I’m very late to this conversation, but here is the load I shoot in my .416 Hoffman; it is only very slightly larger than the Remington case, so could be a good starting point. You should reduce powder by a couple grains to start.
In my Hoffman, I shoot 81.0 grains of RL-15, pushing a 400 grain Trophy Bonded Bearclaw at 2,510. I was given that load by Jack Carter, who founded Trophy Bonded Bullets. He shot a Hoffman also, and as he put it “A 400 grain Bearclaw at 2,500 is one hell of a buffalo killing load”. He was right, it is.
I’m headed to Tanzania in October with 3 buffalo on license. I’m not sure which Bullets I’ll be shooting as finding any quality 400 grain softs is impossible at this time. Thankfully, we now have a better selection of bullets than we did 33 years ago when I got that load. I’ll go with Nosler, Swifts, Cutting Edge, Barnes or Trophy Bonded, whatever I can get my hands on. I’ve got some 350 grain TTSX’s, but my PH prefers I shoot 400’s.
On a related note, I saw where someone mentioned having trouble finding 416 Remington brass. You can get it directly from Pete at Quality Cartridge. I just bought 100 rounds of new 416 Hoffman brass from him, which should last my lifetime. He also carries 416 Remington brass in stock. (301) 373-3719.
