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get the ultimate 416 . The Weatherby!

Here is mine













100 yard 3 shot group 330 GS customs



Hunting story!
http://gsgroup.co.za/fotis.html


300 TSX and 330 GS Custom loaded

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v514/378fan/SV101178.jpg[/img][/quote]

... or get the most practical. Either in factory 416 Ruger, or better yet in the 'new classical' wildcat 404 Ruger (0.423" diameter bullet).


The 404 works on big critters.


and it's pretty easy to make. That's a 400 gn Barnes Banded Solid on the right, though the one that dropped this buff was the Swift 400 gn AF in 0.423" (left) at 2330 fps. Pretty definitive punch in a small package


and in a neat rifle - the Ruger African



It'll tackle anything I'm willing to take on with a medium bore and in a pinch with a monolithic solid it's on the lower end of "enough gun" for elephant.

Anyone loaded the Barnes 350gr TSX in the .416 Ruger? If so what did you end up with for a COAL? Just wondering if my next .416 build should be on a M70 H&H length action v a standard mag length action.
Preferred loads with the 350 TSX?

Old Thread ressurrection....

Barnes introduced the 350gr "Tipped" TSX this year in .416 caliber. I think this will be THE bullet I'm going to load in my 416 Alaskan to about 2550fps. Using an online ballistic calculator... When this load is zeroed at 30yds, it's about 1.5" high at 100, crosses zero again at about 170yds, is about 1.5" low at 200, about 6" low at 250 and almost 12" low at 300 (the longest I could see "myself" ever "needing" to shoot at any breathing critter). Easy as pie to remember the drop (once confirmed with proof at the range) and plenty of hammer for EVERYTHING except maybe charging elephant (and even then...maybe). I TRUST my .458Lott and LOVE to carry and use my .358Win but if I could only keep one, this Alaskan rifle could be my "all around" big game gun for the rest of my life.

Here's to having the RIGHT to keep and use multiple cartridges and different launching platforms!!!

Stump

I'll bet that if Elmer Keith was still alive and hunting elk, he would have one of these. Very similar to his .400 Whelen if you ask me.

EXACTLY!!! After reading every book I could lay my hands on about rifles for Jackrabbits to Elephant (including Keith, O'connor, Taylor, Aagard, Wieland, Boddington and others including folks I consider experts on this forum and others), theories on bullet weight vs. velocity vs. construction vs. external ballistics vs. BC's/SD's vs. rifle design vs. old/new bullet construction vs powders vs you name it... I think Elmer would be VERY happy with this set-up for anything deer sized and up. In fact I tend to lean towards Elmer's views myself (except for the continuous discussions about extreme raking shots through the guts to get to the vitals). Between Keith, Aagard, Wieland and O'Connor, the magic velocity seems anywhere between 2400fps for the heavy's and 2700 fps for lighter bullets of yesterday. Since I can compromise a little here and bullet design has improved so much (see seattlesetters excellent post here... https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...rnes_TSX_TTSX_Changing_the_G#Post4923737), I shot for the dead center of these two speeds and between the extreme bullet weights. I think if I put the effort into the hunt and shot only as far as "I" can confidently shoot, this rifle and cartridge combo would suit me just fine if I could only have "One" centerfire for big game. Would it be a bit much for coyotes and Jack's? You bet, but it sure would be fun using it while chasing 'em!

I originally picked up this rifle for a potential job backing up bowhunting client's in the Northern Territory after buffalo. That hasn't panned out, but with another trip scheduled for Africa this year, it was an excuse to play around with the rifle again. Unfortunately, the rifle was an early Alaskan that had feeding issues and had to be sent back to Ruger (That could have been bad in Australia huh?), and Ruger decided to destroy the one I sent back and build me another. I should have it in the next 3-4 months. If it takes 4 months to get back to me, I'll just take my 458 and 358 again and be just as happy!!!

Thanks for listening to my ramblinng on, just saw the last post above my initial post and it got me typing.

Hope you all find your "All-Round" rifle....and if you don't...hope you have fun searching and never find it!!!

Stump

Since it seems ruger is not coming out with a wood version what do you guys think about turning a 375 ruger african into a 416 ruger. The stock would need to bo properly bedded but I'm sure a good smith could accomplish it. What do you guys think?

gunchamp...with good solid bedding, a little relief of the tang area and maybe a couple cross bolts and a wrist bolt, I think it's been done successfully (I think I even saw a post on here somewhere). A good smith should be able to do it for you.

Accurate Innovations might make you up one too with a full aluminum bed, but they had no-so-great communication and took forever to get me a stock when I ordered one a few years ago. Things may have changed, I don't know.

Good Luck to ya,

Stump

It'll need significant reinforcement, beyond just glass bedding. I split my African stock in less than 20 shots, after replacing my 404 Ruger barreled action in it. The ballistics of the 404 Ruger are equivalent to the 416 Ruger (a 0.423" 400 grain bullet at 2350 fps), so I would expect the effect on the African stock may well be similar.

The stock has now been repaired with a steel wrist pin as well as steel pin reinforcement of the area around the tang and magazine well. I haven't shot it yet with the reinforced repair in place but will do so in the next couple of weeks and report results.

BTW, the African stock had been properly glass bedded by an experienced GS and had close to 300 rounds of full-load 300 grain 0.375" bullets through it without a hitch before being re-bored to 0.423" and split by the considerably greater recoil of the 400 grain bullets.

Maybe I'll get one in a cz 550 instead. Dont want to have to worry about stock issues. Thanks guys.

No offense intended, but if the stock was bedded for your 404 without any reinforcements, it wasn't properly bedded IMO. Any good smith experienced with big bores can eyeball the thin web area on an African stock and clearly see it would need more than mere bedding of the recoil lug mortise and the tang to reduce the likelihood of a stock split above 375 recoil. CZ had the same troubles before they started reinforcing their stocks and they had more meat than this lighter Ruger. Shoemaker, as an example, did an African correctly, and he tested his bedding job on this African with full house loads from his 416Ruger, it held up. I also did mine correctly, and it held up well with no signs of splitting.

Bed that thing like a big bore, it does not take much more effort to add the needed reinforcements. It is a simple piece of cake to greatly stengthen the wrist and web between the mortises. If your gunsmith claims it is not needed on a factory Ruger wood stock big bore, fire him. It would be impossible to guarantee that such a stock would never break if done correctly, but it is almost a sure fire guarantee that it will split to varying degrees if it is not done correctly. There is ample Empirical data on the mkII wood Ruger stocks going way back to the days we were converting them to 375 Chatfield-Taylors and 416/338s. They hardly stand a chance without reinforcements.

Good Luck

Tah-Dah....2 years later, but now available!

does the ruger case lend itself to being necked up to 458?

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/52...458-acc-rel-accurate-reloading-box-of-20

More or less the same idea as the Ruger up to 458 cal.

What Fotis said " The Ultimate .416 = Weatherby"!!!

Just be sure to load you magazine full with those tipped TSX and then shoot them in your rifle. When I used those bullets in my CZ 416 rigby, it broke the tips off on the next cartridge under the bolt and jammed my rifle because the tip lodged in the action. Not something you want on a hunt.
It may or may not happen to you, but I suggest everyone that is thinking about this bullet load their magazines full and test it.