please post your sweet nothings about one of my favorite cartridges....

o.k., here goes...

when you hold a round in your hand and say damn, id hate to be on the receiving end of this thing.

i admit, i love the rich history.

i can respect anything that can toss 300 grains @ 3,000 fps...

o.k. i left a whole bunch for the rest of you, by the way, if your wife catches you with a tear in your eye looking all misty as you write this just say you were thinking of your wedding day.

I like the case design and low pressure.

I got my .416 Rigby as a second dangerous game rifle when my son mentioned he might go with me to Africa for buffalo. I already had a .416 Rem and was quite pleased with it, but instead of the repeating that chambering I ran across a bargain in a #1 Ruger in the Rigby and quickly decided to get it. I bought it sight unseen on Gunsamerica and when I got it in my hands low and behold it has some of the most gorgeous red walnut I have ever seen on a rifle. I put a scope to match the Remington and now consider it one of my "never sell" rifles. It shoots great, looks great, and someday may go to Africa. My son's wife had a baby the week of my Buffalo hunt, obviously he missed that trip, but looks forward to accompanying me back someday. I will admit the loaded cartridge impresses my Deer and Elk hunting buddys, however they seem to have no desire to shoot it. Good shooting.

quote:

Originally posted by boom stick:
please post your sweet nothings about one of my favorite cartridges....

o.k., here goes...

when you hold a round in your hand and say damn, id hate to be on the receiving end of this thing.

i admit, i love the rich history.

i can respect anything that can toss 300 grains @ 3,000 fps...

o.k. i left a whole bunch for the rest of you, by the way, if your wife catches you with a tear in your eye looking all misty as you write this just say you were thinking of your wedding day.

Hi Boom stick!

here is something we finally can agree on !

Nothing snoppy or anything, but the .416 Rigby is a beauty just to look at, rich in history, and a very forgiving cartrigde to reload.... flexible in powders and bulletweights. I am sure many other reasons will be metioned, but that was some of the reasons I have one!.

The only thing I can think of, that is better than a .416 Rigby rifle is two of them !.

jens...i guess you aint all bad

quote:

Originally posted by 500grains:
I like the case design and low pressure.

those are my second and third favorite qualities, the first is whoop ass!

i love the 416 rigby because....

it's the parent case for the 470 mbogo!!!

jeffe

I am partial to heavy "Swine Belly" Magnum Mauser sporters, and not being able to get ammo in any local shop is the "icing on the cake". Low pressure is good, I like to chill out.

What kind of rich history does the Rigby have? I thought that it was not a popular caliber in Africa until very recently?

Mickey! Don't be talkin' about my Special like that now.... Anything older than me has a rich history as far as I'm concerned.

I like it because it will really slow down a pickup on the first shot. Whether you hit it or not.

Nostalgia, whoop ass, great case, low pressure; that is a pretty good list [anybody mention it shoots FLAT?], for me the rest of it seems to be wrapped up in an intangible charisma.

**Not popular in Africa, true enough by the manufacturing numbers, but it l-i-v-e-s in the legend and in the reality: Ruark was there, Selby was (is) there, and "that" 416 Rigby was there, and for me that "connection" is always there and I like it.

** My CZ will hold 5 rounds of Rigby (4+1), and when you wrap your hand around 5 Rigbys you know you've got ahold of something (1/2 pound of ammo) --- yeah, I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that!

** My 375HH is heartwarming and gentle, my 458 Lott feels like it should stop the world, but it is the Rigby that has my utmost respect in total --- I love that rifle/cartridge.

That about covers the "sweet nothings." There is "something" at play with it, the 416 Rigby has won every DGR poll I've seen run here.

quote:

Originally posted by DigitalDan:
Mickey! Don't be talkin' about my Special like that now.... Anything older than me has a rich history as far as I'm concerned.

I like it because it will really slow down a pickup on the first shot. Whether you hit it or not.

Just look'n to be edjerkated. Now the .404 J, that's a rifle with a rich history.

I love the .416 Rigby because....

...it can be necked down to 9.3 and.....SHAZAM!

IV

quote:

Originally posted by Mickey1:

quote:

Originally posted by DigitalDan:
Mickey! Don't be talkin' about my Special like that now.... Anything older than me has a rich history as far as I'm concerned.

I like it because it will really slow down a pickup on the first shot. Whether you hit it or not.

