisconsin.
That is indeed the finest A-Square produced rifle I have ever seen pictures of.
The ones I have seen in person have all had Coil-Chunk stocks.
I don't own any.
George surely would have liked that one.
I do have George's book, autographed with a note he kindly sent sent to another country boy in Kentucky.
Congratulations on another great find, buckstix.


Rip
.

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:

That is indeed the finest A-Square produced rifle I have ever seen pictures of. The ones I have seen in person have all had Coil-Chunk stocks.

George surely would have liked that one.
I do have George's book, autographed with a note he kindly sent to another country boy in Kentucky.

Rip.

Hello Rip,

Thanks for the reply.

The stock on this one has only about "half" the "Coil-Check" features, which makes it much better looking than a typ A-Square stock.

What is the book you mention?

quote:

Originally posted by buckstix:

What is the book you mention?

Why, the same book you mentioned in your OP, buckstix.
Cover of the book with one of George's .416 Hoffman rifles:



I corresponded with George in 2001,
got his book in June 2001,
and read it just before I sallied forth from Kentucky to Botswana in August 2001.
That was this country boy's first time in Africa, Bwana Rip.



I hope to meet up with George in the Happy Hunting Ground, if I am good enough to make it there.


Rip
.

Hello RIP,

Dah ?

Some days I'm just slow. I thought you were talking about a book that was written about A-Square rifles.

That's a real treasure you have there.

I would have loved to talk with George. Based on reading his book, he's a real down-to-earth guy.

BTW, I'm trying to get in touch with the former owner of this rifle. I've been told he ordered it "special-made" from A-Square and hunted with it in Africa. As you know, I love the stories that go with the rifles. Wish me luck.

The A Square rifle always interested me since acquiring a copy of an early A Square catalogue many years ago which had some informative stuff on their rifles, ammunition and the cartridges they chambered their Hannibal rifles in.

I have never handled an A Square Hannibal rifle but do have a respect for the P14 and M17 actions having used these in their 303 British and 30.06 configurations.

I think a lot of the recoil reduction promoted and felt with the Hannibal rifle is due to the overall weight and the very large area of the recoil pad. I don't think the Coil-Chek stock in itself has anything magical about it other than being heavier and the extra large recoil pad distributing the recoil force over a larger area.
It is straight line but so is the stock on many other rifles. The muzzle break will work to reduce recoil as it does on any rifle but I don't like the trade-off in noise. Is the muzzle break removable? It would be interesting to remove it and then compare recoil, braked or unbraked.
It could be surprising just how much reduction you are getting from the heavier rifle and large bearing area of the recoil pad.

I thought you might have got 4 down in the magazine, the catalogue advertises 4 + 1 for the A Square rifle in 416 Hoffmann and all cartridges based on the standard belted magnum case.

Very nice figuring in the wood on your rifle, it looks like a real workhorse rather than a safe queen, good find.

Hello eagle27

Thanks for your reply. My comments are in red

quote:

Originally posted by eagle27:
I think a lot of the recoil reduction promoted and felt with the Hannibal rifle is due to the overall weight and the very large area of the recoil pad. I don't think the Coil-Chek stock in itself has anything magical about it other than being heavier and the extra large recoil pad distributing the recoil force over a larger area.

The A-Square reloading manual goes into detail about the design of the "coil-chek" stock. Not only is the weight of the stock, and size of the recoil pad, a factor in reducing recoil, but so is the palm-swell of the grip. That feature captures some of the weight of the hand and the arm into the recoil formula. As mentioned, I also have an A-Square rifle in 416 Rigby. In addition, I have 6 other 416 Rigby rifles of comparable weight. Only the A-Square rifle reduces the recoil to the point where it is "fun" to shoot with full-house factory ammo. The others, not so much.

It is straight line but so is the stock on many other rifles. The muzzle break will work to reduce recoil as it does on any rifle but I don't like the trade-off in noise.

At least for me, noise is not a factor as I always wear significant hearing protection when shooting.

