Has anyone tried this combo out. The books list velocity low I get that much with 370 NF. I thought I had read close to 2900 fps

Already smart-alec'd you at 24hr. Barnes data for 'X' bullets tops out just below 3000 fps for .416 Rigby. My CZ loves 350-grain TSX's at 2500 fps, but you might be able to whistle 300-grainers to 3K...

I use the 370 north forks I was kind of wanting to see if on light game you could shoot flatter say out to 350 yards but really if I try i could so it with the 370's, it is just a thought

Do the math on bullet drop with the proper BC's.

The 300TSX will fly 200 fps faster than the 350TSx or 350TTSX, but these latter will hold energy better out to 300-400 yards and overtake the 300TSX trajectory at that point.

2800 fps is good with the 350 grains so 3k is probably about right for the 300. The Rigby case in the CZ action can probably match the 416 Weatherby ballistics for the handloader.

I always figured it would work well on plains game, so I worked up a load for my 416 Rigby. A charge of 114gn AR2209 (H4350) pushes a 300gn Barnes TSX at 3020 fps. This shoots close to 0.5 moa for 3 shots in my rifle, and flat enough to be +/- 2.1 inches above or below the line of sight all the way out to 250 yards (with a 220 yard zero), which for me is enough for plains game hunting.

Please work up a load for the 300 gn Barnes TSX for your 416 Rigby starting from at least 105gn or lower, as that load is a maximum in my rifle, and as you should be aware, different rifles can exhibit very different pressure responses to similar loads, so for safety's sake start low and work up carefully.

The proof is in the hunting though, and during mid Sept I got an opportunity to test this load out on plains game. Previously I had only taken a few pigs, and it works very well on them. I was fortunate enough to get 2 warthogs, a blue wildebeest, an eland and an impala. All one shot kills. The first warthog, the wildebeest and the impala all dropped to the shot and never got up. the second warthog went 20 yards, even though I drilled him from front on through the chest, and out the bum, and the eland went 30 yards with a quartering away shot taken kneeling from 150 yards that went in the back of the ribs, and finished under the skin on the opposite shoulder. That was the only bullet I recovered. The impala was a tricky shot at about 250 yards. He was walking through an open area, quartering on, and I could only shoot standing with a lean on some convenient timber, (no sticks available), and I couldn't sit or kneel because of bush in the way. I aimed dead centre of the kill zone with a lead of about 18 inches, and I hit pretty much where I intended, if a little high, and the bullet exited the back of the ribs on the other side. From the line of the entrance and exit wound I believe the spine was hit, hence explaining the animal's sudden drop. The first warthog and the wildebeest were both quartering on at about 40 and 60 yards respectively, and I hit them both on the point of the shoulder. The warthog taken from sticks, and the wildebeest taken from kneeling.

So, overall, I am very happy with the 300gn Barnes. However I have just received my shipment of ESP Raptors, so I will be working up a load for them over the next month or so, and hopefully will get to try them out on pigs in late November.

That's a nice demonstration of the 416 Rigby's capabilities. Good job.

My son and I think of a handloaded 416Rigby as the '270 of Africa', a sweet little all-around rifle. (That is in relation to the 30-06 and the USA. The "30-06" in this comparison for Africa would be the Lott. If you use the 375HH as the "30-06", then the 416 Rigby is a 338 WinMag.)

quote:

Originally posted by 416Tanzan:
That's a nice demonstration of the 416 Rigby's capabilities. Good job.

My son and I think of a handloaded 416Rigby as the '270 of Africa', a sweet little all-around rifle. (That is in relation to the 30-06 and the USA. The "30-06" in this comparison for Africa would be the Lott. If you use the 375HH as the "30-06", then the 416 Rigby is a 338 WinMag.)

A sweet all round rifle it is.

The bullet I recovered looks like the perfect textbook Barnes mushroom. I haven't weighed it yet but I am willing to bet it is close to 100% of its original weight. I will post some photos as soon as I can get them uploaded. I am having trouble with photo hosting websites upload capabilities at the moment, as none seem to be working.

gerry,
I've used this combo quite a bit in a cz550. I've loaded from 98 to 107 grains of H4350 with Hornday brass and F215 primer. In load development (using published data for .416 weatherby as a guide) I achieved the following velocities:
grains velocity
98.1 2717
100.0 2865
100.8 2874
101.6 2836
102.6 2889
105.0 2928
107.0 3010

Personally, I settled on a load of 103.1 grains of H4350 which gives me right around 2900 FPS and more recoil than I need.

3000 fps with 300 gn TSX is 6000 ftlbs and a full load for the Rigby, though not necessarily max.
If 2900 fps is accurate then it is good to go.

Glad to see the proper use of the Rigby.

If you wan't to shoot a 300grain TSX, just shoot it out of a .375 H & H!!

