Something interesting happened today. A buddy invited me out to his 1000 yard range. I was planning to sight in my 416 Remington at 100 yards as I had to remount my scope after the mounts rattled loose. I had just loctited all my scope mount bolts on my 4 power votex viper. We headed up the mountain and set up the hood of my SUV in line with the 1000 yard target There really wasn't an area to set up for 100. My buddy let me use his phone ap to calculate vertical adjustment for the .416 Hornady Interbond and I estimated my load of 79gn RL-15 to be 2380 fps. The program showed 72 MOA from my 100 yard zero. I dialed the turret up 72 MOA, got on the sand bags on my hood and fired. Dust flew around the target and my buddy confirmed the hit. It hit low on the 52" x 30" plate. None of us could believe it and were estatic. First shot, using a ballistic app on a phone, without re-zeroing the rifle after remounting the scope, in safari rifle. I adjust up 1 click (1/2 MOA) and let another go. Another hit near the center of the plate. We drove down to check out the plate. It was difficult to distinguish the splatters from their 308 and my 416, but 2 has a distinguished round .375 size lead stamp shape instead of a bb size center like the others.

Not a hunting scenario, but I was damn proud (and dumbfounded) to hit a 1000 yard target with a 4 power scope in a dangerous game caliber with a round nose bullet.

Tried again about 15 minutes later and went through 15 more rounds without a hit. A slight breeze did pick up so maybe that round nose bullet just went way off with that, maybe I just got lucky, maybe the barrel was fouled now changing the point of impact, or maybe my scope bases loosened again. I'm not sure, but I may try it again another time.

I'd think your scope is holding you back from making lots of hits, heck your crosshairs are wider than the target. ANY cartridge can travel that far but do you have enough clicks in the scope to do make the adjustment height. That's a lot of shoulder pain for having fun, 20 shots is more than I can handle...

4 power means the target appears as it would at 250mts to the unaided eye. The lack of power would be neither here nor there unless going for a more competition/precise type shoot. The clarity of the scope in this case would be what counts. Hitting first up was very good and the second round proves you can do the job and scope is tracking true. All I can say is well done.

Nice

yeah, the scope was fine for this target. The target looked similar to a 2" orange posty at 100 yards. The target was 52" high and 30" wide painted white so it was easy to see with the naked eye. I ran the ballistics and the max height of my bullet on it's way is roughly 24 feet. A normal hunting scope would have not reached out there but this Vortex 1-4 has open turrets and I was able to spin the dial up 3 full rotations with still 3/4 of another rotation before it topped out.

The recoil is not to bad for me standing against my car on the bags. I've gotten use to it and would have no problem having fun with 50 rounds in a session. I'm heading over there today to get some homework done and may head out there for a brake and see if I can home it in. If I do, I'm going to see if a buddy will record it for me with his phone.

Oh, and the calculated velocity at the target was 869 fps, so roughly a 45 acp with a 400gn bullet and a lot better sectional density.

Round nose bullets travel through the transonic region with great stability.

quote:

Originally posted by gohip2000:
Oh, and the calculated velocity at the target was 869 fps, so roughly a 45 acp with a 400gn bullet and a lot better sectional density.

I still wouldn't want to be standing in front of you at 100yards.

You might want to try the Barnes 350grain TTSX with a BC of .444.

A 2600fps muzzle velocity is quite comfortable and doable with 416Remmie and gives better downrange ballistics for 300-yard waterbuck and eland. Try 80.0 grains of H4895.

That is Excellent!! Congratulations!!!
Which Vortex. Is it the Viper PST? Capped moa, Mil turrets or MOA turrets ?
Do you have the 8x40 base screws on your rifle ?
Again , good job !

Once I run out of my Hornady's, I want to switch to 350 gn splitzers. The speers are cheap enough to shoot. I love the TSX's in all calibers as they have given me the best accuracy out of any bullet along side with accubonds. I tryed the 350 TTSX in the last 416 rigby I had and the tips would break off of the round under the bolt because of recoil against the feed ramp, and jam the action.

The mounts are Talley lightweight 1 piece with the small screws. I'd like to upgrade to the larger screws as I have a feeling the small ones may shear after a while due to the mass of this scope.

The scope is the Vortex 1-4 PST with the MOA reticle and the MOA open turrets. I will never use the hold over marks of the reticle, but I picked this scope because the reticle is awesome. Even though it is a tacticle scope technically, it's straight tubed and the reticle would be fantastic on dangerous game or regular hunting.

