I was wondering if any have had experience with this round on Big Game? On paper, it looks good.
Any comments? Ray, others?
Thanks, Tom

A search on this forum and the African Hunting forum should provide plenty of good reading.

George

quote:

Originally posted by bisonland:
I was wondering if any have had experience with this round on Big Game? On paper, it looks good.

I have one of the Winchester variants that has had plenty of work done to improve it. To put it all in a nutshell, the .416 Rem works very well on very big game without the punishing recoil that starts to get your attention when you step up to a .458 Lott or larger. It is, with a few other cartridges in it's niche (.425 WR, 404 Jeffery, .416 Rig, etc) the perfect mid-bore.

Best,

JohnTheGreek

Thanks, John. That was my impression too.
Tom

A great caliber - I love mine and recoil is very maneagable.

Its probably, but argueably, the best of the lot...easy to find, easy to load, lots of components and it kills as well as any big bore out there and penitrates better than most...I much prefer its performance on DG over the 458 Win.

It is my choice of all the big bores with a 404 about equal, but not nearly as practical..The 416 rem will duplicate the 416 Rigby but do it in a smaller more compact, better balanced rifle...but it has no nostalgia, just great killing power, penitration, accuracy and is the best all around caliber I know of including the much vaunted .375 H&H, what with a 300 gr. bullet at 2900 or a 400 gr. bullet at 2400 its pretty well owns the all around championship award and puts the .375 in its rightfull 2nd place after many years of owning the number one spot, and thats not argueable, its basistic fact but only if you can handle the recoil, but the recoil is not that much different once you over come the mental block...

Albiet I will always have a .375 in my gun cabinet, part of my nostalgic self....

Is the .416 Rem a belted case? How easily available is the ammo in the main African safari destinations? Easier to get than .416 rigby? Not as plentiful as .458win mag?

Regards,

Pete

IMHO - Roughly 80% of folks are better off with a .375 or a .416 Remington, on the high side, with the degree of DG one expects to hunt, dictating which. On combination PG/DG hunts, the
average bloke will do about as well with a .416 Rem as he might his .375, out to about 200 yards or so, beyond which, I believe the .375 gets the nod. Professionals, well seasoned amateurs and fools make up the remaining 20%, sometimes opting for heavier ordnance for close up work, while maintaining a satisfactory level of proficiency. Many are those who can pop off a few shots from the true big bores but none can hunt with them, without measured compromise. I like to refer to this as the "5% Club", where only the inner voice, speaking to a listening ear, can validate your membership.

My buddy is a bear guide in AK and he says the .416 Rem is taking over nowadays. Used to be the .375 was king, but it is quickly losing ground to the .416

Pete it is basically a 375 H&H belted case blown out and necked up to 416. George Hoffman came up with his own wildcat based on the 375 case which was the precurser to the Remington. George was a generous contributor on this forum up until his death in the last year or so. Remington changed the case just a bit to make their version. Of all the 416's I think the Remington will be the easiest to feed. Brass is cheaper as is loaded ammo. Probably easier to find ammo too. In Africa you may or may not find ammo you are looking for depending on how far you are out in the boonies. Because of the nostalgia factor I went with the Rigby. You will not go wrong with either of them. George's book"A Country Boy in Africa", will give you lots of great reading about African hunting and how the 416 was revived. Good hunting.

Do it right and get a .458 Lott.

Or a CZ in .505 Gibbs.

I've been shooting a .416 Remington for all my DG, very pleased with the performance, on a recent trip to Zim hunting elephant, my client was using my .416, he and the PH, (shooting a .458 Win) fired on the elephant, first the client then the PH (on request of the client). they both shot for the shoulder, after looking over the elephant both shooters hit the elephant right on the shoulder, with in inches of each other, the .416 out performed the .458, the Ph agreed and he just bought a .416 Remington!!

I used a 416 Rem in Win. Mod 70 in 2001 in Zim on plains game including eland and giraffe.A good cartridge but a shit rifle.Have sold it for a 416 Rigby CZ.Very happy-suggest you do the same.

I really like the .416 cal and I have one in the Rigby cz combo........which ever .416 you get it is definitely a versatile round as far as big bores go with bullets from 300 gr through to 450 gr woodleigh's.

I think it is a well established fact now that the 416 is generally all the gun that most shooters can handle, recoil wise, which is why it is so popular.

I'm not convinced that it it is needed in most African hunting situtaions except for elephant, where I consider it the minimum. The 375 is plenty in most all cases, but I also consider it the minimum as I don't want any lost trophy fees.

I really like the .416 Rem. Mag. cartridge and have an excellent custom Model 70 from D'Arcy Echols in that chambering that'll really, really shoot and doesn't kick all that bad for what you're getting out of it.

I have the .416 Rem. as my dedicated buffalo, elephant, hippo, rhino, and lion rifle. I wouldn't want to use it day-in and day-out for plainsgame, but rather in tandem with another rifle chambered for a solid elk-type cartridge for plainsgame, such as the .300 Win. Mag. or .338 Win. Mag.

I haven't found the vast majority of African animals to be all that hard to knock off -- certainly no harder than N. American animals of the same size. The .416 is only needed for the big tough stuff.

I'd much rather shoot a .416 Rem. than a .458 Lott for dangerous game. Yeah, the Lott is a good deal more hammer, but you have to be able to shoot that big hammer well or else you're only kidding yourself. The .416 Rem. is the biggest cartridge I can shoot well that I feel is sufficient for all members of the Big Five, plus hippo.

AD

I agree with Allen, the only comment I might make is its easier to pack one gun on Safari through airports etc. than it is two, so I like the .416 for a one gun safari and it has worked well in that catagory for me on several ocassions...its the best compromise is what I suggest....

That said, the ideal African combo to me is the 338 Win. and the 416 whatever....or a 300 plus a 404, take your pick or for that matter you may wish to take another route and thats OK too.