Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only 416 Rem Mag vs 416 Rigby?

Is your 416's working pressure much below 44500 cup?

As to recoil I doubt you'd feel the difference but the calculation would give the Rigby more recoil due to a greater charge of powder to get to the 400 gr @ 2400 fps. This assuming the gas exit pressure was the same velocity and volume (Which they aren't)which we cannot calculate, or measure with my equipment, but in any case you won't feel it in rifles of the same weight.

As to the Rigby vs Rem ammo and popularity I'd say the Remington wins hands down all over Africa. A Rigby is now as I think it has almost been a novelty, meaning a rarity, among African hunters. It is and still more expensive (ammo) and most ammo that comes to the African countries comes via the US hunter and that leaves the Remington more popular, by far. The Rigby is a great old round and set the standard in ballistics for a forty caliber rifle. They are a trip to nostalgia and add adventure to any African hunt. Just bring your own ammo and give some to your hunting partner to bring and things should be fine.

As has been stated I can't tell much difference, if any. I own the Rigby & of course handload. Mine is ported & I find the recoil very manageable. This is a photo of a free roaming water buffalo that fell to one shot. I did do a mercy shot.

Albertan,
You could be right as I don't have much faith in Remington either, but I can always make 416 Rem brass from the .375 and I'm sure its here to stay...

That said I would argue that the .416 Rem is a more popular caliber than the Rigby..I see more .416 Rem. in Africa by far than the Rigbys..Its a matter of finance, the Remingtons are cheaper and PHs are not wealthy..

I don't think the .416 Rem is going away, but my latest rifle is a 416 Ruger and I sure am liking it. I built it on a 98 Mauser action.

My only complaint with the Rigby is bulk and weight, and that big action is wasted on such a small caliber when it can be a 500 or 505...

Ray: Your 416 Ruger is starting to make a lot of sense...

What are chances it will be factory adopted?

BobinNH,
I can guarentee you it will become a factory round, and that is a promise to me from the big horses mouth....

I shoot mine using 416 Rem. hand-loading data, and I get about the same velocities as I get with my 416 Rem but with about 4 grains less powder for whatever thats worth and that is only with RL-15 as I have no reason to experiment further as its the perfect powder for the .416 Ruger and Rem...My std. load is cut back to 79 grs. of RL-15 with any 400 gr. bullet and its very mild and gives me 2408 FPS in a 20" barrel!! Not bad IMO...That is 10 shots taking out the high and low velocities on my chronograph..

Is it better than the .416 Rem., who knows the 416 are all just clones of each other, they all do the same thing at the same velocities for all practical purposes.

Thanks for that response,Ray. It seems like an interesting cartridge;and they do all seem to operate about the same,too.

Albertan,
It was not that long ago that you could not buy 416 Rigby ammo, it was deader than the Mexican dollar, along with the .470, 450-400 and a bunch of others..It could happen again..I used to make 416 Rigby brass by turning the belts off 416 Wby brass on a lathe...

The 416 Rem is here to stay and you see a lot more of them all the time in Africa being used by locals and PHs. A lot of ammo companies make ammo, and should Rem quit making it others will jump on that band wagon.. Your right on one point,I wouldn't be surprised if Rem or Win. discontinued anything, they both have a bunch of professional bean counters with zits and just out of school, and are legends in their own minds...As a results Rem is up to there arse in law suits over a screwed up trigger system, and Winchester is here today and gone tomorrow..

One thing is for sure and that is the .375 H&H is here to stay and as long as its around, I will always have good .416 Rem brass, but these are things that I don't let bother me as a new barrel is pretty easy to come by if worse comes to worse.

A gentleman in our local gun club claims he took a brown bear at 350 yds with his .416 Remington.
I love a good story as much as the next guy..............
whelennut

It seems Americans specialize in high-intensity, smaller cartridges particularly where big bores are concerned wtih Wby specializing in both big and high intensity cart's. This is in contrast to the continental cartridges from the old, classic, English Nitro's to today's new H&H 400 and 465 mag's with their big, sloping, high-volume cartridges, but comparativley mild ballistics.

It seems the 458 Win is the epitome of that to it's own detriment until better powders finally came along. Looking at a 458 Win alongside a 470 Nitro E. (about same ballistics) is like looking at Mutt and Jeff. Same-almost-with the 416 Rem and the 416 Rigby. There are arguments for and against but lower pressures given the same ballistics always make sense to me although my dangerous game chasing experience is nil. But there are always trade-offs of one kind or another.

Gdv

Just a thought... Since you say that factory ammo for either .416, Rigby or Remington, is horribly expensive. Therefore your forced to reload to afford to shoot... Why not instead use and reload the wildcat .416 Taylor using cheaper .458, or .338 brass?
I'm not trying to sound like a know it all. I am interested in your reply. idahoguy101

One of the PH's we met in Zim had a .416 Remington 700. Dad had a .416 Rigby Ruger M77RSM. All the PH's breathed a sigh of relief that dad had a .416.

I think a .416 of any stripe is a good call. I liked the looks and features of the Ruger and they did not offer it in that caliber.

The ammo is pricy but dad took a 2,000 lb eland bull with one shot from the Rigby and the PH said he'd never seen that done before with one shot. The lion went right down too. To me, the results outweighed the ammo cost when lives were on the line.

Derek

Perhaps, but 10+ bucks a shot is nonsense...Nostalga only counts for so much...

I agree completely...but in the years since I've been shooting, the ammo costs across the board have gone up, up, up.

I remember a few years ago getting milsurp .308 for @ .35/round, and bricks of .22LR Thunderbolt for $5.99 on sale...;)

It sucks. The Rigby ammo jumped even since I bought dad the gun last year!

Derek

Who says you have to pay $10 per round for the stuff. I bought the new Hornady Dangerous Game stuff not long ago for $80 a box or so. That's more like $4 per round which is very reasonable in my opinion. And it shoots well in my Ruger. I didn't chrono it yet, but it was accurate. These other companies may have to restructure their pricing to get a little more in line with Hornady eventually to stay competitive, or else they may just drop the likes of the Rigby from their line completely. But at $10 per round there's a whole lot of profit margin built in. If all else fails, reload for it. The savings over the price of the overpriced stuff will pay for the needed equipment in a matter of a couple or three boxes.

David

I'll bet the sigh of relief was due to the preference for a CRF Ruger over the push feed 700, not the chambering.

I just started seeing the Hornady Dangerous Game ammo locally here. It's hard to find any big game ammo within 50 miles of where I live. Gander Mtn. is spotty and overpriced at best so usually a trip to Bass Pro (@ 50 miles away) or Cabela's (@ 100+ miles) is in order.

I'd definitely try the Hornady stuff. I may also start reloading if dad is going to use the gun for more game.

Actually, the PH loved .416 as a caliber.

His quote to me at dinner one night was "Oh yes, .416, the way forward."

He had a lightweight Rem 700 in .416 Rem that he carried all the time. I didn't fire it but he said it kicks like a bugger.

The other PH fired dad's gun while we were sighting in and he left with a big smile on his face. "That's really nice!!"

The prices for the 416 Rigby up here in BC have been between $195 and $210 a box for Federal 400 grain cape shock's. I got a bag of 50 brass at Cabelas in Washington. It sure made my reloading gear pay off quickly.

Okay, I see what your point was. The PH was happy your dad brought a .416, perhaps any .416, to hunt with.