Does anyone have any load data for the 450 Rigby using 450gr Bullets ?

I'm currently shooting 105grs of IMR-4831 and 450gr TSX's. Hoping to find some other mid level loads with other powders.

DArcy,

I just got a WOODLEIGH BULLETS LOADING MANUAL from MidwayUSA.
It shows data for the 450 Rigby Rimless, pp. 243-245.
The only 450-grain bullet therein is the 450-gr Hydrostatically Stabilized Solid.
Should be a safe place to start.

450 Rigby Rimless, .458/450-gr HSS (NO COL SPECIFIED)
24" barrel, Norma cases, "magnum primer"
Maximum case length 2.893", trim to 2.883"

H4895 90.0 gr Start ... 2350 fps
H4895 96.0 gr Maximum ... 2510 fps

H4350 103.0 gr Start ... 2310 fps
H4350 111.0 gr Maximum ... 2490 fps

H4831sc 116.0 gr Start ... 2310 fps
H4831sc 124.0 gr Maximum ... 2500 fps

(AR2206H, AR2209, and AR2213sc loads are identical, respectively, to H4895, H4350, and H4831sc)

R17 95.0 gr Start ... 2240 fps
R17 105.0 gr Maximum ... 2475 fps

R19 110.0 gr Start ... 2240 fps
R19 121.0 gr Maximum ... 2510 fps

I would happily use that data with any 450-grain bullet in my .450 Dakota.

Customers choosing the new upstart .450 Rigby Rimless over the forerunner .450 Dakota,
or a .458 Lott "me-too" over a .458 Winchester Magnum?
Well, can't fix stupid.

With 450-grain TSX and North Fork 450-gr FP Solid I used RL-15 and Varget with filler and H4350 without filler in my .450 Dakota.
IMHO, H4350 is tops in the .450 Dakota, just like it is in the 460 WBY. Might be good in the .450 Rigby Rimless too.
That starting load of H4895 with a foam wad filler might be the cat's meow.
I need to try that one too.

The QuickLOAD defaults for Case Capacity, grains of H2O:
.450 Rigby = 133.00 gr
.450 Dakota = 137.00 gr
.460 WBY.Mag. = 141.00 gr
.458 WIN.MAG. = 95.00 gr

Rip ...

Here’s some data from North Fork they sent me a few years ago.



Column 1 = bullet type

Column 2 = bullet weight in grains

Column 3 = OAL

Column 4 = Water grain volume of the cartridge with bullet

Column 5 = powder

Column 6 = Best charge for accuracy

Column 7 = velocity for Column 6 charges

Column 8 = muzzle energy



North Fork Bonded SS
450
3.660
112.99
Re17
101.0
2592
6715



North Fork Bonded SS
450
3.660
112.99
H414
105.0
2526
6377



North Fork Bonded SS
450
3.660
112.99
RS Big Game
100.0
2537
6433



North Fork Bonded SS
450
3.660
112.99
Win 760
104.0
2581
6658



North Fork CPS
450
3.650
115.48
H4350
106.0
2523
6362



North Fork CPS
450
3.650
115.48
H414
113.0
2618
6850



North Fork CPS
450
3.650
115.48
RS Big Game
108.0
2588
6694



North Fork CPS
450
3.650
115.48
Viht 550
111.0
2591
6710



North Fork FPS
450
3.600
114.10
Re17
108.0
2606
6788



North Fork FPS
450
3.600
114.10
H414
112.0
2614
6829



North Fork FPS
450
3.600
114.10
IMR 4350
110.0
2538
6438



North Fork FPS
450
3.600
114.10
RS Hunter
115.0
2600
6756

Perfect Thanks !!!!!!

D'Arcy - not an answer to your question, but just an observation.

For the .450 Rigby, a 500 grain bullet is the logical and best choice.

D'Arcy,

Thanks for soliciting this load info. Your efforts are greatly appreciated.

Mike,

This 450 Rigby will be used mainly for buffalo, most likely with TSX bullets where a little more velocity helps with terminal performance and the slightly less recoil with the 450 grainers might be nice too.

I too would like load data for a 450 Rigby
Barnes 500g tsx @ 2350-2400 fps
I have looked for reloading manuals with 450 Rigby but not have any.
joe

quote:

Originally posted by Joe-S:
I too would like load data for a 450 Rigby
Barnes 500g tsx @ 2350-2400 fps
I have looked for reloading manuals with 450 Rigby but not have any.
joe

Use data for 460 but a few grains less because a 460 has very long freebore.

For 2350 a 460 would do that with about 108 grains of 4350 and is of course a reduced load.

For 2350 a 460 would that with about 100 grains of 4064 which is below a top load in the 460 but probably maximum or even more in the 450 Rigby.

Substitute Varget for 4064.

In general you will get a nicer shooting load with the faster powders.

Also, I just noticed you said Barnes 500 grain TSX so that could be a drop of another couple of grains because of seating depth.

While the faster powders will give a nicer shooting load and potentially greater accuracy they can be more fucking about for peak accuracy. In fact for reduced velocities and using a faster powder than would normally be used, such as 4064/Varget in this example, I recommend that you test the loads where you can reload while shooting them.

So the easy answer is the 4350 load. Based on the big 460 freebore and deep seating depth required for the Barnes I would guess about 103 grains of 4350 in the 450 Rigby would out you in the ball park for 2350 f/s. Also, from memory the 450 Rigby is a blown out 416 Rigby necked up so would have 460 Wby case capacity.

115 grains of 4350 nd 500 grain Honady is a very common accuracy load in the 460 and does right on 2500 f/s and is a good 100 f/s less than what they will do. So the 2350 f/s loads with 4350 I am guessing at will be mild in the 450 Rigby.

