Ive always been rather amused at the response I see from most guys who have NEVER used or owned a rifle in a caliber or power level that exceeds a 300 mag, when someone brings a large bore rifle with a bit more recoil/and power to the range!
Ive used a 375 H&H on dozens of elk hunts and a 458 win on a couple hunts mostly for grins, and just to see the results.
Ive had both rifles work really well in the past and because Ive generally hunted thick timber and remote narrow canyon country the "RANGE LIMITATION ISSUE " or the "excessive recoil" that all the guys using the more common 270 win-300 mag rifles has never been a factor or problem, and recoil has never been a issue either.
just because a rifle has the potential to be used at power levels far exceeding the application,does not demand it be used with full velocity or power loads.
now ,one of the guys in our elk hunting group has decided that the 416 rem is the ideal elk rifle!
I think a great deal of that thought process is and was at least partly based on his finding a really great deal on a 700 Remington rifle chambered for the 416 Remington cartridge.
when he brought the rifle over to the range and asked if i could reload for it if he bought the components and dies , I told him, Id buy the dies if he bought the components, and that he might want to buy a good bullet mold as in the long run it might prove to be very cost effective given the cost of factory projectiles.
http://www.neihandtools.com/catalog/index.html

personally I can't think of a single reason that a 416 remington, properly loaded won,t make a great elk rifle, especially knowing that one member has used a 45/70 with 400 grain cast bullets pushed to near 1900fps for many hunts with good success.
the 416 rem, rifle should be able to shoot flatter and at higher velocity's, and while I,m certain the small bore crowd will still look at the choice as ODD or excessive I can,t think of any reason it won,t work, in fact just the fact he has one and may use it in 2014 might persuade me to try my 458 LOTT on an upcoming hunt, just for giggles!


http://www.nosler.com/416-remington-magnum

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=0003530519

Spent a couple of days this year at 10K with my CZ 550 in 375 H&H. I figure with 270 TSX's running at 2600 fps its at most a 400 yard elk rifle. Its zeroed dead on at 300. I've got some 250 TTSX's but haven't played with them yet. The CZ is also as heavy as I want to carry at altitude. I guess if your just planning on using the .416 as a black timber rifle you could do worse.

A 300X at about 2900 shoots 30'06 flat. Good enough?

I don't think I'd enjoy touching off a 300 grain bullet at 2900 fps.

Lee_Woiteshek: the word "OUCH" comes to mind pretty quick, Homesteader

Sounds like fun to me in a properly stocked rifle.

IM thinking, and he has also agreed, that the goal here is more in line with using a cast gas check bullet of about 380 grains at about 2100fps.
yes I know many of you might be thinking its woefully short on potential reach, but its been years since anyone in our group has had a shot at over 250 yards. but it certainly has a flatter trajectory and more than enough energy to duplicate and exceed a 45/70 which has proven effective

Long as your elk rifle weighs 8 pounds and you'll lug it all over the mountains...

I think a .416 has much to commend it in grizzly bear country. There have been times when the light was failing, and I have been cutting fresh bear tracks, that I was REALLY wishing I was carrying something that began with a .4. Or a .5. Or even a .6.

Put a turreted scope on a .416, and it would have surprising reach.

I have an 8.5 lb. .416 Ruger that I shoot 350 Speers at 2600 fps. I have killed a few hogs with it and it would make a great elk rifle. I might use it on a planned nialgi hunt but those don't have any altitude in the profile.

A .416 of some sort is attractive. If we don't live where there are big, dangerous animals.......we just have to make do with the animals we have.

Andy Runyan was a huge fan of the .40 rifles.

Rhetorical question and to paraphrase a now deceased gun writer, but: If a 416 Rem is an ideal elk rifle, what is an ideal Cape Buffalo rifle?

Rest assured your cast bullet load will work to perfection on elk when placed in the kill zone

But Bob don't you know we are talking about cloned, reanimated 1,800 lb. Irish elk here shot in Plisoticene black timber blowdown tangles!!!!!

Jack O'Conner once wrote that a shot at the south end of a north bound elk a 375 H&H is not to large. It al depends IMHO

600 NE.

Still a .416 Rem. If I carry a .416 it is because there is something out there with the ability to stomp me into a grease spot.

IMO, if the rifle is light enough to pack, a 416 Remington is way over kill, on both ends.

I'm playing with the 300 RCM case. It tops out at the 44 caliber. So you certainly could design one for the .416 cal. Speer 350 Mag Tip, at 2400 fps. This happens to be this bullet's maximum penetrating velocity. But the 416 x 350 Rem. Mag. was a Remington carbine stock splitter, and the 30-06 case doesn't have much of any shoulder left, at .416. The Ruger Compact Magnum case is the next rimless case step up, and it works in short actions, as well as Mauser M-48's.

You would have a bit more than any 400 Whelen, and in a short action. I'm looking at a 44x300RCM simply because I already have a ton of 44 caliber stuff. The Hornady 265gr. Flex Tips are about all I will need, in jacketed dress. I already have a custom 44 caliber mold which drops 316gr. Gas Check slugs, and these carry pretty good, out to 300 yards.

But whether in short or standard length actions, there must be some weight in one of these. I'd say seven lbs. minimum. The 416 Rem Mags, will be two or three lbs. heavier, out of the box. So why pack all the weight of an Elephant Gun around the Bitteroots and Selkirks? Our Columbia Plateau Mammoths are all long gone.

A lighter weight Stutzen, in .411 or .416 x 300RCM, will still kick plenty hard, and will deliver these Speer Mag Tips at their maximum penetrating velocities. A 416 Remington is a big, clumsy, factory made rifle, for crawling through the brush.
Truth be told, I feel the same way about my 338 R.U.M.

