Anyone using .416 Rigby for deer/boar?

njc110381

Well-Known Member
Hi chaps. I'm planning a trip to Africa in the next couple of years and have applied for a .416 Rigby. Is anyone using one in the UK for deer and if so what bullets/loads are you running? I can't decide if it's worth looking into 300gr Barnes TSX or whether to just use the 410gr Woodleighs that have been suggested for use on larger game? I'd be grateful to hear of your experiences please.
 
Great vid , I've seen it before , but was great to see again,

Cheers Jim, it makes me want to go n grab an iron sight centre fire, ( we all started with air rifles n iron sights) and could take a starling at 30 yds with em

Kjf

I'm familiar with having that itch to scratch.
Good news for you is that rifles with iron sights and no muzzle thread tend to be pretty cheap :D
 
  • Like
Reactions: Kjf
Wow, thanks for posting that up. I can relate to this guy in so many ways! He stalks deer the way I like to do it, get in close with open sights and above all he passed off more shots than he took. What a great video, it's not often you get to watch something like that. I've probably shot half of my deer with my old 7x57R combi gun and open sights. Mainly roe and under 50 yards. I don't have that gun any more but I have a Sauer drilling instead in 8x60. I'll get that sorted and out in the field one day but getting it to shooting condition has been a long slog as it was deactivated when I bought it.

I believe the chrome cased .416 Norma rounds are loaded with Woodleigh bullets. I'll have to check. The main issue will be making it Scotland legal - 1750ft-lbs is easy but 2450fps will mean 4000ft-lbs with the lightest bullet I can find. Something that doesn't open up too quickly would be preferable I think. I don't plan to scope this one either at first, so shots will be fairly close up once I've spent a bit of time on targets getting used to the sight picture.
 
I thought I knew who this may be, with talk of the combi guns I'm certain :lol:

Most of the larger medium bores like the 416 aren't going to be great for Scottish velocity rules, if that's a big deal then get a 375. However you don't live in Scotland so get the 416, load it to the gills with a 340gr Woodleigh or any regular jacketed 400gr SP (even a partition) and have at it. If you're worried about expansion just place the bullet slightly forward till you have an idea of what they do.
Woodleigh can be a pain to get here, Nosler are easier but they aren't bloody cheap.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Kjf
I thought I knew who this may be, with talk of the combi guns I'm certain :lol:

Now I'm trying to work out who you are! I hate when this happens! As soon as I say 8x60 in a drilling that narrows things down considerably, there aren't many about. :D

I've managed to find a good source of Woodleighs, both solid and Weldcore. I've been offered 500 of them but have picked up 50 to see how they shoot initially. If they're good I'll buy the remaining stock.

My FAC arrived back today. Deer & AOLQ on the Rigby, happy days. Now I can get on and shoot the thing.
 
Not a 416, but I use a 458 lott on deer occasionally & also rechambered a couple of my 375's to 375wby which I more frequently use on deer. The 458 lott is awesome even with hard projectiles & with open sights trajectory isnt a factor. In similar guns the recoil is only slightly more & not really noticeable. I have a wide filed V as the rear sight, it sits about level with my forehand when aiming & a large white bead as the foresight. I finished & chequered the walnut, ebony & horn stock myself & it fits like a shotgun its very fast in the bush for close up shots, much faster than a scope. Yes I can shoot the southern end of a north bound deer & expect adequate penetration even on 250kg plus animals. The 375 wby because of the increased speed (more than enough for Scotland i'd imagine) does feel a wee bit sharper than the 458's & 416's I have used.
 
Now I'm trying to work out who you are! I hate when this happens! As soon as I say 8x60 in a drilling that narrows things down considerably, there aren't many about. :D

I've managed to find a good source of Woodleighs, both solid and Weldcore. I've been offered 500 of them but have picked up 50 to see how they shoot initially. If they're good I'll buy the remaining stock.

My FAC arrived back today. Deer & AOLQ on the Rigby, happy days. Now I can get on and shoot the thing.

Hopefully the phot will give it away. If your source has any .458 Woodleigh please let me know.

Fantastic, which rifle did you go for in the end?
 

Attachments

  • 20190307_142806.jpg
    20190307_142806.jpg
    148.5 KB · Views: 49
Hey! No talk about drillings without photos! An 8x60s Sauer drilling must be pre-war, right? Made in Suhl rather than Eckenförde. In which case, it comes from the same factory my Simson drilling was made in, after the old Sauer factory was "repossessed", shall we say...
 
