New caliber for the international market.

Is that kind of like the 416/500 Kreighoff introduced a while back?

quote:

Is that kind of like the 416/500 Kreighoff introduced a while back?

Yup, just another option for those who want to have 416 ballistics in a flanged DR cartridge. I doubt anyone but Rigby will chamber rifles for it.

Rigby to release new calibre: the .416 Rigby No. 2

More than two decades after the development of their last cartridge, London gunmaker John Rigby & Co. is set to release a new calibre, the .416 Rigby No. 2, which will be chambered in Rigby’s Rising Bite double rifles.

Dr. Eckhard Stief, a passionate German hunter, rifle collector and avid fan of rifles, is the genius behind the design of this new and improved .416 Rigby No. 2 cartridge. Working hand-in-hand with Rigby, he has seen through the development of the new calibre from concept.

As a keen cartridge developer, Dr. Stief has previously improved calibres for medium and small-sized game but four years ago decided that he would like to work on one last project - to develop an improved, more modern calibre for big game, so struck up the alliance with Rigby to see through the project.

A fan of the .416 Rigby, Dr. Stief maintains that John Rigby who developed the original cartridge in 1911 was ahead of his time when he produced the calibre, adding that it can be compared to new modern age cartridges.

Using the .416 Rigby’s original design, Dr. Stief has simply added a rim to the cartridge, to improve the extraction in double rifles, maintaining the same cartridge pressures and velocities.

Dr. Stief commented: “I selected the .416 Rigby for development because it’s powerful for shooting big game and penetrates well but it can also be used on medium-sized game like kudu and oryx, making it a good all-rounder. For me the modern shape of the case and good shoulder is important, plus the neck is not so long like many older calibres and there is lots of bullets readily available. By not changing the mother cartridge, reloaders can use their normal reloading full die set, simply needing a new case holder and original published reloading data can be used, so long as their rifle is chambered for the calibre. I have simply selected today’s best calibre from the big game calibre group and added a rim, aiding cartridge extraction.”

Marc Newton, the managing director of Rigby, added: “We are delighted to work with Dr. Stief, to develop a new Rigby calibre for our Rising Bite rifles. By adding a rim to the original .416 Rigby it modernises the cartridge and brings it into 21st century.”

So--
essentially a "High Pressure" 450/400- 3"
+ .006" in bullet diameter

Rigby marketing-- got to admire them for trying

John Taylor suggested that Rigby build a rimmed .416 70 years ago.

I recently had the occasion to handle Tony Seth-Smith’s original rising bite Rigby .450 Nitro. As far as I’m concerned Rigby could have stopped right there..it is perfection.

Who was chomping at the bit for this?

If the Good Lord wanted the .416 Rigby to have a rim, He would have inspired one of the Prophets to do so 100+ years ago.
Cal

quote:

Originally posted by cal pappas:
If the Good Lord wanted the .416 Rigby to have a rim, He would have inspired one of the Prophets to do so 100+ years ago.
Cal

Pretty much have to agree with this.

What is the market for a new double rifle chambering these days, considering the double rifle market itself?

Doesn't seem like the smartest business decision to me.

It’s like the double rifle is slumming it with the bolt trash. Will you spend tens of thousands on this experiment? maybe as a spare set of barrels, but not as a primary unless you are stupid rich.

quote:

Originally posted by Bockhunter:
... Using the .416 Rigby’s original design, Dr. Stief has simply added a rim to the cartridge, to improve the extraction in double rifles, maintaining the same cartridge pressures and velocities ...

It may be their second .416 but, if it only adds a rim and no extra powder capacity, it will not lower the pressure for use in the tropics as other 'No. 2' cartridges have done.

As much as I love my .416 Rigby chambered bolt guns, this is a answer in search of a problem, IMO.

I always look at the 416 Rigby as a kind of longrange 416. So I think it is perfect in a bolt action gun and not in a double. And there is also the 500/416.

quote:

Originally posted by sambarman338:

quote:

Originally posted by Bockhunter:
... Using the .416 Rigby’s original design, Dr. Stief has simply added a rim to the cartridge, to improve the extraction in double rifles, maintaining the same cartridge pressures and velocities ...

It may be their second .416 but, if it only adds a rim and no extra powder capacity, it will not lower the pressure for use in the tropics as other 'No. 2' cartridges have done.

I think the pressure issue you mention is less of an issue "in the tropics" these days as we no longer use cordite as a propellant.

And on that issue concerning the 416 Rigby, its case design was a nod to lowering pressures in the tropics in the first place. Example being to compare the 416 Rigby case to the 416 Rem case, as well as "factory" ballistics. The Rigby case produces the same velocity with less pressure (47,000 PSI vs 65,000 PSI respectively).

I built a 450-416 double rifle, a 450-400-3" necked down to a .416..a good friend did e metal and I did the wood. It was quite a good gun, but I sold it and bought a English gun in 450-400-3"...I always had a sweet spot for the 450-400 in 3" or 3.25..and I always liked the .416 Remington and 404 J. in bolt guns.

quote:

Originally posted by Todd Williams:

quote:

Originally posted by sambarman338:

quote:

Originally posted by Bockhunter:
... Using the .416 Rigby’s original design, Dr. Stief has simply added a rim to the cartridge, to improve the extraction in double rifles, maintaining the same cartridge pressures and velocities ...

It may be their second .416 but, if it only adds a rim and no extra powder capacity, it will not lower the pressure for use in the tropics as other 'No. 2' cartridges have done.

I think the pressure issue you mention is less of an issue "in the tropics" these days as we no longer use cordite as a propellant.

And on that issue concerning the 416 Rigby, its case design was a nod to lowering pressures in the tropics in the first place. Example being to compare the 416 Rigby case to the 416 Rem case, as well as "factory" ballistics. The Rigby case produces the same velocity with less pressure (47,000 PSI vs 65,000 PSI respectively).

Thanks Todd, that was all news to me.

However, the nomenclature still leaves me feeling that the Rigby brand, controversial as it has been this century, has again gone down the wrong path. Why could they have not just called it the 416 Rigby Flanged?