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The .416 Rigby
The American Rifleman ^ | 2002 | Joe Coogan

Posted on 03/06/2003 1:16:34 PM PST by 45Auto

THIRTY YARDS AWAY, THE DARK SHAPE OF A BUFFALO rose up out of waist-high grass and plunged straight for us. Before he’d moved more than a few yards, a 410-gr. solid bullet entered the tip of the outstretched bull’s nose and passed through his brain. The effect was dramatic: As if he’d hit an invisible brick wall, his head dropped, his legs buckled and his nose shoveled into the sand only a few yards from where he began his charge. It all happened in a flash of movement and reaction far quicker than the recounting of it.

I looked from the buffalo heaped in front of us to Harry Selby, the man responsible for stopping the brute. His quick aim and sure shot indicated complete confidence and familiarity with his rifle—a .416 Rigby. After finishing a nine-month safari season in Botswana, Harry, John Allott, the company pilot and I each took out a buffalo license and headed back to the bush. Buffalo herds concentrated along the northern edge of the Okavango Delta prior to the rains offered an excellent opportunity to find good heads and to provide some meat for the base staff back in Maun.

That happened back in 1974, and although it wasn’t one of the first times I’d seen Harry Selby snap his Rigby into action, it was certainly one of the most dramatic. By then he’d been backing up hunting clients with the safari-proven Rigby rifle for more than 20 years, and he would enjoy nearly another 20 years of flawless performance with it before one day noticing a key-holed bullet entry on the thick skin of an elephant’s shoulder. Harry thought that it might signal a worn barrel, a reasonable assumption after 40 years of use, and he promptly returned the rifle to Rigby’s in London for a new barrel.

John Rigby & Co. began making firearms in Dublin, Ireland, in 1735, and it was only in 1865 that the company first opened the London branch. After being appointed the Superintendent of the Royal Arms Factory at Enfield in 1880, John Rigby closed the Dublin workshops for good and concentrated all of his gunmaking efforts in London.

It was in the early days at St. James Street, London, that John Rigby & Co. pioneered the first Nitro Express rifles. From the outset of the smokeless-powder era around 1897, Rigby believed that the .450 caliber, considered a lightweight in blackpowder terms, was capable of stopping a charging elephant, rhino or buffalo. Using nitrocellulose-based cordite instead of blackpowder, Rigby succeeded in transforming a mediocre .450 blackpowder cartridge into a smokeless-powder powerhouse. It didn’t take long to prove it could take down Africa’s largest game more efficiently than even the great 4-bore, 8-bore and other ponderous blackpowder smoke-belchers. The rifle called the .450 31Ú4 N.E., which Rigby introduced in 1898, was the predecessor of a succession of large-bore double-barrel rifles chambered for smokeless-powder cartridges.

That same year, Paul Mauser put the final improvements on the military turn-bolt rifle known in Germany simply as the Gewehr 98, or Rifle of 1898. To this day, no other action ever made has enjoyed more success, been more accepted, favored, respected or copied than the Mauser 98. The application of the Mauser 1898 rifle action to sporting arms came almost simultaneously with its military adoption. British gunsmiths were quick to recognize the advantages of the action and, whenever possible, the English gun companies made their repeating sporters on Mauser 98 actions.

The turn of the 20th century saw London gun companies racing to match or better the ballistics of the big-bore single- and double-barrel Nitro Express rifles with a magazine rifle cartridge capable of taking the world’s largest game while maintaining a measure of versatility. Three of those companies, Jeffery, Westley Richards and John Rigby & Co., introduced new magazine rifle cartridges within a few years of each other.

