Is a 22 inch barrel long enough for a 416 Rigby?

It should be. Since this round is terribly underloaded in factory ammo, I believe a judicious handloader could get 2300 FPS out of a 22" barrel with 400-grain bullets........

In reality you can probably get 2600 fps with a 22 in. It is not unrealistic to get 2700 with a 23-24 in. Rigby, and RL22, recoil is noticeably worse and probably kills no better. I load 400's at about 2500 fps and these are still relatively low pressure. My Ruger barrel is only 23 in. and is about right.

Thanks guys, I was looking at one with a 22 inch barrel and could not may up my mind to buy it. Think I will give it a try!

My 416 Rigby CZ550 has a 21" barrel and the last Elephant I took with it didn't know the barrel length. The tusks look good on my coffee table.

We did two, one right hand, one left hand, on Dakota African actions, with 25" Shilen #5 contour barrels, slightly modified. Balanced and shot very well. Rifles weighed just a hair over 10 pounds loaded, with sling, Talley bases and rings and small Swarovski scope.

23"

quote:

Think I will give it a try!

Thank goodness! Now I can shoot up all your ammo!