Just look'n to be edjerkated. Now the .404 J, that's a rifle with a rich history.

the 404 jeff is great once you lengthen the body and steepen that shoulder. why dont you start your own "404 sweet nothing post" lets see which gets more attention.

.

Speachless, Alf.
As for sweet nothings, It sure is a nice security blanket to carry that heavy rifle into the long grass with the sound of grunts and the smell of the cattle yard in the air.
I love my 416 Rigby. D

yowza...gunporn nice one alf...give us a rundown on that bute!

I love the name

details alf...who did the stock, checkering, gun smith, bedding type ect ect

.

thanks alf

.416 rigby

Here is my 416 rigby!.

Hey Mickey, look close, you'll see some history.

dan...thats a bute...love the checkering...whats the specs on that one

Thanks Boomer, most of the story is here.

I'm kinda fond of it myself.

There's a bit more on it right about here too.

Pardon the poriferal BS in the background conversation.

Dan, that's a beautiful rifle, just the way a bolt gun should look.

Dan

That is a beautiful rifle. Congratulations on a nice weapon. I hope you get to use on something that the rifle deserves..


Boomstick

No intention of hijacking the thread. Stop being so sensitive. Just a question of why people consider the 416 Rigby a Classic African Rifle when I thought it wasn't very popular, with less than 100 being made in the first 70 years of it's life.

quote:

Originally posted by Mickey1:
Dan

That is a beautiful rifle. Congratulations on a nice weapon. I hope you get to use on something that the rifle deserves..


Boomstick

No intention of hijacking the thread. Stop being so sensitive. Just a question of why people consider the 416 Rigby a Classic African Rifle when I thought it wasn't very popular, with less than 100 being made in the first 70 years of it's life.

just teasing you, next time i'll use this

Love the shape. Love the rifle ... even though its only a hog back CZ (bedded with an extra cross bolt and recoil lug, great trigger job, and a bridge rail).

What's not to love about a rifle that is controllable while delivering >5600 lb-ft of muzzle energy (350 Barnes X at 2700 fps) into <1" at 100 yards? Nothing like having the energy and penetration of a DGR AND a great trajectory.

Hit a big Gemsbok stallion last May. Only time I've seen the shock wave break around a game target. Made a beautiful pedestal mount.

Frankly I'm terrified of mine! It's taken months of shooting smaller calibres to get over a severe flinch induced by my Rigby in Zim last November. I am seriously considering a muzzle brake or silencer for it. I know brakes are fairly uncivilzed in the field, but a silencer isn't; just adds weight and is available from BR Tuote in Finland. If it works with a .338 Lapua it'll do a .416.
Some people are recoil sensitive and unfortunately I seem to be one of them. .375 H&H is moderately OK for me, but I practically ran off when Saeed suggested I try his .577 Tyranosaur. I settled for his pistol and full-auto collection instead.
Regards
Robert

I never could bring myself to waste that big beatiful action on such a mundane cartridge when it can take a 500 Jefferys or a 505 Gibbs.

That is why I use a 404 and a 416 Rem on a mod. 98 std. actions, it makes a light package that I can pack, and suits me fine and if I'm going to pack a big bulky riles then I want a real stomper...

No offense on the Rigby its got a lot of nostalgia from the writtings of Hemmingway because Harry Selby used it, and thats one heck of a good reference and a fine gentleman, as is his son Mark...but the Nostalgia gun of Africa and the one everybody used was the .404 Jefferys the choice of most game depts for culling purposes, not the 416 Rigby, few used the .416 other than Selby and Tony Sanchez and a few others..The Rigbys were just too costly for most Africans and game depts and the Jeffery came in cheaper built guns like the regular FNs...

Just historical fact, without going into detail, and again the 416 Rigby is a grand cartridge that has become fairly popular over the last several years in the USA, Please don't take offense as you asked for opinnions and some get upset over any disagreement on a caliber in these forums .

1. Federal Cartridge Co.
2. Large bulk and mass give a good workout.
3. In practical terms it's darn cheap to shoot (one box of 20 lasts a long time).

Atkinson, no offense taken, good post!

Old thread but new passion.....

I love my 416 rigby because

1. It is muy first BIG bore & true DG rifle
2. It shoots so well and I do not have a sore cheek or shoulder after 18 rounds at the range
3. I shot it so well in the field on a bunch of feral goats.

I am confident that i can take it to africa and shoot it well on DG.

Now to develop some nice loads and practice!

