Hello.
I'm sorry for bringing this subject up again.
But here I go.
Like many others I have a CZ 550 in 416 Rigby. I'm, planning to build a 450 Dak on that action. I don't need it, but just because I want to.

My questions are:
- First of all, is this a project that make sense?

- I'm going to do the stock myself, but I will have a smith rebarrel it for me. What barrel contour and length do you suggest?

- I have approx 120 pcs. of 416 Rigby brass. Can those brass be used? if so can I use for instance Remingtons 405 grs 45/70 bullets to fireform the the brass? (cause they are cheap)

- And what about express sights? any recomandations?

This project will take time, I'm just at the planning stage, so I am grateful for any input.

Thanks.

Why not go with the 450 Rigby instead? I would go with a #6 barrel contour at around 24". I have been using the 416 Rigby Norma brass for my 450 Rigby but have recently acquired some real 450 Rigby from Horneber in Germany.

Here is a picture:


The three left are 416 Rigby Norma cases fireformed in my 450 Rigby rifle while the three right are real 450 Rigby fireformed cases. It is very tricky to fireform the 416 Rigby case, as the case has a tendency to collaspe or buckle when expanding the neck. I usually end up trashing at least two cases out of ten when forming the 416 Rigby Norma brass. Good luck.

Mingo's idea is very good, but also consider the plain old .460 weatherby for which formed cases exist in good brass. I have read on here that some people with a lot of experience feel that the weatherby loaded back to 500 gr @ 2400 fpf is an excellent choice.

Could you also turn the belt off the .460 brass if you wanted to go with the dakata or rigby .450's ?? that may be another option.

Hey Mingo.

Yes I have considered going for the Rigby also. After reading about them, they seam basically the same.
I will go for whatever is easiest with the starting point I have, and the 416 Rig. brass I allready have.
My goal is to make a 45 cal that drives a 500 grs bullet in the range of 2200 - 2500 feet/sec.
If I wanted something more powerful I would have gone for the wby.

Thanks for sharing the picture.

But 24" barrel? Is it neccessary to have a barrel that long?

The 450 Rigby and the 450 Dakota are similar but they are not the same. The 450 Dakota has a slightly smaller base diameter so it could be a problem to use the 416 Rigby case. Good luck.

Thanks again Mingo.

Other than the belt on the 460Wby, THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE IN ANY OF THE THREE, performance wise. They all use exactly the same case and can be loaded to exactly the same ballistics.
If you want to do a 45cal on your rifle, sell that 416 brass and buy new brass for whichever one you end up with. I have the 450 Dakota, but only because the 450 Rigby wasn't out when I built mine. I have a Dakota action so it was the logical choice.