Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters A Tribute to Ken, the 416 Howell: Perfection!

I am putting the finishing touches on a 416 Howell, action is a pre 64 M70 that was a 30-06. No. 6 Pac Nor Stainless Steel Super Match barrel, all in a McMillan Winchester Marksman stock that I pillar bedded. Note, I used Ken's original reamer and headspace gauge, ground some 22 years ago by Keith Francis! This is a wonderful cartridge design, the action only needed a touch of opening on the rails, recontour of the feed ramp, opening the bolt face & extractor, and a bit of internal relief at the rear of the ejection port. Empty cases even feed and eject flawlessly, not to mention cases with various 400 grain bullets. 'Tis a shame that this cartridge did not catch on when Ken designed it, I blame the lack of use on the absence of good 416 bullets back then. This cartridge is on a par, maybe a bit better, than the 416 Remington, and in a cartridge overall length that will function through a standard length action. I will post a photo in a day or two.
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<br>Thanks to Ken for a good piece of work!

I bet it's one of Ken's favorites since it's on the cover of his book!!
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<br>Is it going to be Alaska bound when you are finished?
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<br>Mike

Yep, this one and two other 416 Howells I am working on will be headed for Alaska.
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<br>Is this Ken's new book? Gotta have one, where do I order? Pipe in Ken, give us your opinion of the 416.

John it's the first book. I keep it close by the computer on my bookstand, constantly pulling it down to look at case dimensions while dreaming
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<br>I bet a certain board member is going to be happy in AK!!!
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<br>Mike

Is the .416 Howell based on the .30/06 case? I looked at the AHR web-site and they don't list the .416 Howell. What kind of velocity do you expect from a 400gr bullet in a 23" or 24" barrel?

The 416 Howell is a shortened 404 Jeffery case, necked to 416 and with a little more shoulder. Powder capacity runs around 80 to 85 grains with a 400 grain bullet, and performance is a tad above the 416 Remington. Beauty of this cartridge is a short overall length that fits standard actions. A 400 grain Hornady RN bullet, seated with the cannulure at the neck opening, is 3.240" long. You can seat the bullets out more for an increase in powder capacity, provided the barrel is throated for the longer length. The 416 Remington, with same bullet seated at the cannulure, is 3.620" long.

John:
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<br>Sitting here thinking, always a potentially expensive process, would it be possible without moving heaven and earth to convert a BLR from 300 WM to a .416 Howell?

When I had the finish reamer and headspace gauge ground back in the late '70s, I also had a sizing-die reamer made by the same maker at the same time. I donated the sizing-die reamer to the RCBS custom-die shop, so that talented crew down there wouldn't have to use a succession of reamers, or to shim their reamers, to make .416 Howell dies.
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<br>A set of RCBS .416 Howell dies, therefore, shouldn't cost you an arm, a leg, and your virgin daughter.
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<br>Two caveats:
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<br>~ Get a set of forming dies too.
<br>~ Get the inside-neck-reaming die (IOW, don't try to reduce the thickness at the base of the new neck with an OUTSIDE neck-turning tool).
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<br>I don't remember the velocity figures, but I DO remember the feeling of satisfaction PLUS when the results came in. While I was designing this cartridge, I was hoping that its performance would approach that of the deservedly renowned .416 Rigby. From the first several .416 Howell rifles tested, moderate loads with 400- and 410-grain bullets (loaded to drop-out-of-the-chamber pressures), velocities exceeded the .416 Rigby's by 100 ft/sec or more.
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<br>Why? This is a smokeless-powder cartridge, more efficient with smokeless than the classic .416 Rigby (a Cordite cartridge that had to be longer to accommodate the long, spaghetti-like Cordite "powder" sticks).
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How does the .416 Howell differ from the .416 Dakota?

The .416 Dakota is longer and fatter than the .416 Howell.
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<br>A solid model of the .416 Howell case would displace 123 grains of water.
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<br>A solid model of the .416 Dakota case would displace 152 grains of water.
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<br>(These figures are NOT case-capacity figures! A "solid model" would be a length of solid rod turned to the same length, diameters, and profile of the respective case. NO HOLE in it anywhere.)

Thanks Ken, for adding your wisdom! I will post the case water capacity later today, got it written down in the notes.
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<br>An interesting thing about cases: Cases formed from Norma brass are too thick at the rear of the neck, are too tight in the chamber and require neck reaming as Ken mentioned. Cases formed from BeLL (MAST) brass are thinner in the neck and do not require inside reaming. So, this tells me BeLL brass is a little lighter than Norma, and should have more water capacity. As soon as I do some test firing next week I will let you know what the case capacities are for the different brass.

