How much should a 450 Rigby weigh and still be manageable to shoot without a brake

Thanks for the advice.

I can hardly wait to hear the verbal bludgeoning that’ll take place over this one!

A 450 Rigby and 450 Dakota are almost the same cartridge. It should weigh more than a 458. My Dakota 450 that Jim Kobe made for me is 9 lbs bare, so figure 10 1/2 when scoped and loaded. Dave Bush here shoots a 450 Dakota. I'll PM him to chime in.

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
A 450 Rigby and 450 Dakota are almost the same cartridge. It should weigh more than a 458. My Dakota 450 that Jim Kobe made for me is 9 lbs bare, so figure 10 1/2 when scoped and loaded. Dave Bush here shoots a 450 Dakota. I'll PM him to chime in.

Mine, that TooManyTools fixed up for me an pictured in mid-late '08 in Gunsmithing, weighs 9.75, no scope, no ammo, nosling and is just fine with me. However, I don't try to "hotrod" it to Wea. speed. I use 96.5 gr of H-4895 and 480 grain Hornady Dangerous game bullets.

I donj't quickly find the chrono records

The 450 Rigby/Dakota are fantastic cartridges. According to Pierre van der Walt in African Dangerous Game Cartridges, the 1st 450 Rigby was 11.5 pounds naked. Paul Roberts at Rigby thought that was too heavy so the second one was reduced to 10.125 pounds. Loaded, with a scope, rings and a sling, it weighed almost 12.5 pounds.

I wanted a hunting rifle and not a range mule and a hunting rifle is carried way more than you shoot it so I had Wayne Jacobsen at AHR build my 450 Dakota around 10 pounds. With a scope and Talley OD rings, it weighs in right at 10.7 pounds. Add three rounds and you are right at 11 pounds. I use Reloder 15 and shoot 450 grain TSXs right at 2400 fps.

I have to give a little plug for AHR here. I did a full custom with fluer-de-lis checkering and a wood upgrade and Wayne built me one spectacular rifle.

I like them at 9 to 9-1/2 lbs. without scope or ammo.

Thanks for the plug Dave.

Wayne and AHR regardless of rifle build:

Hell, my 600 OK only weighs 12 lbs.

Respects,

Phill

Hell, my 600 OK only weighs 12 lbs.
Respects,
Phill[/QUOTE]

If you load it up to 2,400 fps, you'll be wishing it was 14 lbs. Don't you have Wayne's X-Brake on it as well? That does a great job in mitigating recoil (another shameless plug, huh Wayne!!!)

Mine weighs 10.5 pounds.....would not change anything. I use 500 grain Cutting Edge Solids at 2400fps and it will flatten an elephant.



This was a "frontal brain"...she was standing on a slight rise at 30 yards, looking down her nose at me.....the stick shows the bullet path to the brain.....notice how low I had to shoot her due to the head angle.




This was a "shoulder shot".....she was in very thick brush and I couldn't get a clear brain shot. The shot dropped her to her front knees and then I quickly followed up with a "brain" shot as I could then see her head......was shooting from a kneeling position to get a angle through all the brush.



This bullet was recovered from the "frontal brain"......the bullet penetrated 4ft. and was recovered in the body of the elephant.

Hunting Elephant with a bolt rifle and open sights....that's style! Nice rifle...who made it?

Duane Wiebe

10# done.. scoped if you like, loaded, and ready to go ..

my 500 jeffe weighs 9.25, and my 500 AR weighs about the same, scoped.

not braked, of course

There's no shame in using a good comfortable sling on safari so make it heavy; at least 10 lbs plus empty. You'll have your sling and your ph will constantly be changing shoulders with his gun.

Well it figures that I'd like it...he just finished my 505 and 416 a few weeks ago. He does turn out some nice rifles. Very nice!

Mike, Good to see you back Posting. Always love your posts and photo's of your incredible rifles.
Mac

Biebs,

Yeah, I have the brake on it...as bad as the recoil from the 600 OK can be, I'm an old 577 T-Rex guy, so, I think I'll live through it...besides, 12 lbs. is the empty weight, and with the extra cartridge from the extended magazine, it will push the weight up even further. I know the recoil figures and calculations for the 600 OK can scare off some folks, but, I'm either too stupid or too tough to worry, or maybe both!

Respects,

Phill

quote:

Originally posted by McKay:
Mike, Good to see you back Posting. Always love your posts and photo's of your incredible rifles.
Mac

Thanks......it's been a rough go.......I was on this hunt when my wife was diagnosed with cancer......she passed away 7 weeks later on December 31, 2011.......but life goes on....that's what she would want!

MHC_TX,

My condolences for the loss of your wife. I lost my wife to suicide (from Lupus) almost four years ago. Life does go on, but it is never the same, is it?

Respects,

Phill

quote:

Originally posted by MHC_TX:

quote:

Originally posted by McKay:
Mike, Good to see you back Posting. Always love your posts and photo's of your incredible rifles.
Mac

Thanks......it's been a rough go.......I was on this hunt when my wife was diagnosed with cancer......she passed away 7 weeks later on December 31, 2011.......but life goes on....that's what she would want!

that's HORRIBLE - sorry for you loss, sir. blessed be

I can't even imagine....I was hoping that was hoping that was not the outcome. May you find peace until you are with her again.

Mac