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I keep sitting on my two Winchester LH Classics thinking a 338-06 and 416 Taylor would make a neat pair of guns.

My Taylor, completed last summer weighs 7.25 lbs with a peep sight. 400s at 2300ish are quite unpleasant, but at 2165, it’s as gentle as a .375.

My 411 KDF weighs 9 1/2 lbs,, 400gr Barnes @ 2150 is a comfortable and makes for follow up shots with ease. 300gr TSX @ 2350ish shoots groups with ease.

That would be a nice combo.

If you wouldn’t mind - can I get the load info on RL-15 for that 416 Taylor? I’m building one now and I use RL-15 in my other rifle loads. You can text me at (540)420-3003 if you don’t feel comfortable posting it on here. I really appreciate it.

What powder/load are you using in your 404 ?

Now that I sold my Rigby, I have to decide 416 Taylor or 416 Ruger. I' think that I'll put a SS barrel on my Ruger 77 Tang. If I were to put a barrel on a 700 action, the 416 Remington would be another choice.

But seriously, I really doubt I'll go to Africa again, though I'd really like to. I only went there on a building trip and repairing a hospital (Cameroon) and didn't didn't bring a gun. I prefer having a rifle that others don't have so much. But that can be counter productive, I suppose. (I could give a rats --- if the cartridge has a belt or not.)

Not Phil, But looking only at case dimensions it looks like a guy could do that.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.416_Ruger

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.416_Taylor

By far superior to listening to pages of drivel/
suckup from gunwriters on sponsored hunts.

Re: action length- does matter to some . IIRC
Phil Shoemaker and WDM Bell wrote they prefer a
shorter action to magnum length., but folks are free
to consider them inexperienced or their views trivial.

If anyone here has done fast close shooting on DG
where buck stops with you - with the frequency they
have , please share.

You won't be disappointed with the Taylor.

My experience with the 416 Taylor isn't overly vast. But it is one of my favorite carts.
I'm a carbine addict. 18" barrels are almost my favorite length barrels on bolt rifles. Tho a couple of mine are 26" or close.
My first 416 Taylor was built on a 17 Eddystone Enfield with a Shaw barrel. I dumped a brown bear that was rushing me with it within a couple months of trading into it. 1 shot , dead on the ground bear. Bear was dead before I came down out of recoil. Chest shot, 325 gr X bullet iirc 76 gr of IMR 4320. Range around 50 ' . Mv around 2600 fps.
Barrel length 19" . I well and truly pressure tested that action and barrel. No idea what the pressures were. But they were HIGH . I couldn't get any 300 gr X bullets at the time. So I developed loads for the 325 gr bullets. And 350 X. The 400 X was too long so I didn't do anything with them . 74 gr8 of 4320 was a great load in that rifle with 350 gr X and Speer Hot Cores. They did 2450 fps from that rifle and worked Great at dumping brown bear up close . And shooting Sitka Blacktail deer. The deer usually fan about 20 yards. The bears just went straight down.
I shot a bunch of 400 gr Hornady Soft nose thru it. And Barnes Original 49 thou jacket soft nose Round nose. I worked up to 2300 for a good working load. Iirc that was 70 gr8 of 4320. All hunting, work loads had Fed 215 primers. It destroyed the wood stock that was on it when I got it so I put an MPI stock on it and bedded it with Marine Tex epoxy. I mostly kept a Vx2 1-4 on it.
That rifle went down the road years later .
Then I had Montana Rifle Co build me a stainless barreled action in 416 Taylor with an 18" barrel. It was far too heavy for my wife who I had it built for. I shot a couple few deer with that one then gave it to a friend that is a bear guide. Along with the 375 H+H barrel I got from MRC for it. I put a fixed 3x Leupold on that one. In 375 dress I killed 8 deer 1 fall. Made the single longest game shot of my life with it that early winter. Federal High Energy 300 gr Swift A-Frame factory loads. Which that rifle LOVED .
Since my friend got it he has capsized a bunch of bear with it in 416 Taylor. Iirc his load is a 350 gr bullet @ 2300 fps. He has been working that rifle for the past 14 years.
Other than a malfunction with the factory safety malfunctioning. Which cost his client a bear. . Which MRC fixed free of charge. Not the cost of the lost bear tho.
I asked him a couple years ago how it was doing and what he had changed. He said absolutely nothing. And he still packs it for spring and fall brown bear.

If used Ruger M77 Mk2 RP in 7 mag, or 300 Win. Were available like they used to be. I would build a 16" barreled 416 Taylor and put a fat short muzzle brake on it. Keep the scoped weight less than 8 lbs
I figure I could get 2200 fps with a 400 gr bullet and 2550 with a 300 gr TSX.
I'de probably take it hunting Everything up here .

Now with the 416 Rem mag I have more experience. I've had 3 of them. My current one is a reboared/chambered from a 375 H+H . Whitworth express . I restocked it in a nice synthetic stock I had . bedded it FULLY with JB Weld. I got it just prior to moving and starting a homestead. It has a peep rear on it and shoots to the sights @ 50 yards so at the moment it's resting but ready.

Safarilife:

Since I'm a firm believer of "Heavy for calibre" bullets, I only load/shoot 400gr bullets. Early on, I loaded only Trophy Bonded bullets, both Bear Claw, and Sledge Hammer. I checked my load data for RL-15. and began with 69gr and worked up from there to 72.gr.

Good luck with your Taylor.



.

For some reason I didn't have as good a success with Rl15 or 4895,4064 as I did with 4320.
Perhaps its because I had short barrels or I was just able to wiggle and dance more of it into the cases.
I do know that the next one I get I will give it more throat . More along the lines of the 458 Winchester.