Gents,
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<br>Ken was nice enough to allow me to add some load data for the 416 Howell on my webpage.
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<br>Here's a link...
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<br>http://www.geocities.com/bw_99835/page24.htm
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<br>There is one misprint I see (my fault) below the 416 data which says the parent case is a 414 Jeffery. Of course that was suppose to be 404.
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<br>John it's funny you bring this up, as I was just thinking about how to improve my 416 Taylor's accuracy. I thought about sending you the rifle this summer (after bear season) and having you set the barrel back and rechambering to the Taylor cartridge. Then I thought about having you redo the barrel in Kens 416 cartridge.
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<br>Will the Howell clean up a Taylor chamber?
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<br>Thanks Ken, for all your contributions!

Ken,
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<br>Unfortunately even though RCBS has the reamer, they are trying to get away with Highway Robbery for the dies! When I got the reamer from you, and first looked into dies from RCBS, they quoted $140, but subsequent querries by John's customer's, as well as me recieved a reply of over $200 for the two die set! I've also heard with RCBS new management, they won't be offering many custom services.
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<br>Best bet for dies is CH4D.

Mr. Ricks- With the 416 Howell being made from 404 Jeffrey brass, have you considered using Rem. Ultra-mag cases to form brass from. I have a 7mm Dakota, also 404 based, and have begun forming cases from 300 & 338 Ultra-mag cases. They have worked great. They hold a couple grains more water on average than the Dakota brass I have. Case life has been good. I have 12 to 14 firings on a couple of cases and just got a split at the mouth of one case. I have just started, last weekend, to anneal the cases, and expect better life. I didn't anneal before forming as Dr. Howell recommends. I intend to remedy that as well in the future. For me the benefit is an easy supply of parent cases. Cheaper parent cases as well. My rifle is on a Ruger tang safety M-77. Even though the extractor was modified when the boltface was opened to .545, it still extracts well. I did pick up an extra extractor for the standard magnum .532 boltface though, and when my supply of .545 base cases are gone , I intend to use the Rem cases exclusively. An added benefit for a new rifle would be that if you are starting with a .532 boltface, then you wouldn't have to open it. I would be more than happy to send you one of my re-formed ultra cases if you would like to inspect one. Al

Al,
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<br>When I got Ken's reamer, the John and my thought was, with ultramag brass out there, it's a no brainer. I have a 338 rum case that John necked up to .416. I'd imagine most folks going for a 416 Howell would use the ultra mag brass due to the cost difference, and perhaps get a few 404 cases w/ no headstamp, so one can engrave them 416 Howell for travel to Africa.

I used some Norma as I had a box full, plus the BeLL brass is not headstamped (it is "404 Basic") and I have the "416 Howell" stamp (compliments of the gun owner) to properly headstamp the brass. On Ultra brass ( and other brands) a guy needs to cut and form, seat a bullet, and measure the neck diameter to determine if neck reaming is required. Just another detail to look for.
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<br>RE case forming, it is much easier to form from 404 Jeffery brass, just cut to length, and run into the FL die. Forming from the basic straight brass is difficult. I made some special forming dies for the basic brass. I suspect that bumping the Ultra shoulder back, and necking it down, will be similar to using the "basic brass".
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<br>The dies I have are CH4D, much cheaper (and made better) than RCBS. Like others, I am disappointed with the present attitude at RCBS, it ain't the way it was when Fred Huntington owned it!!!!!

I hate to sound dumb, but who makes the CH4D dies? Also, are there any places other than Africa that you have to be careful with wildcat cartridges being headstamped different than actual caliber?

CH4D.com They'll be making my 500 Jeffrey dies. As far as I know, Africa is the only area where the headstamp matching the barrel stamp is a potential issue.
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<br>Me thinks the 416 Howell w/ a 350 gr @ 2500 fps would be an oustanding combo for hogs, elk, moose and bears of all flavor.
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<br>If'n John weren't building me a 458 lott and 500 Jeffrey, I'd likely have him working on a 416 Howell, and just might have to build one in the future anyhow.

458 Lott:
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<br>Dies $200?????
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<br>Which dies are you looking for? Many Howell caliber dies are only $76.
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<br>A couple of mega calibers are $163.
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<br>http://www.hunting-rifles.com./prices2.html
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<br>Bill Tibbe