Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only next rifle, 416 rigby?

Well, Thought I'd update you on my CZ 416 rigby. I posted the pics already, Now I went out and bought a Leupold VXIII 1.5-5 scope. I took it out to try it on the bench with the scope and this thing turned into a pussycat just by adding a scope with rings. I actually think it has slightly less kick than my 375 H&H now. I shot about 3" groups at 100 yards with an already fouled, non-broken in barrel. I have to say, I'm not too impressed with the accuracy right now. But, It's too soon to make a real judgment. I was also using factory hornady ammo. I'll have to clean the barrel and try some handloads, but I'm just hoping the hornady ammo is inaccurate and was also because the barrel was not cleaned from the previous 20 rounds.
Otherwise this thing is feeding awesomely

Here's with the scope

gohip, I too recently acquired the same rifle as you. I haven't shot it yet and am looking forward to that soon. Was curious as to the kind of rings and bases you have on yours ? I like the looks of your set-up. Yes these are a good buy. Got mine at the local Scheels' store when it was discounted because it wasn't being sold. Picked mine up for $849 plus tax.

You don't need bases, so there is an extra $25 saved. Rings for the CZ are made to connect directly to the rifle. The rings I have are Leupold. I got them because they where the only ones they had in the Cabelas store. They are working great so far.

Just make sure whatever rings you get that they are specific for the CZ 550. Oh, these are medium rings if you were wondering the height. Great deal by the way. You saved $250 over the usual price.

Pushed to the limit, the 416 Wby will best the 416 Rigby by about 100 to 150 FPS and at max pressure..I know some fool hardy souls that push the WBY to damn close to 3000 FPS and the Rigby to 2900 FPS with no problems so far..I wouldn't even attempt that, as I don't believe its safe, and see no earthly reason for such shananagans..I love 2400 FPS with a 400 gr. bullet and it has never failed me on anything that walks, talks breaths or whatever.

Gohip, bedding and free floating the rifle would probably help you improve accuracy. Bedding will also help reinforce the stock from recoil. I did those above modifications to my CZ (and many other aesthetic ones) and my rifle shoots MOA with irons.

I had thought about bedding. I took the stock off and saw that the recoil lugs are skim bedded. The stock fits pretty well, but it is not bedded for the downward pressure of tightening the action screws. I wasn't sure If I would want to free float the barrel or not. Do you free float it after the barrel recoil lug?
Any advice on bedding a CZ the best way would be appreciated. I also thought about recrowning as the crown looks pretty gritty from the factory.
I might also try some Barnes TSX as they ssem to shoot about the best in every caliber I've tryed. If they don't shoot to standard, I know I need to do something to the rifle.
Does anyone know if the speer 350 gr bullets are naturally pretty accurate?

The 400 gr Hornady soft point has proven darn accurate in my Rigby. I would shoot it a whole lot more before I started tinkering.

I would recommend that all big bore rifles should be bedded,

JW

Ray,

By coincidence I am doing some experimenting with the .416 Rigby with heavier loads than factory standard.

There isn't all that much difference between the case capacities of the .416 Weatherby and Rigby, about 5 grains with a typical 400-grain bullet seated. Since there's well over 100 grains of powder space in either case, that isn't much.

The difference in velocity with 400-grain bullets at the same pressure is about 50 fps--at most.

The more I read, talk with folks and experiment on my own, the more I believe in velocity, matched to a proper bullet of course. I just finished reading a book by Layne Sympson where he waxes eloquent on the virtues of the 416 Weatherby's noticeable killing power. A few years ago I had a nice conversation with Randy Brooks of Barnes about the same issue. When they were testing their TSXs on buffalo in Africa, they noticed a distinctly different reaction on buffalo hit with the 400gr bullet at 2350 and a 350gr at 2600 plus. Sympson said the same thing.

With a proper bullet, the faster you drive it, the greater the killing power. That's my opinion anyway.

Now with BP it's a whole different ball game where slow and heavy work as long as you drive a hard bullet. Their penetration is impressive. Those big lead balls zip through like crap through a goose, and the animals just run off a ways and die.

I was under the impression that the original reason for the huge cases was to reduce pressures from extended exposure to hot sun. How hot does one push a cartridge when absolute reliablility of extraction is a requirement???

Yes, the reason for the huge cases of many old British cartridges was to reduce pressures--but that's because the British used Cordite back then. Cordite one of the most temperature-sensitive smokeless propellants devised. In fact, many British companies loaded ammo to two different pressures, "standard" for use in the cool British Isles, and "tropical" for use in Africa and India.

The British continued to use Cordite long after other powders pretty much solved the temperature problem, because those other powders weren't British.

Modern powders don't jump 15,000 psi or more just because the ammo gets a little warmer than it might in Scotland. So if somebody wants to load an older British round up to 55-60,000 psi, it will work fine as long as the rifle is designed for those pressures.

Gohip,

Mine is bedded from the front action screw up up to the screw in the barrel (freefloating from there forward). I glass bedded that "F" shaped metal block in as well, making sure to put epoxy/bedding under it as well as over the block (and don't forget to degrease the block first too). There is a great article HERE that has some nice photos regarding bedding the CZ550. There is probably a little object that looks like a thin piece of metal attached to the stock behind the recoil lug/front action screw. Unlike the F-block, this is just plastic and should be removed before you bed the stock. Your stock has the crossbolts, so you don't need to worry about the internal crossbolts mentioned in the article. You will however want to make sure there is a small gap between the action and the stock in the tang to prevent the stock splitting in the tang under the recoil. A wrist pin is something else you might want to think about installing. Nothing too different about bedding the CZ versus any other Mauser rifle. Just make sure to use a lot of release agent and plug the area where the screw attaches to the barrel.

That should help improve how your rifle shoots. You might also try experimenting with the tightness of the screw going into the barrel. I tighten mine down then back it off a half turn. I've heard of others cranking theirs down tight to get best accuracy and others throwing the screw away completely. You'll have to experiment to see what your rifle likes best.

Enjoy your rifle!

Well, I now know CZ has excellent warranty service. Upon cleaning I found what looked to be a small amount of rust in the action. I sent it back to CZ and they had it back in 2 weeks, rust removed and re-blued. It looked like there could have been some pitting and they completely smoothed that out too.

Like the 416 but its the 458 Lott for me with no muzzle brake...