It's taken a while to get it all together but the Aagaard (.376 Steyr necked up to .416 and shoulder improved) is up to the test fire stage.

Rifle is a 1938 VZ-24 with a 24" Douglas #4 barrel, bent bolt handle, AO rear peep sight, Ruger banded front sight and Carbelite stock. At 7# it balances on the forward receiver ring and carries nicely. Cartridge capacity ended up being three in the mag and one in the pipe. It still needs blued and the stock needs to be walnut...

The cartridge size stacks up like this:


I haven't chrono'd it yet (gotta impose on a friend who has one since mine died) but with data for Varget and the Speer 350gr soft point which "Load From A Disk" says is @ 2,250fps recoil is reasonable for this light of a rifle. Switching to the Hornady 400gr Soft at just over 2,100fps you know the primer worked.

I managed to catch a few bullets by shooting into gallon water jugs at 35 yds. Penetration was into the sixth jug.



The rifle feeds like a charm, accuracy seems good, though I haven't shot it past 50 yards yet. The dies came from Fred Zeglin at Z-Hat and were well made.

Overall, I'm happy with the whole concept now I need something to hunt...

Rick,

Will be back to Charleston on 3/1 ... we can go to chrono any day you want after that! Damn sorry I'm travelling and causing the delay ;>

I Think I have a few 400 gr Woodleighs and some 350 and 400 Barnes X's too if you want to try them.

I want to shoot your baby!

Mike,

U-da-man! I think the 350gr X will be the flavor of choice should this rifle make it out for furry/bitey/scratchie/horny critters. (we need a graemlin with horns that looks at you like you owe him money) The 400gr X may be just a bit too long.

It's a date, I'll bring the rifle and ammo, you bring the chrono and tylenol.

Cool cartridge!

How excellent is that? I am going to (in 07?) do one on a mexican mauser...

whats the neck and shoulder diameters? Interested in how much "headspace" it has... my 470 AR has about .04

jeffe

jeffe,

The shoulder is 0.4950", neck is 0.4440". I'm not sure what the headspace was set at. The only problem (if it's a problem at all) was a slight bulge in the fired cases at the point where the chamber mouth ends. Either the reamer was half a thousand large or the final polish was a bit much. I was assured by the gents at Douglas Bbl that it wouldn't affect anything and it irons out nicely on resizing. I've got cases that are into their fourth firing without problems.

Cartridges feed very well for a case that's so straight. They just pop out of the magazine and under the extractor like Mr. Mauser intended without any modification except opening the bolt face.

I've got two PDF files that Mr. Zeglin sent me if you want copies I can e-mail them to you.

Rick,

Here is a drawing I got originally from a Steyr engineer of a .416 Steyr they were contemplating.

jim

how does the 416 aagaard compare to the 416 wsm in terms of fps with like bullets % wise?

how many are you getting in the mag?

congrats!

Looks like it's seated a little long, no?
Ought to get close to the WSM, and with a much more respectable neck!

HunterJim,

Looks like what the Aagaard is before fire forming. Really not a lot of extra powder room in the improved case just a nice shoulder to headspace off of.

Boom,

I get three in the magazine, the Steyr cartridge seems like four would like to fit, but the last one is a tight fit. Don't know about the .416 WSM as I haven't seen one in real life. A big plus for the Aagaard is 50 pieces of new brass is $19.99 from Midway.

Bwanabe,

The 400gr's are seated to 3.25", the base of the bullet is just below the start of the neck.

Who did the gunsmithing?

You mention the fellows at Douglas...did they supply a short/long chambered barrel???

Just trying to figure out who has the reamer.

I had Douglas put a barrel on it, but I rented the reamer from Z-Hat. He developed the cartridge and makes dies and reamer.

Z-hat built mine on a Mexican Mauser. I don't have it stocked yet.

Made a trip to the range today and courtesy of Mike a few rounds were fired over a chrono.

I'm quite pleased with the results. From it's 24" barrel Mr.Aagaard managed 2,200 fps with the 400gr Hornady soft point pushed by Varget with no pressure signs at all. That should suffice for just about any animal I would ever get the opportunity to hunt.

The rifle just managed to get 2,400 fps with the 350gr Speer MagTip. No pressure signs but I'm running out of room for Varget, may need a faster powder or just be happy with what I'm given.