Woody Woodall, down in GA. can help you design a L. Walther, Bavarian 1500 custom profile, which will make up into one of these short, handy, Stutzens. They are made in Germany and imported on top of air freight shipments of munitions, so be prepared for a long wait.

These completely custom profiled, crowned, and polished, barrel blanks only need to be threaded, and chambered, for your action, so they actually save you a lot of money.

I wouldn't hesitate to take my .416 Rem on an elk hunt if I was going to be doing more sitting than walking as it weighs in at 10 lbs all up. 30-06 trajectory but with 2.5X the bullet weight. I think it would get the job done.

I always thought a 243 was pretty much ideal until I had to concern myself over grizzlies sitting on a kill. So I moved up to a 270 for elk.

No thing as too much gun if you can shoot it though ...

The 350gr. Speer Mag Tips, in .416 are made for the largest N.American game. You don't need a magnum length action and a 10 lb. rifle to send them out at 2400 fps. 2400 fps, is their maximum penetrating velocity. With my Nikon laser range finder, which gives horizontal distances, at any angle, I don't see the need for lugging around a ten pound plus rifle, just to get a little flatter trajectory. But to each his own.

BTW, I'm left handed too. My Nikon's buttons are all on the top, so its ambidextrous, to boot.

I,m getting the idea several posters never read the original post further than the title blurb, the guy who recently purchased the 416 has zero intention of using full power loads,the goal here is more in line with using a cast gas check bullet of about 380 grains at about 2100fps.
he feels that would allow him to have a fairly effective rifle that he can shoot at reasonable cost, that will still knock the hell out of an elk at under 250 yards.
plus he is really wanting to basically improve on, but have something similar too the rifle performance, one other member of our group of elk hunters has used for decades, a 45/70 throwing a 400 grain cast bullet at near 1900fps.
we both think the 416 should easily shoot flatter and reach out with authority with a properly cast and loaded 380 grain cast gas check projectile

Oh, I read the orginal post. The .416 by neccessity has to be built kinda stout. With a 1-6 scope you are probably looking at 10-11 pounds. While you'll beat back the recoil on your mild load, you pay the price of weight.

If it were me, I'd rather put up with the brain cell killing recoil of a Buffalo Bore +P load in a Marlin 45-70 with an Aimpoint on it, at 8-8.5 pounds all up, knowing I'd carry the rifle for miles and shoot it once, maybe twice during the season. Your .416 is going to be a soul destroyer at the end of the day at 12,000 feet in the timber.

He can build a light .416 if he chooses wisely. Mine only weighs 8.5 lbs. with a 2.5 x Weaver on it.

Wow, an 8.5 lb. .416 sounds like a headache waiting to happen.

It doesn't cause me any issues. 350 gr. Speers at 2550. It has a drop box mag. and if I fill it up with 1 + 4 down it weighs 9.3 lbs. I also shoot a 10 Ithica mag double gun with 2 oz. loads for pass shooting geese and cranes.

I really have had to learn how to shoot them as much as anything.

DocBill, my 416 Wildcat is made on a Mauser M-98 action, with one of those L.Walther Bavarian 1500 custom designed barrels. It's a clone of Harry Selby's infamous Mauser in 416 Rigby. I used the 375 Ruger as its parent, and kept the half inch long neck of the Rigby. Its right at 8&3/4 lbs., with a steel tube Weaver mounted.

I only get three in the magazine, but I can pack it around for quite a while. But I'll be happy with using a Remington 338 for Elk, for a flatter trajectory, after we chew through my share of my son in law's Moose from last year. I will make the point here that for myself, the Remington circlip extractor seems to be out on the ragged edge, with my RUM cases. But a 416 Remington belted Magnum is still going to work just fine, with them.

I built my .416 as a walking hunt Cape buffalo gun. It is light enough to haul for elk and with the 350 gr. bullets, either Barnes or Speer, would shoot out to 300 flat enough without much range dithering for elk.

I also have a .375 Ruger but in a Remington classic wood stock. It weighs 8 3/4 empty with a 1.5x6 Leupo on it.

Either gun would do great on elk for a heavy out to 300 yds. with proper bullets.

I tried to bloody my 416 Taylor last fall but no luck.
Do I get partial credit for effort?

HELL YES! You get partial credit for effort?
I took two hunting trips before I found a really stupid elk, that would let me get inside of 150 yards so I felt I could shoot it standing with a sling and with my 458 win!

My .416 had a bunch of hogs and a brute of a black bear to its credit. I always used 350gr X and 400gr RN Interlocs, so I can't comment on the effectiveness of cast bullets.

Well maybe with a TTTTTTSSSSSx bullet it might those Elk are on steroids now you know.

Way back about 1989-1990 Hornady had listed a .416 315gr Spitz/boat tail Interlock...never saw one maybe they never actually made them. Would have been a game changer.

I say go for it with the .416 Rem Mag. That's way we all are here to try different things, have fun and talk about it. I've shot elk with a .308 with 150 gr NP, a Rem 7 Mag with 175 gr, a .338 Win Mag with 210NP and a .375H&H with 260 NAB. All were one shot kills and I've never trailed one more than 40 yards. If you can shot it and like it, go for it. Work up good loads, good luck and have fun.

just a quick update, so far he has had the 416 rem rifle loaded with 350 grain RCBS bullet shoot 1.3" groups at 100 yards off the bench rest over 47 grains of IMR 3031 with a 215 fed primer.
hes certainly going to do more load development and practice but ,given the current results, theres zero doubt the rifle can be an effective tool for hunting

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.416_Remington_Magnum

http://www.midwayusa.com/Product/28...7-diameter-350-grain-flat-nose-gas-check