The first introduction came with Jeffery’s launch of the.404 Rimless N.E., better known as the .404 Jeffery, according to a 1905 Jeffery catalog. The .404’s introduction is often mistakenly attributed to a later date, when the .404 was offered on Magnum Mauser actions, which took place only after Mauser’s exclusive arrangement with Rigby as its British agent had ended. In its initial development, Jeffery had merely opened-up the action and magazine box of standard Mauser 98 military actions to accommodate the large .404 cartridge. Duplicating the .450/.400 N.E. ballistics, the .404 (actually a 0.423"-diameter bullet) fires a 400-gr. bullet at 2125 f.p.s. to generate 4,020 ft.-lbs. of muzzle energy.

The second British, big-bore, magazine rifle cartridge came in 1909, when Westley Richards introduced the .425 Westley Richards. The .425 WR (actually a 0.435"-diameter bullet), with its fat case and rebated rim certainly cut a nonstandard look. The case length is 2.64", head diameter is 0.543" and the rebated rim is turned down to just 0.467", to enable it to fit a standard Mauser bolt face. In spite of its peculiar dimensions, the .425 WR cartridge produces impressive ballistics by pushing a 410-gr. bullet at 2350 f.p.s. and generating 5,010 ft.-lbs. of muzzle energy—more or less matching the same energy delivered by double-rifle cartridges in the .450- to .470 N.E.-class.

Rigby’s efforts to offer a magazine rifle using a cartridge equivalent to the .450 31Ú4 N.E. round came to fruition in late 1911. John Rigby & Co. developed a cartridge designed around the Magnum Mauser Model 98 square-bridge action, and in 1912 unveiled the first .416 Rigby rifle, destined to become the most famous large, medium-bore of them all. According to Jon Speed in his book, Mauser Original Oberndorf Sporting Rifles, “One of the first .416 rifles was sold in August, 1912. With the advent of the .416 Rigby Magnum Mauser, the large-bore magazine bolt rifle could be considered a viable option for those who could not afford or did not wish to use an expensive double rifle.”

According to Frank Barnes’ Ninth Edition of Cartridges of the World, the .416 Rigby drives a 410-gr. bullet at 2370 f.p.s. to generate 5,100 ft.-lbs. of muzzle energy, and a 400-gr. bullet at 2430 f.p.s., which generates 5,245 ft.-lbs. of energy. Barnes leaves no doubt about his respect for the cartridge, when he proclaims, “the .416 Rigby is probably the best magazine cartridge for big game ever offered. For those who prefer the bolt-action rifle, it is a great favorite for use against dangerous game in almost any situation.”

The Rigby case measures 2.90" long, has a 0.589" diameter base, 0.586" rim and holds approximately 130 grs. of water. A loaded .416 Rigby cartridge measures 3.72" in overall length, compared to the .375 H&H Magnum’s 3.60". The large cartridge requires a magnum-length action, and although Rigby built a few .416s on standard Mauser actions, including Harry Selby’s rifle, this stretched the capabilities of an action designed around the 7.9x57 mm cartridge.

In comparison to double rifles in the .450- to .470 group, the .416 Rigby developed the same energy, but was felt to have much less pressure and recoil. Many experienced African hunters considered that Rigby’s magazine rifle offered several advantages over double rifles, including better accuracy, flatter trajectory, superior penetration and four-shot capacity instead of two—all in a lighter gun.

Most of Rigby’s .416s were built on Magnum Mauser Model 98 actions, while in later years, especially after World War II when the expensive Mauser actions became scarce, the custom gun trade often utilized the Model 1917 Enfield action. Even Rigby itself later employed Brno’s strong magnum-size action introduced in the mid-1960s. According to its records, Rigby made exactly 169 .416 Rigby-cal. rifles between 1912 and World War II. Between 1939 and 1984, it made 180 more. From 1984, when Paul Roberts acquired Rigbys, 184 more were turned out. In 1997, an American investment group headed by Geoff Miller of Paso Robles, Calif. [(805) 227-4236] acquired John Rigby & Co. Under Miller’s watch, the company continues to produce dangerous game sporting rifles and shotguns from California.

