The 416 Hoffman would seem to be a very cool and efficient cartridge. Is it a 375 H&H Ackley Improved simply and easily necked-up to .416?

Will 416 Hoffman shoot 416 Rem Mag ammo?

What kind of velocities? QL suggests 2600 fps for 400 gr. bullets with 26" barrel.

Regards, AIU

AIU, I used to have a custom in 416 Hoffman. 2,600 fps would be quite optimistic. It is basically the cartridge that became the 416 Remington Magnum. I forget if a Hoffman will fire in a 416 Rem Mag chamber, or vice-versa. Think 2,380-2,400 fps with a 400gr bullet.

Remington will fire in a Hoffman chamber, not vice versa, although the differences are slight. No reason to build a Hoffman anymore with the Rem available and having identical ballistics. I still have mine from 1988.

i have heard you can use 416 rem data.. from george, himself, actually -- but best to start at bottom of the chart

I have a interesting story regarding my 416 Hoffman.

In 2003 I received a call from the manager at Bass Pro in Dallas, they had received a collection of left handed guns and one was a Dakota in 416 Hoffman. I went and looked at the rifle and it included a Schmidt and Bender 1.25x4 in EAW mounts. I was worried a little about the cartridge since I knew little about it. I decided to buy it and brought it home.

I called Dakota to confirm the year it was built and was told it had been sold as an action only. I wasn't too pleased since I didn't know who built it and was sold the rifle as a factory Dakota.

I looked the rifle over carefully and there were no visible marks to confirm the builder, I then pulled the pad off and there were initials stamped into the wood, RMW if I recall.

I inquired on AR and was told to try Robert Winter out of Menno, South Dakota. I found a phone # for Mr. Winter and called him. He confirmed he had built the rifle for a Doctor out of Missouri. He went on to explain the Doctor showed up on his doorstep one day with a load of wood and actions, all left handed and wanted to have Mr. Winter build him custom rifles. Mr. Winter went on to build many custom rifles for the Doctor until the Doctor passed away from cancer a few years later. Bass Pro had bought much of the Doctor's collection from his widow and I was fortunate to have been able to get this one.

Mr. Winter by then was retired but was regularly featured in the custom gun section of Gun Digest in the 70's and 80's. He was a top quality rifle builder.

I discovered the cartridge was designed by George Hoffman and was the forerunner to the 416 Rem. As a prior poster stated 416 Rem cartridges will work fine in a Hoffman but not the other way around and since the 416 Rem came out there is no reason to build a rifle in the Hoffman from a practical standpoint. It's a great cartridge with an interesting history and should give a potential buyer no reason not to buy one if it's in a platform you like.

Anyway, I love my Hoffman, it shoots great and has a great story behind it.

470, what kind of performance are you getting with your 416 Hoffman?

I am getting 2400fps with IMR 4064 and Barnes Triple Shocks, 2425fps with the same load and Barnes Solids. I'm sure I could push it faster but 2000fps to 2400fps has been getting it done for over 100 years.

I've used a 416 Hoffman once up Northern Territory, Australia way but was with someone
who used it all the time. Quite a few were built
in the 80's to give people easy 416's.

Seemed to have worked well in everything that
I saw that was shot with them.