Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only New to me 416 Taylor

Still wondering about this,
Rex

My favorite 416 is the 404 Jeffery. 😊

Mine happens to be 411,,,,,,

And mine is the Ruger, stainless in a canoe paddle stock !

My .416 Taylor is same,
but mine has a 26" barrel, heh heh.

My favorite .416 Taylor is a .458 WM with 23" barrel.

Always wanted one and if I was chasing brown bears in the salmon stream alders on a regular basis I would have one on a 80's "Classic Stainless" Mod. 70 action with a 22" tube. Did not know it could toss 400 grain bullets at 2,400 mv. I was thinking 325-35 grain Barnes X bullets.

That is a beaut of a rifle! Congrats. Is that the old Plington rings?

I came close to building one many years ago and the 416 Rem M70 killed that desire.

Very nice mature bushbuck.

👍

Sorry for the absence boys! Crazy couple of months. I cannot verify anything for sure, but I was told by a friend of the guns previous owner, who is a famous gunsmith himself, by the initials D.E.... that he thinks this was indeed built by Frank Wells. He mentioned a 416 built by frank but couldn't recall details. It sure does look like rifles he had built. I have still yet to fire it, but it's on the short list of guns to take to the range. I recently took out the P-H 1400M in 404 qi bought from the same estate. Recoil was nothing like what i expected

I bought one of those from this estate as well Parker Hale 1400M. Also came with dies, bullets, brass and ammo. Out a Leupold 1.5-5×20. Put a few rounds down range with it. Hoping I can get some more time with it at the range soon

I miss my Taylor as well, but it was nowhere near as lovely as Milehighshooter's rifle. I supplied my gunsmith, Val Albert of Medford, Oregon, with a surplus VZ-24 Mauser. He turned down the bolt, opened the bolt face, added a three-position wing safety, fitted and chambered a Pac-Nor barrel and bedded it in a Bell and Carlson Medalist stock. I only did range work with it before trading it to fund another hair-brained scheme, but it was an accurate "workhorse" .416 that I found comfortable to shoot. Wish I had a photo of it.

Thanks, that's good to hear. It sure looks like his work. His stock lines have some nuances that are quite distinct.
Enjoy it - anxious to hear how it shoots.
Rex

I'm anxious to shoot it! Just haven't had time, outdoors retail gets insanely busy around Sept and doesn't stop until after Christmas.

I already have plans for another 416T in the works, just due to circumstance. Had to buy back a rifle from a customer that had a bolt locking up. Smith told him it was a headspace issue, I had a better smith take a look, lug set back (1909 Argy). But it came in a McMillan stock with a big barrel channel due to the builder being silly with the 308 Norma barrel and leaving the entire shank intact. I found a deal on a closeout ss 416 Wilson barrel, and it sits damn near prefect in the stock. Just need to get the 1909 heat treated.

Figure I've already got the components, might as well have a rainy day 416T to go along with the pretty one

I have some 300 grain Hawk bullets loaded up to try for deer season. I had a Burris 1 3/4 X 5 on it but it took a crap so I'm waiting on a Leopold to come in. I haven't shot this since 05 and am looking forward to using it again

That would be nicely fast for a 24" barrel.
Noted, for future reference.
My 26" barrel might add 50 fps to that.
With Shilen No. 5 Sporter, 1:14" twist, Ruger Mk II in factory Tupperware, rifle weighs 8# 2 oz as here:





My old .416 Taylor (circa 1999) liked 75.0 grains of Reloder-15
with the 400-gr Hornady RNSN of yore.
R-P .458 WM brass necked down, forgive me,
F-215 primer, 3.320" COL, crimped in factory cannelure,
80*F
26" barrel: 2417 fps mean for 5-yard chrono

Nowadays I would substitute Varget for the RL-15 and work up a grain or two higher.
Or use CFE-223 like gunner500 says.

The .416 Taylor started off as the .416/.450 Watts Short in the 1950s, according to James Watts.
He gave some dummy cartridges to Jack O'Connor who showed them to Robert Chatfield-Taylor.
Then about 1973 Bob had a Winchester M70 so chambered, the first ".416 Taylor."
He did 2400 fps with 400-grainers in a 22" barrel using IMR-3031.

About 1974, Sturm Ruger made up an M77 .416 Taylor with 24" barrel and loaned it to Ken Waters.
Ken claimed 2447 fps with 400-grainer and IMR-4320, from the 24" barrel.

Bob Hagel also independently developed a .416/.338 Winchester Magnum Wildcat,
though he also used necked-down .458 WinMag brass for that,
about same time as Taylor.
A different chamber reamer and reloading dies exist for that one, close to the .416 Taylor, but no cigar.

Think a 26"-barreled .416 Taylor is odd ?
Me too.
Another oddball, my first .416-caliber rifle, made in 1987
by a gunsmith who said he was allergic to epoxy,
so I bedded it myself in a very early Bell & Carlson "Carbelite" stock
so slick I had to make grip panels out of roughed-up epoxy.
That was one year before the .416 RemMag burst upon the scene. DOH !



Douglas No. 5 Sporter, 24" long, 1:12" twist, threaded for muzzle brake, 8.5 lbs as shown above except minus the slip-on pad/LOP adjuster,



The .416 Barnes Supreme hailed from the late 1950s, before George Hoffman's pet .416 Hoffman,
another blown out full length .375 H&H case, the wheel was re-invented many times,
not to mention Uncle John Riley Buhmiller who probably beat them all !

My floor plate popped open one time too many:



Notice how elegantly timed the screw slot is, please.

Another 8.5 lbs rifle of .416 caliber:





HS Precision stock for M70 Winchester was purchased at Sportsman's Whorehouse in early part of this century.
South Dakota made stock for South Dakota cartridge on a Connecticut Yankee action with a West Virginia barrel,
Douglas 1:12" twist No. 5 sporter, 24" length.
OK recipe for 8.5# .416 Taylor also.
Stock weighs 2.5 lbs, M70 Winchester barreled action with Talley bases and banded front sight weighs 6.0 lbs.

A lighter .416 Taylor could be patterned after the .416 Ruger Alaskan 20" barrel:



A 1.5-pound stock would get this down to 7.0 lbs.
IIRC, the unaltered canoe paddle weighs 1.75 lbs.
The Tupperware on the 26" Taylor above weighs 1.5 lbs.
High-tech 1-pound stocks do exist.

That loads a Booner Sir, extremely accurate, i'll send you some pics of my 416 Taylor Sunday, i was going to sell it awhile back, but dont have the time or patience to fool with fish flop buyers, if i want something, here's my FFL guys info, where do i send money? Done Deal! LOL!