The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Shooting Lefties Left Hand Ruger Hawkeye Stainless Laminate in 416 RugerGo | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
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| One of Us |
No, it doesn't exist as a factory rifle. What I do is buy a stainless right hand Alaskan in .416 Ruger with a Hogue stock and swap barrels with a left hand stainless .375 Ruger with laminated stock. I still have a couple of the .375s left. No magazine rail modifications are needed. As the sling swivel base is on the barrel on the .416, I plug the front swivel base hole in the laminated stock and install the front swivel from the laminated stock in the Hogue stock in the slot designed for it. So far two guns have been converted and a third is in process right now. No changes are needed to the .375 with the Hogue stock, but the laminated stock needs a synthetic bedding just in case. No extensive testing has been done to date, but this .416 should be the best thing for a lefty on Safari ever made. As soon as I can get photos I'll post some. Allan Quick, Cheap, or Good: Pick Two | ||
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I've thought of doing the same thing. Decided instead to send in my LH Mark II for a 416 Taylor "do-over" Rod -------------------------------- "A hunter should not choose the cal, cartridge, and bullet that will kill an animal when everything is right; rather, he should choose ones that will kill the most efficiently when everything goes wrong" Bob Hagel | |||
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A 416 Taylor can be rechambered to 416 Ruger. Why go wildcat? Quick, Cheap, or Good: Pick Two | |||
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1-I've always wanted a Taylor. 2-Ease of getting brass up here. 3-I dont need the added FPS the Ruger offers, I have a 458 Lott for that sorta thing. Oh ya, IMO the Taylor has the "cool factor" But who knows down the road, maybe it'll happen  BTW, I do have a LH 375 Ruger in the SS/Lam config. (and boy can it shoot) I absolutely love that litle gun......ah shucks, why did you have to reply to this, now you have me thinking about it again! Rod -------------------------------- "A hunter should not choose the cal, cartridge, and bullet that will kill an animal when everything is right; rather, he should choose ones that will kill the most efficiently when everything goes wrong" Bob Hagel | |||
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I take it the Ruger CRF actions do not require an extractor cut on the barrel. Can anyone post a photo of the bolt face of this Ruger? George  | |||
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I just took a look at mine today (lefty stainless 375), and found out why this is possible. The back of the barrel is flat with no cuts or notches on either side. It does not have an extractor cut like a model 70. Only issue I can think of is barrel indexing, if the threads were not exactly cut the same, but apparently they are. | |||
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Ken, That makes sense. The gunsmith might have to take ten thousandths of an inch off, cut new threads, and re-chamber to get to index so the barrel markings and sights line up. George | |||
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So far two of the three guns converted didn't have to have any rechambering. The sights lined up on top and the headspace gauge indicated that headspace was right. (The bolt just closed on the "go" gauge.) The third one is definitely going for dangerous game, so the gunsmith is going to set it up with .010 headspace. Most likely the .416 reamer will get some use this time. Quick, Cheap, or Good: Pick Two | |||
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Any photos yet? I am interested in doing the same thing. STAY IN THE FIGHT! | |||
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I'll see if one of the guys who had his converted has photos. He is on here sometimes. Quick, Cheap, or Good: Pick Two | |||
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wouldn't it look identical to the 375 before conversion? | |||
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I got tired waiting for photos so I just sent my LH Ruger 375 African to Dan Pedersen to be rebored to a 416 Ruger. The only problem is it takes six months so I won't be able to post photos for awhile. They will just look like the 375 African anyway. STAY IN THE FIGHT! | |||
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The only difference in looks is that the 416 barrel is a little fatter and has the front sling swivel on the barrel. The swivel stud is removed from the laminated stock and installed in the synthetic stock that is now a .375. On the third rifle the sights were at 3 o'clock (from the rear) on both rifles. The smith had to remove metal from the barrel shank until the sights lined up, then used the finish reamers to set the headspace. I had him leave .005 headspace on the .416 as it will mostly be a stopping rifle. I have been in touch with Skinner sights and they are deveoloping an aperture sight to fit in the rear scope mount. Also a sourdough front sight to replace the bead. Quick, Cheap, or Good: Pick Two | |||
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Here are some shots of the third rifle converted from .375 to .416 Ruger by barrel swapping.     ]  Quick, Cheap, or Good: Pick Two | |||
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Very nice rifle. | |||
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I mentioned earlier that I sent my LH 375 Ruger African barrel/action to Custom Barrel and Gunworks in Arizona to be rebored and rechambered to a 416 Ruger. I was told it would take six months so I didn't expect to try it out until May, but I got it back today ready to go in less than 30 days. It looks just like the 375 Ruger African so I won't post any photos yet. I am taking it to my gun club Sunday to test it out. I just popped it back into the stock with no additional cross belt or any bedding. I will post a report and photos Sunday night to let you all know how it works. I have cycled a few rounds through it and it seems fine. Total cost including shipping was $ 350. I bought the 375 second hand unfired for $ 750 OTD so I have a total of $ 1,100 into it. STAY IN THE FIGHT! | |||
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The gunsmith who did the first two 375-416 conversions pillar bedded one of the .416s. I just received a Brownell's order and got one of the pillar bedding block sets made for the M77. I'm going to bed the .416 before I shoot it any more. I don't want to split the stock. Quick, Cheap, or Good: Pick Two | |||