Now I'm trying to work out who you are! I hate when this happens! As soon as I say 8x60 in a drilling that narrows things down considerably, there aren't many about. :D

I've managed to find a good source of Woodleighs, both solid and Weldcore. I've been offered 500 of them but have picked up 50 to see how they shoot initially. If they're good I'll buy the remaining stock.

My FAC arrived back today. Deer & AOLQ on the Rigby, happy days. Now I can get on and shoot the thing.

Man, how did you get away with .416 Rigby on deer?!

I know some people who have .375 H&H on Deer and AOLQ but I thought that was about the absolute maximum you'd be likely to get away with.

Glad to see there are still FLO's out there that allow people the pleasure of using their big game rifles at home when the occasion suits!

Good hunting to you!
 
Im using 400gr rnsp woodleighs in my 416 Remington. They are down loaded to 2297fps but the seem to hit deer with authority.
 
I thoroughly enjoyed that video

It sums up exactly how I relate to stalking

Love the rifle he uses, love the caliber, love the open sights, love the requirement to stalk into your quarry, love the closeness with nature

Not a great fan of pulling the trigger or killing for the sake of it

If I ever get my ticket back with the 9.3 conditioned for deer, i think i'll try and emulate what I took from that vid
 
Right, where do I start?!

Jim - now I've looked at it I've made the connection. Your quirky .458 clarified it nicely! I've bought a CZ550 Safari with the Aramid composite stock. Not the prettiest rifle but said to be one of the toughest you can buy. That'll do the job nicely for me - I have pretty rifles but this one I would rather not be fussy about slinging it in the back of a pickup etc.

Now, pretty rifles. The drilling is my pretty rifle. I'm quite sensitive about how it's used and am careful to make sure it's spotless before it goes back in the safe. It's a nice gun, made in 1943 in Suhl according to the serial number references I've found online. Sadly I've not shot much with the rifle barrel yet but I have all the time in the world for that. It'll happen one day. So far the best I have managed was a squirrel when I first had the rifle - I pulled the wrong trigger. My rule of no sky shots without an empty rifle chamber saved the day on that little accident, he had a backstop. It proves it fits me well though - I hit it without consciously looking at the sights on the gun at around 20 paces...
Drilling 1.1.JPG

As for how did I get the Rigby for deer. Well that was a fairly drawn out process with help form a very decent FEO. I initially put in for a Lott but that was refused. My insisting on being able to use it in the field in the UK to gain familiarity ready for a dangerous game hunt just wouldn't cut it, they were having none of it. A few emails later and I was asked to go in and collect my FAC with my new .357 slot that I'd applied for at the same time. That turned into an hour long meeting with said FEO, who had gone to the trouble of searching the firearms database for clues as to what had already been granted for UK use in my area. He then prodded me in the direction of the Rigby because in his words "if someone already has one then it's easier for us to justify the grant of another to our superiors". Someone else does have one, I now have the second!

Shooting deer with it should be OK I think. I plan to load to the lower end of the standard charge range. Brass supposedly lasts well in the Rigby and I have around 150 cases ready to use, sourced as once fired from various places. The Woodleighs have come to me at 65p each for a 410gr Weldcore soft point - I pay more than that for Nosler Accubond for my 7STW. A tub of powder will load approximately 80 rounds at a sensible charge level, so all in all I'll be looking at £2.50 a pop roughly taking into consideration the expected brass life. A good factory 6.5x55 round costs that so it's not awful. Factory ammo is a different story all together, 20 Hornady DGX come in at £150+!

From what I've read, I don't think there will be any mistaking when the gun is fired. The recoil is stout. But I used to have a .375H&H Brno 602 which is a very similar rifle, and I actually found that more pleasant to shoot than my friends Tikka T3 Lite in .270 when used side by side one after the other. I'm hoping the Rigby will be similarly acceptable. The CZ550 comes in at nearly 10lbs unscoped and has a huge recoil pad to spread the load. It's not a small gun.
 
Watched the vid and a bit dissapointed

I expected the whole deer to vaporise :D

Only pussies use Rigbys on Roe Id use a 50cal :D
Mind you, you cant argue about the knock down
 
Back
Top