Will a 416 Rigby work well in a pre 64 Winchester model 70 H&H length action? Do you have to modify anything? Do they feed reliably? If not, what modifications are required?

Will it work? I have an extra H&H action and a friend with a fair amount of Federal Premium 416 Rigby ammo offered to me at a good price.

I might go with 416 Rem as I know that works and possibly a 458 Lott, but have heard the Lotts don't feed well from an H&H action.

Thought this was on another post...But..."officially" the 416 Rigby OAL is about 6mm longer than the 375. In the real world, I;ve not come acosss any commercial ammo loaded that long...


Those that have seen photos of Selby's 416 opened up was certainly the longer version.

CErtainly some careful gunsmithing must be done for such a conversion

Yeah I posted in two spots. It doesn't look like a very good option. I tried to convert a 1917 Enfield to a 416 Rigby 30+ years ago. Back then Numrich had a kit and instructions. I never got it to feed perfectly. I traded to a friend and he never got it feeding perfectly either.

I'm about half way through such a build...Not as slam dunk to make them feed flawlessly...just gotta make it so so, however..and with all available factory ammo... The magazine has to be proerly configured, follower likewise,,THEN bolt face extractor, rails,,,etc

Duane is actually a wizard -
the answer is a resound NO for mere mortals

HA! Nope... just motivation when many years ago Wife, three kids, mortgage and gotta pay the light bill.

Realistically,. there's just no place for a young man to learn to acually be a GUNSMITH. Oh...replace parts in an AR...but then again..how many times is there a demand tor a 416 Rigby based on an Enfield?

I built a .416 Rigby on a P14 action.I used a magnum magazine box from Numrich and a M1917 follower.The rails in the receiver took extensive modification.Also had to lengthen the magazine box cut.It feeds fine.At my age I wouldn't do it again.

Just to clarify. I am not intent on building a 416 Rigby out of anything. I have a spare pre 64 H&H action and already have a pre 64 70 in 375 H&H. I also have access to a fair amount of Federal Premium ammunition in 416 Rigby. I am definitely not going to try and build it into a 416 Rigby. I may go with a 416 Rem. I made one on a pre 64 H&H before and it functioned and shot great. Like a dummy, I sold it.

Back when I built (not 100% successful) a 416 Rigby on a Win 1917 Enfield action there was no Internet. What help you got was local knowledge. We figured the follower was the issue. Machine shops were few and far between being very rural here. You did the best you could with what you had. Karl Kenyon built some fine triggers for Win 52's with a drill, hacksaw and file in the early days. I don't know if he ever got a milling machine.

I will make something useful out of this action; it may be a big one - 416 Rem or 458 Lott or maybe something along the lines of 300 Weatherby, 7 STW. Who knows. It doesn't cost nothing to sit here and look at it!

400 H&H might check all your boxes and should feed with little if any modification to the action

Yesterday a friend gave me an absolutely pristine 6.5-300 Weatherby Magnum barrel. It is on there as of today.

Frank Wells built one for me and it is a great shooter and feeds well. Got a pre64 supergrade in a 416 rigby I do not know who built it but Frank worked on the rails and it feeds nice and is also a shooter. I built one for a friend in Africa and it is doing well after many years..But..Is not a really easy build and I have seen some actions that had to be parted out by some that have tried..jm

quote:

Originally posted by colmacivor:
Frank Wells built one for me and it is a great shooter and feeds well. Got a pre64 supergrade in a 416 rigby I do not know who built it but Frank worked on the rails and it feeds nice and is also a shooter. I built one for a friend in Africa and it is doing well after many years..But..Is not a really easy build and I have seen some actions that had to be parted out by some that have tried..jm

Danny likely did the machine work

quote:

Originally posted by Bryndon:
400 H&H might check all your boxes and should feed with little if any modification to the action

In that light a 416 Ruger could even be better.

James Wisner published extensive and detailed information on converting Enfield actions to .416 Rigby and .505 Gibbs. It is in 'Gunmaker' magazine issues number 79 and 80.

I know it is not a Model 70 but it should provide a little insight on how involved such a conversion might be.