Here’s the rest of the North Fork data including 500 and 550 grain bullets. I don’t have any experience with TSX so not sure how this data will translate to Barnes.



Column 1 = bullet type

Column 2 = bullet weight in grains

Column 3 = OAL

Column 4 = Water grain volume of the cartridge with bullet

Column 5 = powder

Column 6 = Best charge for accuracy

Column 7 = velocity for Column 6 charges

Column 8 = muzzle energy



North Fork CPS
500
3.650
100.00
Re17
96.0
2438
6601



North Fork CPS
500
3.650
100.00
H414
100.0
2460
6720



North Fork CPS
500
3.650
100.00
IMR 4895
90.0
2422
6514



North Fork CPS
500
3.650
100.00
RS Big Game
95.0
2379
6285



North Fork FPS
500
3.650
100.02
Re17
96.0
2231
5527



North Fork FPS
500
3.650
100.02
H414
100.0
2496
6919



North Fork FPS
500
3.650
100.02
IMR 4895
90.0
2385
6317



North Fork FPS
500
3.650
100.02
RS Big Game
96.0
2403
6413



North Fork Bonded SS
500
3.700
102.72
Re17
98.0
2448
6655



North Fork Bonded SS
500
3.700
102.72
H414
100.0
2403
6413



North Fork Bonded SS
500
3.700
102.72
IMR4350
99.0
2205
5399



North Fork Bonded SS
500
3.700
102.72
RS Big Game
97.0
2399
6391



North Fork Bonded SS
550
3.750
97.53
Re17
92.0
2293
6423



North Fork Bonded SS
550
3.750
97.53
Varget
85.0
2072
5244



North Fork Bonded SS
550
3.750
97.53
H414
95.0
2290
6406



North Fork Bonded SS
550
3.750
97.53
IMR4895
85.0
2248
6173

Woodleigh manual data, 2014:







Sad to say that the 500-grain TSX might be too long for good performance after impact in game,
unless you like the M-16 performance from your big bores.
A tumbling 500-grainer will put the hurt on and likely prevent exits in herd shooting.
Then it slows down the whole herd having to take care of wounded buddy.

In my glee over beating a .458 Lott so nicely with a long bullet at 3.6" to 3.780" COL in the .458 WIN
(it is a bugholer at 2250 fps and almost as accurate at 2342 fps from a 1:14" twist, 24-7/8" barrel),
I forgot about Andy Tillman's findings with the 500-grain X-Bullet of years ago.
Same length as current 500-grain TSX.
Monometals are great, but cannot be trusted when they get too long.
Best stick with the 480-grain and lesser weight monometals and 500-grain conventional bullets or even the 550-grain Woodleigh RNSP that can be 0.3" to 0.2"shorter,
before impact, and a lot shorter after impact.

Here is the passage from Andy Tillman about .458/500-gr X-Bullet tumbling after impact.
He says nothing about them being inaccurate:

"The 500 gr. Barnes X is 0.30 inch longer than a typical 510 gr. RNSP. That’s a lot! It is 0.168 - 0.177 inch longer than either of the next longest bullets. Even at a rotational velocity of 2,803 rps (2,334 fps)

HA! The .458 WIN LongCOL at 3.780" can do better than that.

from the 1-10” twist, the 500 gr. X bullet did not stabilize in the target. (This is equal to a velocity of 2,725 fps in a standard 1-14” twist!) It turned over 180 degrees, and lost two of its four X petals. The first bucket was not torn in two like the other bullets, just split. (A 450 gr. GS FN solid does more damage). The rear of the second can was also split open indicating a modest but deep temporary cavity. The two remaining X petals expanded normally, but were work hardened and ready to fracture. You can clearly see a fracture line where the remaining petals were bent backwards a second time as the bullet re-oriented base forward. I was curious to determine exactly when the X bullet turned over and fired it into a wooden “stop box” consisting of 72 one-foot square ¾ inch thick plywood boards. I normally use this stop box to recover FMJ bullets. (See related article). The Barnes X had completely turned over 180 degrees by the 23rd board and expanded to .701 caliber. It was recovered in the 28th board. A FMJ at the same velocity will penetrate 70 boards.

"None of this will disturb African hunters who accept the fact the X petals are almost always torn off the long, unstable monometals. Saeed al-Maktoum of the United Arab Emerate’s has killed over 100 cape buffalo with the 300 gr. Barnes X in his .375 x .404. Almost all of his recovered bullets are bent, show signs of tumbling and/or have lost their X petals. Despite the Barnes excellent reputation in Africa I don’t trust any bullet that is so unstable. Remember I shot the 500 gr. Barnes X in a custom .458 x .404 with 1-10” twist rather than a standard 1-14” twist, and was shooting 300 fps faster than possible in a .458 WM, and it still tumbled! Unless you are willing to order a 1-8 or 1-9” twist and push this bullet to maximum velocity in a .450 Dakota or .460 Weatherby, the .450 gr. Barnes X is a better choice. The 500 gr. X bullet had modest pressure despite its great length. Velocity and pressure appeared to be identical to the 500 gr. Swift in both the .458 x .404 and .450 Dakota."

I guess that is why I decided to go with the 450-grain North Fork bullets in my .450 Dakota, years ago.
I now add the 450-grain TSX and any of the Woodleigh bullets from 400 to 550 grains.
The 480-grainers in the .458 WIN are my latest interest, especially the Hydro.

Rip ...

Thanks for this info, I will be reloading with the 450g TXS then
Joe