Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only 425 Express

Savage had a rifle . I believe the Model 116 chambered for the 425 Express. Can anyone give any insight to this caliber and if anyone still chambers for it?

I had one built after that article came out about it. It was very accurate with nothing but clover leaf groups at 100 yards, but horrible kick. Recoil was a sudden shock, not the push of a 375 or 416. It was much worse than a 340 Weatherby. Nobody that shot it had ever shot anything with that severe a jolt. It broke a Leopold scope ring and cracked the fully inletted and bedded McMillan stock. It makes me wonder how bad the Ruger 375 kicks? AJ

What were the ballistics of the .425 Express? Did it use the .423 bullets of the .404 Jeffery, or the .435 bullets of the .425 Westley-Richards?

The .375 Ruger doesn't kick badly at all. It kicks more than a .308, but it's not a big deal if you shoot big-bore rifles at all.

Dennis

It was a .300 WinMag necked up to .423". It was created by Cam Hopkins.

George

Cameron Hopkins, thanks George, I have been trying to think of his name for months..He is the gentleman that gave me the 95 grs. of IMR-4831 for my 404s some years back and for that I am eternally greatfull, that is the load that gives me 2652 FPS in an original 27" barrelled Mauser..I opted to cut it back to 93 grs in my 24 and 26 inch tubes and still get an easy 2400 FPS in my 404s..I let my friends shoot the 95 gr. loads and watch them shudder!:) Jim Brockman shakes like a dog poop'in peach seed when he touches one of those babies off!

Dennis,
The 425Express was nominally a 400gr at 2400fps ... unsure if it was loaded to the hilt though. At AR there's a thread on a 404/375 in the wildcat section where I dummied up a 423 'Taylor' using Bertram 416Taylor brass, and a 425Express using 300WinMag brass. Difference is noticable. The 423/8mmRemMag looks damn sexy though as does the long and svelte 404/375. I think I'm gathering an appreciation for 0.423" wildcats.
Cheers...
Con

I have one of the Savage 116SE rifles chambered in 425 Express. Bought from kudude on AR. I also have a custom 404 Jeffery built on a Model 70 Super Grade. The 425 Express does seem to have a faster recoil velocity than the 404 Jeffery when both are loaded to the same muzzle velocity using identical bullets and the rifles both weigh the same. Probably because the 425 Express operates at a higher pressure to acheive the same muzzle velocity as the Jeffery. Montana Rifle company offers 425 Express barreled actions in their lineup. I think that Heym may offer it as a complete rifle.