Is the eye relief constant on all Powers with that scope ? I've sheared the small screws on mounts before. That Really sucks !!

quote:

Originally posted by Cold Trigger Finger:
Is the eye relief constant on all Powers with that scope ? I've sheared the small screws on mounts before. That Really sucks !!

Wendell Reich killed a buffalo at 350 yards in Tanzania with my .416. Shot right through the heart. I told him exactly where to aim, including wind, and he nailed it.

The .375 gets praise as the ultimate long range big bore, but in fact the .416 properly loaded with lighter bullets of 300 and 350 gr.s will equal it from a practicl point of view, at least in the field, and arrive there with a bunch more whump!!

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
The .375 gets praise as the ultimate long range big bore, but in fact the .416 properly loaded with lighter bullets of 300 and 350 gr.s will equal it from a practicl point of view, at least in the field, and arrive there with a bunch more whump!!

Ray, the 400 grainers are not too bad either. Not a 300 RUM, but for practical hunting, not much left to be desired.

I have no problem with the 400 grainers for a 416 for sure...My favorite 416 Rem bullet for what I hunt with a .416 (Buffalo) is the Woodleigh 450 gr. bullet..its a real hammer..

My post simply addressed the mans question..If I want long range I'll take along two guns and the other will be a .338 or 300 H&H..Although I have seen the 350 gr. monolithics do handy work on Buffalo on occasions. but I like big heavy bullets for big heavy animals off the end of my barrel..

Anyone who says 416 and 338 in the same breath gets my

Truth be told, the 416 is a great antelope gun, especially running a 350 grain monolithic at 2800-2825fps.
And the 338 Win Mag is a great antelope gun, especially running a 225 gain monolithic at 2835fps, .512BC.

Of course, if a pair of hunters are walking the forest with a 416 and a 338, the 416 would be the dedicated buffalo gun and the 338 the dedicated antelope gun. But quite often it just depends on who is standing where, or which rifle one wants to use on a particular day.

A 416 shooting 350 gn TTSX's at 2800-2825fps (that is a Rigby-load, and shouldn't be tried with the Remmie) is as flat as anything needed in Africa. (OK, maybe flatter than needed, but I cut my teeth on a 270 and just find 2800fps a great hunting velocity.) And the same bullet at 2600-2625 out of a 416Rem is just as lethal but gives up a few inches beyond 300 yards.

FTR, over 300 yards is less than 2% of my African experiences, so the 416 Rigby and Remmie are practically equal. And if the 416 + 338 combo is adopted, then the 338 can be used for that rare opportunity over 300 yards. And not to mention, the 338 Win can do a decent job on a buffalo, too.

That's interesting as my 2 all time favorite calibers are a 416 in rem or rigby, and the 338 win mag. I've gone through a lot of calibers and settled on these two:

The 338 win mag has the trajectory of a 30-06 with good penetration and thump and minimal recoil. The 416 has a flat enough trajectory to be useful at good range, is one of the best penetrating calibers, has a bit more thump than the 375, and still has manageable recoil.

I have mostly used a 338, 416 REM or 404 Jefferys' as my African battery..In Tanzania I tend to carry the 40 caliber all the time with the .338 in the backi, because you never know when you might jump a buff, Lion or even and elephant that gotten in a snare or the Lions been harassing one of them during the night, so I feel better with the 416 or 404..By the same token I carry the same combo in RSA, and the 40 stays in the backi, and I pack the .338 every day..

I would not feel terribly undergunned with a .338 in DG territory and its been good to me on that level, but I feel better with a 40 caliber..At any rate its a great combo, but not the only combo out there..

What was the App you used?

I'm not sure. My buddy had it on his phone. The one I use on my computer is JBM Ballistics

quote:

Originally posted by gohip2000:
I'm not sure. My buddy had it on his phone. The one I use on my computer is JBM Ballistics

jbmballistics.com
then "ballistics" and "trajectory--drift"
quite nice

I've taken deer with my 416 rem in field conditions out to 450 yards and had no issues. I'm currently running s 416 ruger with 300gr tsx
at 2650fps. Call it my sheep loads. I'd like to run some 450gr on brown bear and see if I can tell a difference.
Love my 416. When it's in the shop, my 338 gets dusted off.

Im sure you would love the 450 gr. Woodleigh on Brown Bear, its a real hammer on Cape Buffalo and everything else in Africa, it kills the smaller animals very well indeed, even without much expansion, judging by exit holes..It does a grand job on elk with two inch exit holes about the same as it works on buffalo, usually bet an exit hole, on going away shots I have recovered a couple of them and they are the size of a golf ball with ragged wings and terminal destruction is impressive..I like'em, so will you.