Used and endorsed by many of Africa’s best known hunters, the .416 Rigby’s history is a rich one. Among the notable big game hunters who swore by it was Commander David Enderly Blunt, who engaged in elephant control work for the Tanganyika government back in the 1920s and ’30s. In his book, Elephant, considered a classic reference on hunting elephant, Blunt wrote, “The .416 Rigby magazine I have always used has the same muzzle energy as a double-barrel .470, but the bullet has greater penetration and the weapon is, in my opinion, the most perfectly balanced rifle in every way for elephant … .”

Mozambique hunter John Taylor wrote in his book, Big Game and Big Game Rifles, “For all-round work amongst dangerous game, both thick-skinned and thin-skinned, there is no better magazine rifle than Rigby’s .416 … the .404 will stop him [lion] all right, but will seldom crumple him quite so completely as will the .416.”

As mentioned earlier, Harry Selby carried a .416 Rigby rifle for nearly 50 years during his safari career. He began with a double rifle that was damaged on safari when a hunting vehicle was accidentally driven over the barrels in 1949. Of necessity, he bought the only big-bore rifle available in Nairobi at the time—his now famous .416 Rigby rifle. Harry considered the .416 Rigby a stopgap until he could find another suitable double, but after using it on a couple of safaris he was so impressed with its handling and performance that he never returned to a double.

Harry’s Rigby rifle was immortalized in Ruark’s books, Horn of the Hunter and Something of Value, and even depicted in a Bob Kuhn illustration for a 1950s Field & Stream magazine article. This type of attention no doubt bolstered the .416 Rigby’s popularity and contributed to its legend and lore.

Jack O’Connor, who was also a fan of the .416 Rigby, wrote in a 1970 Shooting Column for Outdoor Life, “The ‘heavy’ (built on a Model 1917 Enfield action) I took to Mozambique in 1962 and to Zambia in 1969 was a .416 Rigby, a British cartridge which has long been a favorite in Africa. How long this fine cartridge will survive I cannot say, however, as it may not be factory loaded after present supplies are exhausted.”

O’Connor’s pessimism concerning the .416 Rigby’s future was understandable at the time. The British gun trade was withering, and Kynoch was about to stop the manufacture of .416 Rigby ammunition. The last batch it made from on-hand components was released in 1968. O’Connor had already taken to turning the belts off .378 or .460 Weatherby brass (both of Weatherby’s belted cases are based on original .416 Rigby brass) and forming them to size. One of his favorite loads for the .416 Rigby launched a 400-gr. Barnes bullet at 2450 f.p.s. He mentioned another load that produced 2600 f.p.s., but said he felt recoil from it was too unpleasant.

Even Harry put his trusted .416 Rigby away for a short period during the mid-1970s due to the lack of ammo. Turning to handloading for his ammo supply, Harry, like O’Connor, also remedied the lack of .416 brass by turning off the belts and re-sizing the cases of .460 Weatherby brass. Since B.E.L.L. began producing brass in the mid-1980s, and with current factory loadings available from Federal and Kynoch, turning belts off Weatherby brass is no longer necessary.

It’s ironic that today, with fewer places left to hunt big game in Africa, the availability of big-bore rifles and ammo is greater than it ever was—certainly more than it was 30 or 40 years ago. An impressive selection of rifles is currently displayed on many gun store racks, including doubles made for traditional big-bore British cartridges and bolt guns chambered in many of the time-tested calibers. With rifle production re-tooled for big-bore guns and factory cartridges once again available, Rigby’s classic .416 caliber has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity that has even spawned new belted .416 factory loadings from Remington and Weatherby—Remington necking up its 8 mm Rem. Mag. case to .416, and Weatherby necking down its own .460 Wby. Mag. case to .416.

Had ammo availability not been an issue back in 1968, I might today own a safari-worn .416, instead of one whose stock gleams with the luster of a new oil-finish. For years a rifle project lingered in my mind, which for the most part seemed more like a fantasy. It hailed back to those days some 30 years ago when, were it not for lack of ammo, I might have chosen a .416 for my dangerous game rifle.

