I'm thinking of revving up this rifle with some 400gr bullets, a little bit hotter than my normal loads. This rifle now, shoots very accurately and I'm thinking if it's not broke don't fix it but I've heard of the stocks splitting on these rifles. What kind of bedding should be done and should it be full length bedded? I would think this would strengthen the stock and possibly prevent the stock from splitting.
Thanks in advance,
Terry

[This message has been edited by Terry P (edited 12-23-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Terry P (edited 12-24-2001).]

Terry,
I can't help you with your bedding question (ol'Bill Ruger, a lefty himself, doesn't see fit to offer the .416 in a LH rifle!:mad , but before you hot rod your .416, what bullets do you intend to use?

Most .416 softs are designed for about ~2400fps; they may fail at ~2600fps. I know the Swift A-Frame will handle 2700fps (as loaded in .416 Weatherby); the Barnes 'X', Winchester FailSafe, and Trophy Bonded bullets may be okay, too.

Check with the bullet maker before proceeding to save yourself some grief.

George

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Shoot straight, shoot often, but by all means, use enough gun!

GeorgeS,
I'm trying to work up a load that would really smack a buffalo so it's a toss up between the BarnesX and the Swift a frames. I am kind of leaning toward the Barnes. According to their manual the 400gr at 2600fps develops 6000 ft. lbs. of energy. This is just a tad bit more energy than the 500NE. In the area we hunted in Tanzania, the PH and a couple of the locals seemed to think that the 500NE was perfect buffalo medecine so I thought I would work up a load that was equal to the 500NE (in energy) and maybe go over and try it next year!
Barnes or swifts? I'm not sure yet.
Terry

In that case, I can heartily recommend the Swifts. Except for one bullet which went through a sapling then the humerus of a buff, through its heart and stopped under the skin on the off side, they have all shot through both my buffaloes (.300gr. from a .375) with lots of tissue damage.

I cannot get the Barnes 'X' to shoot worth shit in my guns, but Saeed has killed boxcars full of game including buff with them.

Try them both, and see which one your gun likes best from 25-200yds.

BTW, Ross Seyfried, when reviewing the then-new .416Wby., said that the Swift was the ONLY soft he'd trust on buffalo from that gun at those velocities (400gr.~2700fps) .

George

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Shoot straight, shoot often, but by all means, use enough gun!

[This message has been edited by GeorgeS (edited 12-24-2001).]

There is often a big fuss when talking about bedding the 77 Ruger. I have bedded several and do not find them anymore difficult than others, it's just that there are a few more steps. I bedded my M77 416 Rigby the following way. Bed the recoil transfer plate out in the forend as you would any recoil lug. Firm contact to the rear, slight gap front, bottom, and sides. Also put a pad of glass under the plate near the action. After that is bedded, bed the front and rear of the receiver. Do NOT bed behind the tang or that can lead to stock splitage. You will notice a slight gap between the rear of the tang and the wood, leave it that way. Remove some wood below the tang, and then again up front around where the recoil lug normally is and bed it up so that the receiver is making firm contact with the wood across the bottom, but not on the rear of the tang, that is important. Then, if you want, you can float the barrel, which is what I did last. When bedding the receiver, just make sure the receiver is pulled down and in firm contact with the recoil transfer plate. A couple of steps extra, but really not a big deal. I bedded my M77 458 the same way and it has literally over a thousand rounds through it and there is not a hint of a problem. The Rigby has not had that many rounds through it yet, but I do not expect any problems. The forward action screw on my 416 had the wood split between the screw hole and the magazine well, so I removed as much wood as I could and steel bedded the forward action screw. I used steel bed on the recoil plate and the receiver and so far, so good.

Mine split after about 1000 rounds or so. I believe that the screws loosened and allowed the tang to make contact with the wood. This is where the stock split. The bedding advice the previous poster gave is spot on. Only one more bit of advice, the order of tightening the screws makes a difference. Tighten the forward recoil plate screw first, then the rear recoil plate screw, then the barrel screw, then the trigger gard screws rear first then front. Use thread locker. I would also recommend a minimum .50in. gap between the rear of the tang and th stock.

As to bullets, search for my thread "Swift A-Frame on Buff". Includes pictures, draw your own conclusions. I will probably use something else next time, or at least back up with solids in the mag.

Both my friends and my cz550 .416 rigby stocks cracked after 8 shots a piece. One of them cracked in front of the first screw right up the forend, the other b/w just under the bolt inlet (the screws were tight and I can not understand why this happened) I have since put a custom fiberglass stock on which has been reinforced with kevlar and carbon fibre, it is a weatherby style which my stock builder told me he has best results with as far as reducing felt recoil. He put hex head screws to replace the original cz action screws and provided an allen key cut to length so as not to be able to overtighten which I tend to do on everything. I have done them up as tight as this allen key will allow he said that the front screw did not have to be as tight as the two rear screws. My friend will get his new warranty stock bedded, as my stock builder said he was sure his would split again unless his was bedded. Our loads were running a 410 gr woodleigh at 2700 fps. So I would definitely get the bedding job done.

I have not shot game with the 410 woodleighs yet how do they perform anyone used them at the above velocities ???

Reagrds PC

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