Off to the reloading room and then back to the range because Mike also donated some 350gr Barnes X bullets...

great report!

next try some north fork flat point solids and soft nose...

http://www.northforkbullets.com/416-370.htm

these will be all the bullet you will ever need and they go faster because of the design of the bands...less preasure, friction and accurate as all get out!

as you can see they will function down to 1700 fps!

see if you can push these to 2300 fps

"With North Forks, the mushroom size is at it’s maximum around 2100 fps" a quote from the manufacturer

plus look at all those crimping options!

I went with Rick to the range today.

Was extremely impressed with the concept Rick executed with this rifle and with it's performance.

The rifle is a VZ24 and nicely executed. Is light and handles very well.

This caliber is a terrific way to get performance equal to the .404 Jeffery using a bullet diameter that provides lots of choices and cases that don't cost a fortune!

I think Rick has a very nice DGR here at a price that is virtually unbeatable! My congratulations to him.

Boom,
I wanted to know if it'd shoot $30.00/box vanilla bullets before ordering $50.00/box boutique bullets. Now it's time to really play.

Mike,

Thanks for the help. Now we need an adventure...

I like the 350 gr speer.I called them and it was supose to be a preium bullet at $45 a box.Its alot better bullet than you think.I shoot it all the time in my 416 rem mag.

DGR416
From what I saw in the water jugs from the bullet pictured above the .416MT acts just like all the MagTip bullets. It leaves a trail of lead chunks along the way but still ends up with a big old mushroom with good weight retention. My local gun store quoted a price of $25.00/box and Midway has them listed @ $23 plus shipping but out of stock.

And the plus side is they're accurate to boot.

quote:

Originally posted by Rick R:
Made a trip to the range today and courtesy of Mike a few rounds were fired over a chrono.

I'm quite pleased with the results. From it's 24" barrel Mr.Aagaard managed 2,200 fps with the 400gr Hornady soft point pushed by Varget with no pressure signs at all. That should suffice for just about any animal I would ever get the opportunity to hunt.

The rifle just managed to get 2,400 fps with the 350gr Speer MagTip. No pressure signs but I'm running out of room for Varget, may need a faster powder or just be happy with what I'm given.

Off to the reloading room and then back to the range because Mike also donated some 350gr Barnes X bullets...

Running out of room was my problem when I tried to use Varget in my 376 Steyr with 270g BarnesX. Used Swift A-Frames to take to Africa. Called Barnes and they suggested Ramshot TAC. Haven"t tried it yet but it may be a little faster and a finer grain than Varget so more would fit in the case and less would be needed. Plan to buy a can soon. I like your information. That sure is a light rifle. How did you get it so light?

AA,
try benchmark, its on the hodgedon (sp) sight in the loading data

jeffe

AA,

The #4 barrel and action without any scope and very little in the way of sights are hanging on to the skinny lightweight Carbelite stock for dear life I've only weighed it on the bathroom scale, once it gets back from being blued and reassembled I'll check it on a postal scale and post a picture. It needs to gain a pound or two.

Jeffe,
I've thought about using something a bit quicker than Varget, but hadn't decided what to try. Then there's the fun and expense of working up load data at nearly a $1 per bullet...

Edited to add that i ran Load From A Disk with Benchmark, HMmmmmmm....
Guess I'm stopping at the gunshop on the way home.

quote:

Originally posted by Rick R:
I had Douglas put a barrel on it, but I rented the reamer from Z-Hat. He developed the cartridge and makes dies and reamer.

Actually Rick, I just wanted to point out that you rented the reamer from 4D Reamer Rentals a seperate company from Z-Hat. Thanks for the plug though!

Hey cool!! z-hat is in the house!!
You, jeffeosso and rip. Some fine ideas for carts!!

quote:

Hey cool!! z-hat is in the house!!
You, jeffeosso and rip. Some fine ideas for carts!!

Yup, I stop in now and then. Just keep my keyboard to myself most of the time.

Z,
Sorry I misspoke, you design a fine cartridge and 4D markets a mean reamer.

The finished rifle ended up weighing 7.85# on the postal scale. I'm sticking with the load that pushes the 400gr Hornady bullets at 2,200fps. I put a encapsulated solid thru a railroad tie at 20yards the other day and still had to dig 2' into the hillside to find the slug! 100 yard accuracy with the 400gr soft is @2" using the XS ghostring sights and a fairly large white bead front. Accurate enough to put a serious hurt on most Bad Things at DG ranges?
Sorry about the pic quality but here is the rifle:

Still trying to decide whether to go to a wood stock or stay with the synth.