During the years I worked for Harry Selby in Botswana, I must admit to open admiration for his .416 Rigby. Hearing him praise its performance and detail exciting hunts that he had with it tackling elephant, rhino, buffalo, lion and leopard only reinforced my desire to one day possess a rifle in .416 Rigby. But my quest for the holy grail of big-bore magazine cartridges hinged on the search for a suitable (read, economically priced) magnum action.

The project kicked into gear a couple of years ago when I was finally able to locate a 1970s vintage Brno ZKK 602 (the one with the desirable pop-up aperture sight) in .458—the perfect foundation for a .416 Rigby conversion—and handed it over to Lon Paul of Tanglewood Ranch, Calif., [(909) 659-2699]. Like cutting a diamond out of the “rough,” Lon transformed the solid, dependable Brno-actioned rifle into much more than just a thing of beauty. The action, which holds four .416 rounds in the magazine, was re-barreled with a 24" Douglas premium barrel. Re-stocked and fitted with a new Model 70-type safety, quarter-rib and express sight, the rifle now embodies all the best features required of a dangerous game gun, including my choice for the ideal chambering for such a gun—the .416 Rigby.

Indulging both of our tastes for English guns, Lon shaped a beautiful piece of straight-grained English walnut, selected for its strength and figure, to Rigby-style dimensions to achieve a classic “look and feel.” While the Brno action’s double square bridge configuration with factory built-in dovetails will accept a scope, this rifle will be used almost exclusively with iron sights.

“Modern, straighter stock designs do not possess the ‘bird gun’ pointing qualities that one is immediately aware of when handling a vintage Rigby, Jeffery or London designed firearm,” Lon pointed out.

Therefore, great attention was directed to the stock design and dimensions to achieve the handling and pointing qualities that the original Rigbys, like Harry Selby’s rifle, exhibit. Lon explained that rifles set up primarily for “quick-to-acquire” iron sights demand stock combs with somewhat more drop at the heel than most modern rifles with high or sight-combed stocks, designed primarily for scope use.

The open sights consist of a ­quarter-rib, which accommodates three shallow “V” express-style leaves that all fold down and out of the way when the aperture sight is brought into play. A button on the right side of the rear square-bridge releases the spring-loaded peep sight, and a hinged steel grip cap allows access to an ivory night sight wrapped in oilcloth and stored in a small hollow in the bottom of the pistol grip. A barrel-band front ramp sight is positioned at the muzzle and a barrel-band sling-swivel is located 21Ú2" in front of the fore-end tip. To help tame recoil, the buttstock has been fitted with a Pachmayr Decelerator rubber recoil pad.

All metal work has been rust-blued, the action polished for flawless feeding, and the trigger crisped to break like glass at 31Ú2 lbs. As a suitable embellishment for its African baptism in Tanzania this year, Lon capped the stock’s fore-end with a piece of Cape buffalo horn. In East Africa, where some of the largest buffalo roam, a rifle in .416 Rigby provides mighty reliable insurance. When called upon, I know it’s enough gun to stop Africa’s biggest and toughest game, as Harry Selby so ably demonstrated with his .416 Rigby back in 1974.


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: banglist; bigguns; rigby
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Big-bore , big game, African safari rifles are interesting. The recoil on these guns is remarkable; they are not for everyone.
1 posted on 03/06/2003 1:16:35 PM PST by 45Auto
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To: 45Auto
hey 45,
do you have any experience w/ the PT 945 Taurus?
2 posted on 03/06/2003 1:23:49 PM PST by Gilbo_3
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To: 45Auto
Current production Ruger Model 77 RSM MkII in .416 Rigby


3 posted on 03/06/2003 1:24:39 PM PST by 45Auto ( Socialism is a disease.)
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To: 45Auto
Execellent article 45, but one question ....

Has anyone made a pistol or revolver for it yet ?