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Vol717, I am a bit concerned about the stock as is so thanks for the advice. STAY IN THE FIGHT! | |||
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Do you have a link for this? I looked the site over & couldnt find it. Rod -------------------------------- "A hunter should not choose the cal, cartridge, and bullet that will kill an animal when everything is right; rather, he should choose ones that will kill the most efficiently when everything goes wrong" Bob Hagel | |||
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I am back from the range with my old LH Ruger African 375 now rebored to a 416 Ruger. It did not go well. The stock cracked at the tang after only four rounds of the Hornady DGX ammo. This was the basic walnut stock, not the grey laminate. I don't know if a good bedding job would have made a difference, but I kind of doubt it. I am not sure if I will get a synthetic or wood stock to replace it, but obviously something that can hand 5000 ft. pounds of recoil is needed. The accuracy and feeding was very good for those four rounds, but I don't have much else to add. I tried my chrono for one round and it showed 2310 fps. It was disappointing as the stock that came with the African had a nice look and feel to it. I was hoping to keep it. I might spring the money and get a really nice custom wood stock. Any suggestions? STAY IN THE FIGHT! | |||
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That sucks, and I'm sorry to hear it. I'm going through the same thing now with a split 375. For laminates, I'd look at Accurate Innovations. I've never owned one, but from everything I've heard they are good stocks, the price is decent, and there are lots of different options available. | |||
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PNW, Thanks for the reference. The web site has some interesting options. I am going to give them a call. STAY IN THE FIGHT! | |||
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I have an AI stock on my LH 358 Norma, I really like the stock & it is very likely the best fitting most comfortable stock I own. There is another poster on here (IIRC micheal458), he uses nothing but AI stocks on his rifles, cartridges of which produce more recoil than a 416 Ruger, he just drops them in and shoots. I'd put one on your rifle in a heartbeat. Rod -------------------------------- "A hunter should not choose the cal, cartridge, and bullet that will kill an animal when everything is right; rather, he should choose ones that will kill the most efficiently when everything goes wrong" Bob Hagel | |||
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I just ordered an AI stock. Thanks for the feedback. I'll let you know how it shoots right after April 15th. STAY IN THE FIGHT! | |||
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Something to keep in mind, my AI stock has a longer fore-end than factory. Given the short length of the Ruger, I'm guessing it would look a little odd. If it were me I would ask AI if they'd cut the forearm & finish it up at a shorter length to make it look more proportional to the Rugers overall length. BTW I have 2 rifles that are Stainless/Wood and IMO it looks awesome....as would yours. Heres a pic of the above mentioned 358 Norma  Rod -------------------------------- "A hunter should not choose the cal, cartridge, and bullet that will kill an animal when everything is right; rather, he should choose ones that will kill the most efficiently when everything goes wrong" Bob Hagel | |||
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Thanks for the pics and nice looking rifle, but the Ruger I am sending them is the Blued 23" African, not the 20" stainless. It is still going to look good. STAY IN THE FIGHT! | |||
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I emailed AI and asked them if they would put their chassis in my stock or sell me a chassis. No deal. I'll make my own or just pillar bed it. Quick, Cheap, or Good: Pick Two | |||
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Could you do this with the LH .375 Ruger and the new 9.3x62? Maybe just buy a new bolt since the 9.3 has a smaller boltface (I think)? | |||
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You could swap barrels with a 25/06,270 or 30/06. I didn't know Ruger was doing a 9.3X62. I'll have to look into it. Quick, Cheap, or Good: Pick Two | |||
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The website shows they are doing it in the African, and I like that stock and set up. Would the 30-06 stock accept the barrel contour of the 9.3? | |||
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Wow... Here it is I sure hope this will eventually come in LH config. Left or right, I'm sure it will be a big hit with the resurgence of the 9.3 Rod -------------------------------- "A hunter should not choose the cal, cartridge, and bullet that will kill an animal when everything is right; rather, he should choose ones that will kill the most efficiently when everything goes wrong" Bob Hagel | |||
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If anyone wants to do a barrel swap, I'll order both a right hand 9.3X62 African and a left hand blued .30/06 and arrange to have a gunsmith do the work. I won't make any profit on the deal, but you'll need to pay for the 9.3X 62 finish reamer and headspace gauge and I'll keep those for my fee. The smith already has .30/06 tools. Quick, Cheap, or Good: Pick Two | |||
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Would a cross-bolt need to be added to the .30-06? | |||
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I don't think a cross bolt is needed. The 9.3X62 will provide some extra recoil, but I would put a pillar bedding kit and Acra-glass the recoil lug rather than put in the cross bolt. Brownells sell a pillar bedding kit for Rugers for about $12. I pillar bedded my .416 conversion and glassed the lug and so far it hasn't moved anything. My guess is that the barrel contours may be a little different. But the left hand gun's barrel channel could be opened up and the right hand .30/06 barrel free floated. Quick, Cheap, or Good: Pick Two | |||
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The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Shooting Lefties Left Hand Ruger Hawkeye Stainless Laminate in 416 Ruger
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