Larry Sellers
SCI Life Member

Which is a good reason for checking out the .416 350 TSX vs. the 350 TTSX at 2800fps. Whichever is more accurate is your load.

I have a Bansner Ultimate in 10.57 (.416) Lazzaroni Meteor that will toss a 300gr TSX at 3,100 fps.

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
I have a Bansner Ultimate in 10.57 (.416) Lazzaroni Meteor that will toss a 300gr TSX at 3,100 fps.

That sounds like an exciting rifle to shoot. You will probably be able get 2900fps with the 350gn TTSX, which would be an awesome combination.

I finally managed to get a photo hosting site that is easy to use and uploads quickly, try postimage.org if you were having trouble like me.
So here are some photos of the results of my recent hunt.
I got 2 warthogs, this was the best. He was facing me, almost directly front on, at about 40 yards, so the only shot I had was to the front of the chest just to the left of his jaw (animals right hand side), the bullet exited from the ham on the right (animals left hand side). The blood on his right leg is not a wound, it is just from where it pooled when he fell. You can see some of the blood stain on his rear from the exit wound. Even having been drilled right through from stem to stern he still went 20 yards before expiring. There were lots of warthogs around, I saw quite a few, so plenty of shot opportunities were presented, mostly fairly close because of the thick scrub.



The Wildebeest was spooked on our right as we were walking through the bush, he and the other one he was with, saw us before we saw them. That is usually a missed opportunity, but I was presented with a bit of a lucky chance, as he ran around in front of us, (we had stopped still by then), and they both stopped to look at what had disturbed them. Both were behind the scrub, but I could get a look at the closest one through a hole in the scrub if I knelt down, and once I got the scope on him I thought to my self "He'll do" and touched of a shot aimed at the front shoulder. He was quartering on, so it took him on the point of the left shoulder (animals right) and exited at the back of the ribs on the other side.



The eland led us on a merry chase for about 5 hours and somewhere between a 15 and 20 km walk through the bush. At first there were 4, then they joined in with another group, then split up again, this happened several times. We would track them and close up again, but they always spotted us before we could get close enough. With the thick scrub you had to get in under 60 to 70 yards otherwise there was usually too much bush in the way for a shot. Finally a bit of luck, and 3 stepped into a clear patch at about 150 yards. I had to wait for a while while the one behind the one I wanted to shoot moved away, (I didn't want to risk a pass through wounding the animal behind), but once he moved off, the target animal tunred to follow, and I had a spilt second to make a quartering away shot. I was ready at the kneel so touched off the shot, heard a soild thud as the bullet hit home, and he hunched up and took off into the scrub. There was no chance of a second shot, but it wasn't necessary as he only went about 30 or 40 yards. Another half hour or so, and it would have been too dark to continue, and that may have been the story of an unsuccessful Eland hunt. I recovered the perfectly mushroomed 300gn TSX from under the skin on the shoulder on the other side.



The Impala was also a bit of luck. We were stalking a ram in the scrub, and he was aware of something following him, but not sure what. We sat an wached him watching us at about 100 yards away, for a couple of minutes, not daring to move, and no chance of a shot because of the bush in the way. In the end the wind changed, and with no doubt in his mind as to what we were he dissappeared into the bush. We ran along for a little while hoping to catch sight of him again, but he vanished. So, there being little point stalking with the wind, we turned about and started walking the other way. A Ram appeared in the clear at about 250 yards. I got the rifle up, couldn't make him out on 4 power, (I usually carry the rifle with the scope set on 4 power), turned it up to 8, and decided that he was good enough. I tried to set up for a sitting shot, but as he walked forward he went behind a bush that was a little way in front of me. I am pretty sure he was unaware of us, so I stood, I didn't have any sticks (they got left behind that morning), and I was definitely not steady enough to take a shot at that distance (especially after just having run a bit), so I moved to the side a bit and took a light lean on a convenient bit of timber (fortunately not thorny like a lot of Africa), and tracked him with the crosshairs, aiming for the centre of the kill zone, with a bit of a lead, and touched of the shot. He dropped on the spot, and never got up. The shot went in, high on the animals right shoulder, and exited at the back of the ribs on the other side. The drop of blood you can see on his flank is about 2 inched below the bullet entry, which is not really easy to distinguish on this photo.



So I was very happy to get 5 nice plains game animals, and 4 species. It would have been great to take a Waterbuck and Kudu, but I only saw one Kudu bull, and he was too young an animanl to shoot, and I never got close enough to any of the Waterbusk we saw. I could have taken Hartebeet or Tsessebe, but I wasn't really looking for those species this trip, I also saw Giraffe, Zebra and a few smaller game. It took a lot of walking and a bit of luck, but that is often what makes a great hunt.