4 posted on 03/06/2003 1:30:44 PM PST by Centurion2000 (Take charge of your destiny, or someone else will)
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To: 45Auto; *bang_list
A big sore shoulder bang
5 posted on 03/06/2003 1:32:37 PM PST by harpseal (Stay well - Stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown)
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To: Centurion2000

6 posted on 03/06/2003 1:33:37 PM PST by 45Auto
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To: Gilbo_3
I've owned it's first cousin, the PT908 and I've fired the PT945. I really like the design and function of these models. The upper is like the SIG series pistols, with the Browning lockup, while the lower is like the earlier Berettas and the later Taurus PT9x series. I found it a little sharp on some edges, but the ergonomics were great. I preferred the PT908 because of the concealability, but the PT945 hands out the firepower and is a great CCW .45.
7 posted on 03/06/2003 1:34:34 PM PST by SJSAMPLE
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To: 45Auto
My shoulder hurts looking at it.....
8 posted on 03/06/2003 1:36:43 PM PST by litehaus
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To: litehaus
My dad was fond of a certain 300 H & H he purchased in Japan in about 1955. Somewhere along the line, the rifle was sold and I've always wished I could buy it back...
9 posted on 03/06/2003 1:45:05 PM PST by Eric in the Ozarks
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To: 45Auto
Aye, I have a .416 Remington waiting for a safari in Africa. Some day I'll actually get over to that continent.
10 posted on 03/06/2003 1:46:35 PM PST by tortoise
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To: SJSAMPLE
Not wanting to fill a .416 thread w/ .45 questions,but i need any info regarding feed problems in the pt 945. I believe ive addressed all the obvious, but is there anything inherent in the design, especially the mag spring or ejector that could slow the rate of feed and allow the slide to pinch the fresh cartridges?
11 posted on 03/06/2003 1:46:42 PM PST by Gilbo_3
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To: 45Auto
Gee, that looks just like the Ruger Model 77 RSM MkII in .416 Rigby that's parked in my gun safe...
12 posted on 03/06/2003 1:51:11 PM PST by 76Tiger
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To: litehaus
No kidding, the bone deep ache after a 3 round group of .338 WM is enough for me.
13 posted on 03/06/2003 1:53:35 PM PST by Dead Dog
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To: 45Auto
Looks like it could be fun :)
14 posted on 03/06/2003 1:58:14 PM PST by Centurion2000 (Take charge of your destiny, or someone else will)
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To: Centurion2000
Be my guest. Please let me video tape the only test firing.
I would request that you wear some form of wrist strobe light, enabling the rescue team to rapidly locate your arm.
15 posted on 03/06/2003 2:07:03 PM PST by ijcr
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To: 45Auto

CZ Safari Magnum available in .416 Rigby, great guns for a good price.
16 posted on 03/06/2003 2:12:37 PM PST by Tijeras_Slim
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To: 45Auto
bump
17 posted on 03/06/2003 2:13:35 PM PST by VOA
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To: ijcr
Be my guest. Please let me video tape the only test firing.

Can it be that much worse that lighting off 454's at max pressure loads ? Nope. Would I fire more than 1 or 2 ? God I hope not.

18 posted on 03/06/2003 2:17:54 PM PST by Centurion2000 (Take charge of your destiny, or someone else will)
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To: litehaus
A bullet that size should be a missle (( self propelled )) !
19 posted on 03/06/2003 2:21:46 PM PST by f.Christian (( + God =Truth + love courage // LIBERTY logic + SANITY + Awakening + ))
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To: Dead Dog
No kidding, the bone deep ache after a 3 round group of .338 WM is enough for me.

I'm not a huge guy, but 338WM shooting full-power hand loads out of a 7- or 8-lb rifle does not bother me. I may just be unusually recoil insensitive, but the first time I shot a 338 I was expecting punishment and didn't get any. Hrrmm...

20 posted on 03/06/2003 2:28:13 PM PST by tortoise
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