[blacklabman]

Hey fabs! Been a while since we exchanged.

In my opinion the .416 Rigby is an outstanding cartridge. When I was planning my first hunt to Africa in '00, I did some research.

The .375 H&H, while legal, is minimal. This was from feedback from a friend who had just returned from there. I somehow had a prejudice against the .45 cals. I don't know why. That left me with the .416. I looked at the .416 Remington. After two fruitless requests from the Remington custom shop for a brochure, I searched elsewhere. I saw an ad for the Ruger Magnum in .416 Rigby. I checked the balistics and the Remington and Ribgy are basically the same. Albeit, the Rigby burns more powder to get the same MV. My dealer got me the Ruger in short order.

My final workup loads gave me a 2,400 fps MV with the 400 gr. Speer African Grand Slams, both soft points and solids. Energy about 5,000 ft-lbs. Recoil substantial, but tolerable.

End of story, two shots with the solids got my bull. Also a kudu and a warthog that had the misfortune to be spotted while we were trailing buff.

Since this hunt I have seen numerous articles praising the cartridge.