Looking to rechamber my 416 Rigby to 416 Weatherby. The Weatherby looks slightly bigger in all dimensions except for just in front of the belt, where it looks like it is .582 as opposed to the Rigby's .587. I would think therefore this is NOT going to work, but curious if anyone has actually done this.

I guess my first question is why do you want to do this? Are you a reloader, or are you wanting to shoot hotter factory ammo? Since the Weatherby is a belted Rigby, given an equally strong action, I would think they could be loaded to the same level if you are a reloader.

Going from a beltless case to a belted case is going backwards, in practice.

Unless there is some very good reason for the change, there is nothing the Weatherby can do that the Rigby cannot do

quote:

Originally posted by loud-n-boomer:
I guess my first question is why do you want to do this? Are you a reloader, or are you wanting to shoot hotter factory ammo? Since the Weatherby is a belted Rigby, given an equally strong action, I would think they could be loaded to the same level if you are a reloader.

The Rigby is slightly smaller capacity, more tapered for one thing. There seems to be about 50 f/s plus difference.

If I had a 416 Rigby, I would always be cautious if loading to full modern power and because the brass manufactures don't have to make 416 Rigby brass to handle that pressure.

Brass can and soes vary from the same brand. For example, Norma branded Wby brass is generally softer than Wby branded Norma brass of the same calibre. A mate of mine had a 22/240 and used Wby branded Norma brass then some of the cheaper Norma branded brass came up and he bought some. He had to back off his loads and dropped close to 150 f/s with 80 grain bullets

An Australian who posts on AR as PC tried Bertram brass in his 416 Rigby and it stuffed the brass at 2450 f/s with 400 grain bullets.

quote:

Originally posted by sjmci:
Looking to rechamber my 416 Rigby to 416 Weatherby. The Weatherby looks slightly bigger in all dimensions except for just in front of the belt, where it looks like it is .582 as opposed to the Rigby's .587. I would think therefore this is NOT going to work, but curious if anyone has actually done this.

If it was me I would want the barrel set back a bit even if they both listed as .587.

Also, I would put the .582 and .587 as set in stone.

If I wanted mximum ballistics from the case capacity then I would have the 416 Wby for reasons I posted above. It is quite a few years ago so might be different now but from a 24" barrel Mark V factory 400 grain Wby ammo did just over 2700 f/s on an Ohler 35. I would not like to take the powder charge from the Wby factory ammo and stick it in a 416 Rigby.

As to why, I reload too many cartridges and just want to reduce that number. I realize there is not much to be gained ballistically if you reload the Rigby.

quote:

Originally posted by sjmci:
As to why, I reload too many cartridges and just want to reduce that number. I realize there is not much to be gained ballistically if you reload the Rigby.

Assuming the brass is OK .....and if reports on forums like AR are true and they seem to be ... then you can do 2600 plus with 400 grainers.

I have hunted in Africa using both the 416 Weatherby and 416 Rigby.

I used the same load in both with 400 grain bullets.

105 grains of H4350.

I have shot elephants, lions and buffalo as well as other game animals.

Both worked liked a charm.

Very interesting Saeed.

The Hodgdon site shows 89 grs start, 94 grs max for H4350 w/ a 400 gr Hornady bullet.

It appears that with modern rifles and components the Rigby can really be pushed to almost Weatherby ballistics.

1: can it be done?? sure, it's just a reamer
2: WHY? ffs, WHY? there's no difference externally

quote:

Originally posted by sjmci:
Very interesting Saeed.

The Hodgdon site shows 89 grs start, 94 grs max for H4350 w/ a 400 gr Hornady bullet.

It appears that with modern rifles and components the Rigby can really be pushed to almost Weatherby ballistics.

This is a few grains less than max.

I have loaded 10 grains more, getting almost 2600 fps.

quote:

Originally posted by sjmci:
As to why, I reload too many cartridges and just want to reduce that number. I realize there is not much to be gained ballistically if you reload the Rigby.

Not that it is any of my business, but I can't imagine how converting a 416 Rigby to 416 Weatherby to reduce the number of cartridges you reload for would be worthwhile.

Now I'll shut up...