Well, I joined A R long after this thread played, too.

I agree with most of the above, even Ray Aktinson's post preferring the venerable 416Rem, though I would change one item. I don't believe that the Rigby is at its best in the under-pressured "cordite loading." A Rigby should be loaded at least 100fps beyond the 416Rem and 416 Rug. 55000psi is still a "cool" load, though the newer rifles like CZ can be loaded like most hunting cartridges to 60000-63000 psi and 200fps over the lesser 416s.

Please bear with me, I'm not ignoring the greatness of cartridges like the 416Remington and 416Ruger. I'm merely pointing out that the 416 Rigby has a hidden greatness that surpasses the other 416s and that translates into real world ballistics.

So why do I like the 416 Rigby?

Yes, the weight of a round in the palm of the hand is reassuring.

The recoil is managable for follow-up shots.

It allows me to hunt at 2800-2850 fps with 350 grain, buffalo-capable bullets. It even reminds me of a 270 Win that I used to use at 2850 fps (150 grain). Or a 338 WinMag with 225 grainers at 2800fps. Beyond the 416 I need to back off on velocity a tad, or on sectional density. The 416 Rigby is the natural extension of a hunting calibre as one gets into larger calibres, the Rigby preserves the sectional density and longrange capabilities of lighter calibres while adding tremendous power and significant diameter.

It is the ultimate single-rifle safari gun.

It has fathered the long-range 338 Lapua. And it is the base case for the 470 and 500 Mbogo, as well as the shortened 500 Accurate Reloading Nyati.

With a 416 Rigby a hunter is prepared for anything in the world and I would as easily take one moose hunting as eland and buffalo hunting. The 416 Rigby is the ultimate mix of diameter, velocity, penetration, energy, and tamed recoil.

--

It's done the job for many souls over the decades...

The .416 Rigby has:

1. An abominable 45-degree shoulder:
I would change this to 20-degree shoulder at same shoulder start location.
This would change it into an even slicker feeder than it is, and add some case capacity, and shorten the overly long neck length a wee bit.
Forming the cases at the factory and reloading them at home would be streamlined too.

2. A large amount of case body taper, and that is why it feeds so well despite the 45-degree shoulder.
I do love that about the .416 Rigby, same case body taper as its offspring .338 Lapua Magnum, made for military reliability in battle.
Facilitates feeding and extraction.

3. Zero parallel-sided free-bore, only a leade, therefore it has minimal effective free-bore:
This generally makes the .416 Rigby very accurate with bullets that will chamber.
Early Swift A-frame .416/400-gr bullets could not even be chambered in the .416 Rigby because they had some full diameter in front of the cannelure.
Swift changed the bullet nose shape.


I would not mind a little bit of parallel-sided free-bore, and a 20-degree shoulder on the .416 Rigby.
I would call it the .416 Rigby Improved Plus.
Greater case capacity, and more mechanically and ballistically sound for forming, reloading,
loading/feeding, and firing at increased velocity or lower pressure or both, with easy extraction.
Just like a neck-down of the 404 RIP.

Here is the ".423/.416 Rigby Improved Plus" aka 404 RIP, similar to what the .416 Rigby could be if its imperfections were corrected:

Can't disagree with any of the above.

That is a pretty round. Nevertheless, even though the 416 Rigby wasn't perfect, it is a fantastic hunting round.

My question:
using controlled-feed actions would a 416 Rigby Improved chamber be able to safely/accurately shoot a 416 Rigby cartridge?

Man, we've killed a truckload of game with our .416 Rigbys! It is versatile (good for pigs, great for buffalo). Tradition, heritage, security, performance... I love this cartridge!

quote:

Originally posted by 416Tanzan:
Can't disagree with any of the above.

That is a pretty round. Nevertheless, even though the 416 Rigby wasn't perfect, it is a fantastic hunting round.

My question:
using controlled-feed actions would a 416 Rigby Improved chamber be able to safely/accurately shoot a 416 Rigby cartridge?

But of course!
If you mean shooting a standard .416 Rigby load in a ".416 Rigby Improved Plus" chamber, all it would do is fire form the shoulder out to 20 degrees.
Once fire-formed it would not fit in a standard .416 Rigby chamber.
If you just change the shoulder to 20 degrees and add some free-bore, same base to shoulder distance and same shoulder diameter,
you get a small bit more case capacity and can load it to higher energy than allowed by the zero-PS-free-bore standard chamber.