Is the muzzle break removable? It would be interesting to remove it and then compare recoil, braked or unbraked. It could be surprising just how much reduction you are getting from the heavier rifle and large bearing area of the recoil pad.

The muzzle brake is NOT removeable on this rifle, but I also have a Savage Safari in 458 Win Mag that has a muzzle brake system that can be turned "off-and-on" with a twist of the outer shell. This makes it easy to feel the difference "with-and-without" the brake. On this rifle I would estimate about a 30-40% reduction in felt recoil.

I thought you might have got 4 down in the magazine, the catalogue advertises 4 + 1 for the A Square rifle in 416 Hoffmann and all cartridges based on the standard belted magnum case.

I can actually get 4 down in the magazine, but not 5, because manipulating that 5th cartridge to go into the chamber is a little awkward because you cannot close the bolt on a cartridge that is just dropped into the chamber, it has to be fed by the bolt with the extractor claw catching in the cartridge's extractor groove. Maybe if I actually take it hunting will I bother to load it with 1 up and 4 down.

Very nice figuring in the wood on your rifle, it looks like a real workhorse rather than a safe queen, good find.

This one won't be a safe queen, I've been shooting it almost every day since I got it.

quote:

Originally posted by buckstix:
Hello eagle27

Thanks for your reply.

quote:

Originally posted by eagle27:
I thought you might have got 4 down in the magazine, the catalogue advertises 4 + 1 for the A Square rifle in 416 Hoffmann and all cartridges based on the standard belted magnum case.

I can actually get 4 down in the magazine, but not 5, because manipulating that 5th cartridge to go into the chamber is a little awkward because you cannot close the bolt on a cartridge that is just dropped into the chamber, it has to be fed by the bolt with the extractor claw catching in the cartridge's extractor groove. Maybe if I actually take it hunting will I bother to load it with 1 up and 4 down.

UPDATE:

I just modified the nose of the extractor by precision grinding a small bevel to its edge. Now the bolt closes on a chambered round and its no problem getting 4 down and 1 up when loading the rifle.

George and Mary Hoffman were dear friends of mine for many years. We were almost ready to make a hunt to Tanzania with Saeed, Pierre van Tonder was the PH, and George spent his last days constantly planning his last hunt but he died of prostate cancer just a month before we left for Tanzanis..I killed a huge Cape Buffalo with PIerre a few days after Saeed and group left from their 30 day hunt. Pierre and I dedicated that bull with shots of some potent high dollar nasty tasting Scotch that evening, and Im looking at that bull as we speak.

I also have his book stating this after he realized his life was near its end.
To Ray,
An old friend, who loves Africa and the bush as much as I do.
I hope you enjoy the adventure and all of the fond memories we have of Africa.
May all your campfires leave a pleasant memory.
Regards
George.

He included a letter he wrote to me just before he died telling me its always good to talk to a kindred spirit, all the best, George.. He sent me his cartridge belt and knife, and was gratefull that his last days were primed with excitement of a pending hunt..

He will always hold a place in my heart, and a tear on my shirt sleeve..

Hello Atkinson,

Thanks for the reply.

You are fortunate to have had such a friendship, and so many endearing memories.

I wish I would have had a chance to meet him.

Very nice looking rifle. ! I bet Art was much unhappy with the muzzle brake and non Coil Check stock.
I like the Coil Check stock myself. But many did not.
Congrats on a good deal. !!

Such sweet rifles. Thank you very much for telling their stories.

I have a hard time believing that's actually one of Arts guns, tells me that he did know a good stock at one point in his life!!

Every stock Ive ever seen of his had a virtual LOG for a stock, and needed a handyman jack to mount it to the shoulder!!

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
I have a hard time believing that's actually one of Arts guns, tells me that he did know a good stock at one point in his life!!

Hello Atkinson,

Thanks for the reply.

I agree. I have yet to see another A-Square rifle with a stock as nice as this one. I'm trying to get in touch with the former owner to ask how it came to be. He must have been in Art's favor to have him make such a nice rifle.

Perhaps it was originally made special for George himself?