.416 Rigby
Introduced by the British firm of John Rigby
& Co. in 1911, the .416 Rigby is one of the world's great old classic
cartridges. Even so, Rigby's .416 did not enjoy the popularity it deserved
among American hunters until affordable rifles chambered for it became available
during the late 1980's. During 1988, Kimber announced its Model 89 African
rifle in .416 Rigby, and Ruger followed suit with its Model 77 Magnum a year
later. The author used the first Kimber rifle built in this caliber on safari
in Zambia during 1988, and found it and its cartridge to be fine performers
on large and potentially dangerous African Game.
The original British manufactured Kynoch factory load contained Cordite,
a smokeless propellant which was reputed to be quite sensitive to extremes
in temperature commonly encountered in tropical climates. For this reason,
maximum chamber pressures for the .416 Rigby was held at 17 long tons or
38,080 pounds per square inch. Muzzle velocity with a 400 grain bullet was
rated at 2375 fps. The A-Square and Federal factory loads presently available
are loaded to similar chamber pressures and velocity levels.
The .416 Rigby is an excellent choice for hunting the largest African and
Alaskan big game. It delivers a mighty blow up close, shoots relatively flat,
hits hard at long ranges, and the high sectional density of its 400 grain
bullet enables it to penetrate deeply. For maximum penetration on elephant
and Cape Buffalo, bullets of solid construction such as the
Hornady, the Speer African Grand Slam,
the Barnes Super Solid, and the
A-Square Monolithic Solid are powerful medicines. Excellent choices in expanding
bullets of controlled expansion design for the .416 Rigby are the
Barnes X-Bullet, the A-Square
Dead Tough, the Speer African Grand Slam, and the Swift A-Frame. Due to the
extreme large powder capacity of the .416 Rigby, it should be loaded with
magnum primers and powders that fill its case to at least 90 percent charge
density.
Source: Hodgdon Data Manual, 26th Edition
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