While I know the basics of this relative newcomer, I would like to hear some feedback from someone who has had some shooting time with this cartridge!!! Is it an accurate round? , Ammo availability? Recoil? And also how does it compare to others in it's class? I guess what I'm saying is that I'm wondering whether or not it is worth fooling with? Thanks!!!!!!!
------------------ JR
Posts: 1257 | Location: Colusa CA U.S.A. | Registered: 27 June 2001
[QUOTE]Originally posted by JR Hi JR, Properly Headstamped brass is expensive. It is basically the same as a 450 Dakota which has better availability of components to work with (brass). What ever style of rifle you build a 500 grain bullet at 2450 fps will be devastating. The recoil of this cartridge compared to others in it's class will be in the same realm of 80 to 85 ft.lbs. Once the bullet leaves the barrel at 2350 to 2450 ft.per sec the terminal ballistics will be about the same as the 458 Lott or the 450 Ackley. With velocities of 2400 the 450 Rigby will have less pressure than the 450 Ackley and the 458 Lott won't quite get there. Check and see if you can find a US source for brass. I checked with Rigby's when I was in London and it was really pricey. I would go with the 450 Ackley. You hear lots about the 458 Lott on this site but the Ackley will out perform the Lott or do the same thing with less pressure and still hold five or six. The recoil will be about all you want to contend with on a steady basis in a well built gun. 470 Mbogo PS If you want to check out recoil comparisons go to my site at www.470mbogo.com and look through "Comparing the Big Bores"
Ditto 470 Mbogo - I shoot a .450 Dakota for all the reasons that you stated - performance, availability of dies and brass, and did I mention performance?
JR - The .450 Rigby was introduced in 1995 by Rigby and Paul Roberts. The over all case length is 2.8937 holding 179gr of water. The cartridge has been very slow to catch on. Accordingly, it is very expensive to secure brass and dies as 470M pointed out.
Dollar for dollar - I would choose the Dakota over the Rigby, however there are the nostalgia types (RAY) that frown on those �damn modern cartridges�. That is why the .404 Jeffery is still going strong.
Posts: 10780 | Location: Test Tube | Registered: 27 February 2001
I own the first .450 Rigby ever built on the Left Coast of America. My buddy and I may still own the only ones! I found it to be absolutely stunning on heavy game but the only reason for owning one is terminal eccentricity. Superior stated about two years ago that they were going to provide factory ammo. Ain't happened yet. On the other hand, it is real easy to form from .416 brass. If I had known about the Dakota version before I started I, too, might have gone that route. If I had had a chance at a Parker Hale .404, I'd never even hve given the Rigby a thought. A Class III DGR is a Class III DGR on game. They will all kill any loose sauropod you might get a tag for. I love mine, and will love it more after I restock it but though you don't have to be nuts to own one, it helps.
If you have any reason to be at the other end of the state before you start this project, give me a shout and you can try mine out first. The only guy out here who has ever made any is Ron Frey in Ridgecrest. He built both of ours. Starting with a CZ 550 super magnum in .450 Win is the easiest way to go. Building one up from a white action will be expensive. American Hunting Rifles in Montana can make one in synthetic for just at $2,000 last time I checked. For laminated wood, expect about $2,600.
[This message has been edited by Oldsarge (edited 08-09-2001).]
Posts: 2690 | Location: Lakewood, CA. USA | Registered: 07 January 2001
Hey Ol' Sarge, What kind of gun is your .450 Rigby? Anyways 2000 big ones for an American Hunting Rifle huh? That actually doesn't seem to steep. I went to their web site and noticed that they sell loaded ammo for the .450 Rigby!! Almost 100 bucks though! If I wasn't looking to drop a couple grand on the AHR gun then how about a CZ 550 in .416 Rigby and just having it rebarreled? Sounds like a low cost way to get the .450? Take it easy!!!!!!!
------------------ JR
Posts: 1257 | Location: Colusa CA U.S.A. | Registered: 27 June 2001
I had been thinking about a bigger gun immediately after my first safari in '97. My smith at the time recommended the Lott but I saw the review in the African Sporting Gazette and then Boddington's review in Safari magazine and decided that I had to have a .450 Rigby. My partner and I found the last 15 Brno 602 ZKK rifles in the U.S. NIB. They were chambered in .458 Win. We were pioneers. The rifles started at $700. Then we had to buy the chambering reamer and headspace gauge from Clymer so that Frey could do that part. I insisted on a PME M70 style safety so that all my rifles would go on SAFE the same way. I had a Talley peep, a barrel band from sling swivel, new front sight, mercury buffers, bead blasting and reblue, and magazine work so that I can load 4+1. Neadless to say, I have over $2500 and still haven't restocked it, though I did reshape the ugly stock it came with. Later this year, I'll get a new stock from Wenig and fit it, put the buffers in, again, add weight to bring it up to 10.25 lbs. empty and make it long enough that it won't drive my thumb into my nose every time I shoot. (It needs another inch). I was the one who convinced Plummer to add the .450 Rigby to his line and let me tell you, he can build you one a whole lot cheaper and faster than I cobbled mine together. You won't even have to monkey with the safety as the current CZ550 has reversed the direction of their side safety. It IS a striker block, BTW, something I require. Practical sorts can make any argument they want about other Class III DGR's and most of those arguments are valid. However, when I open a box of .450 Rigby's at the range, the guys on either side of me back up. The whole range crew knows who I am, the "guy with that big rifle." PH's know how good a round it is and if you can handle it, they won't worry about you at all. If you want, I'll email you my story about Mozambique.
Sarge
Posts: 2690 | Location: Lakewood, CA. USA | Registered: 07 January 2001
We changed the followers to the ones specified for the .416 Rigby. That helped a lot. The odd thing is that my rifle won't feed dummy cartridges well but works like a charm when firing real stuff. I think that a session with the Gun Juice and a hair dryer on the magazine box and the follower will make it work even smoother. That's the next step, even before the new stock. The major hassle was getting a large enough number of those rounds in the magazine. Had to have big triangular holes cut out of the sides of the metal but now I can get 4+1, and I think that's important in a DGR.
Posts: 2690 | Location: Lakewood, CA. USA | Registered: 07 January 2001
I found it to be absolutely stunning on heavy game but the only reason for owning one is terminal eccentricity. Superior stated about two years ago that they were going to provide factory ammo. Ain't happened yet. On the other hand, it is real easy to form from .416 brass. If I had known about the Dakota version before I started I, too, might have gone that route. If I had had a chance at a Parker Hale .404, I'd never even hve given the Rigby a thought. A Class III DGR is a Class III DGR on game. They will all kill any loose sauropod you might get a tag for. I love mine, and will love it more after I restock it but though you don't have to be nuts to own one, it helps. 