Just for info, Ken Ewing of Bonner's Ferry, Idaho (a member of this board) has been shooting the .416/.376 Steyr in his Montana-actioned custom rifle for well over a year now (possibly 2 years).

He has also designed a cast bullet with a huge flat meplat for it whch several of us in Wyoming, Oregon, Arizona, and elsewhere have all shot through his rifle. It takes full charges of the same powders used behind jacketed bullets, with no leading, and REALLY hits like a sledgehammer. It was made by Mountain Moulds.

He calls it the ".416 Ridgewalker", but most of us call it the ".416 Gnu", as "Gnu" is his nickname.

Interestingly enough, he opted to use a similar fibreglass stock and a virtually identical ghost-ring peep sight on the rear bridge. His rifle, though, is on the Montana stainless-steel short magnum action and has a very dull-finished-stainless steel barrel.

quote:

Originally posted by Rick R:
Z,
Sorry I misspoke, you design a fine cartridge and 4D markets a mean reamer.

The finished rifle ended up weighing 7.85# on the postal scale. I'm sticking with the load that pushes the 400gr Hornady bullets at 2,200fps. I put a encapsulated solid thru a railroad tie at 20yards the other day and still had to dig 2' into the hillside to find the slug! 100 yard accuracy with the 400gr soft is @2" using the XS ghostring sights and a fairly large white bead front. Accurate enough to put a serious hurt on most Bad Things at DG ranges?
Sorry about the pic quality but here is the rifle:

Still trying to decide whether to go to a wood stock or stay with the synth.

great job rick!

mucho kudo to yooo!

looks great!

what was the total cost of the project???

Alberta Canuck,
Is your friend using a .376 opened up to .416 or is it improved like Z-Hat's Aagaard? And do you know how heavy the bullets he designed are?

Boom,
Careful my little woman might read this forum Just kidding, she knows...
I have under $750 in the rifle and dies, but the barrel was part of a side deal.

quote:

Originally posted by Alberta Canuck:
Just for info, Ken Ewing of Bonner's Ferry, Idaho (a member of this board) has been shooting the .416/.376 Steyr in his Montana-actioned custom rifle for well over a year now (possibly 2 years).

Just for info, the first 416 Aagaard was built in May 2002

quote:

The rifle just managed to get 2,400 fps with the 350gr Speer MagTip. No pressure signs but I'm running out of room for Varget, may need a faster powder or just be happy with what I'm given.

Nice! If I didn't have a 411 Hawk, I would build one. Now I have to build a 470 AR.

For reference, my 411 Hawk will reach 2,400 fps with a 325 grain NFork bullet @ 57,000 PSI, SD=4, 4 down and one in the chamber.

I can only reach 2,100 w/400 grain bullet at 58,700 psi.

Fred:

What action(s) do you recommend using for building a rifle for the .376 Steyr and .416 Aagaard? Thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by Rick R:
Alberta Canuck,
Is your friend using a .376 opened up to .416 or is it improved like Z-Hat's Aagaard? And do you know how heavy the bullets he designed are?

Sorry I can't answer that definitevely right now. I have some of his bullets and a few dummy rounds down in my shop but at the moment am incapable of getting there. I can only stand 3-4 minutes at a time and can't walk more than about 30 feet. Hopefully that will much improve over the next 2-4 weeks and I'll be able to give you dead-on info.

My recollection is that his cast bullets weigh either 365 or 385 grains, but I could not swear to either. He has pushed them as high as 2,350 fps, but prefers to keep them down around 2,200-2,250 for less severe recoil. His rifle is quite light and thumps soundly on both ends.

When I get the chance, I will find at least one bullet, measure the diameter, length, weight, meplat diameter, etc., and let you know what I find. Would simply e-mail him and ask, but he is currently out of state on family business.

Oh, and yes, his is simply the standard .376 case opened to .416" diameter. If "improved", he didn't feel the gain would be worth the potential costs. That was his call and I am not saying it is a better view, just the way it weighed out for him.

Even if an improved case would hold 4% more powder, that would likely yield only 1% more velocity when run at the same pressure. Headspace has never been a problem in our experience with that standard round necked up.

quote:

Originally posted by Rick R:

The cartridge size stacks up like this:

I just really do not nunderstand why they did not use the 9,3x64 as a parent case, since its OAL is the same as the .30-06????????

Bent,
the x64 case is a .500 (ish) cacse head, rather than .473 ...much more capacity

jeff:

the x64 has a casehead of .507

The 376 steyer has a casehead of .501


It would get more out of just necking the 9.3x64 up to 9.5(?)