Winchester .416 Rem Mag.

**Adoons** · 01-01-2023, 18:05

Seems perfect to me.

TStone, maybe therr is the answer for your 416 RM?

**TStone** · 01-01-2023, 18:25

I am definitely going to try them. I am currently testing them in a .375 H&H and results look really good.

**TStone** · 07-01-2023, 08:54

400gr Safari Bullet Company @ 2318fps. 27mm group at 100m. This is with a 1-5-5x scope with a very thick reticle.

**Pirate** · 07-01-2023, 11:54

Hmmm... that one shot looks a little high and left...

**TStone** · 07-01-2023, 14:41

Originally Posted by Pirate

Hmmm... that one shot looks a little high and left...

Just as I squeezed the trigger a dwarrelwind passed from right to left between me and the target moving the bullet up and to the left.

Here in the Vrystaat we are cursed with all sorts of natural phenomena hell bent on ruining our groups, dwarrelwinde, mirage and unpreditable gusts of wind. I have been told that this is one of the reasons the 6.5 Creedmoor was invented...

**Pirate** · 07-01-2023, 15:04

Originally Posted by TStone

Just as I squeezed the trigger a dwarrelwind passed from right to left between me and the target moving the bullet up and to the left.

Here in the Vrystaat we are cursed with all sorts of natural phenomena hell bent on ruining our groups, dwarrelwinde, mirage and unpreditable gusts of wind. I have been told that this is one of the reasons the 6.5 Creedmoor was invented...

Ja the Vrystaat is a challenging place to shoot... here in the Cape we don't have warrelwinde so our bullets fly straight. But the Suid-Oos gusts a terrible thing, which tends to move the paper targets right at the last moment before the bullet impacts, causing the groups to look a little bigger than they actually are supposed to be!

**TStone** · 07-01-2023, 19:32

I am working on a book titled: "Valid excuses for missing easy shots - For South African (and visiting international) hunters".
Now I am thinking that I should probably have regional chapters.

**Rigby** · 07-01-2023, 21:43

Originally Posted by Adoons

Morning TStone. Best wishes for you and all else reading for a prosperous 2023.

Yes, I did. If plinking "bad" pumpkins in a harvested land counts...

I had a few off hand shots at 20 - 80 meters on a few Hubbard squashes not fit for the market. No chronograph and measurements etc. Just some 404 plinking to get the hang of my rifle for starters. I used the 350 gr Peregrine VRG2 loaded rounds I purchased with the rifle. Recoil is really tame. A lot less than the previous 404's I shot, but all of them were on K98 actions with shorter barrels and thus a lot lighter than my rifle. Not 30-06 recoil that I am used to, but nothing flinch inducing. I hard long push but not kicking or hurting. It has a recoil tube as well. I am not a firm believer in them except for added weight, but maybe that is helping to get the kick into a push?

Accuracy is excellent if centre of hubbard squash from 20 - 80 meters with open sights is about right for testing and reporting purposes.

No cycling, feeding or extraction problems like a CZ550 should be.

I will shoot of some of the 450 gr African PH rounds I purchased sometimes this week and measure their speed and check accuracy better. I have never thought of the .404 to be used with less than 400 gr bullets, but I have those 350 gr VRG 2 and VRG 3 and a lot of Spartan 350 gr HP that came with it. As the rifle will be used mostly on plains game and pigs I will seriously consider using 350 gr after feeling this "pleasant" recoil and measuring speed. If it is decent, I will pull some of them and weigh the propellant and determine if it was S365 or not used by the previous owner and develop a load to be the same. I am just concerned that they were loaded for paper punching and maybe the speed is low. I am not confident as I have no experience with them, that VRG 3 will open up on plains game and not just punch a .423 Cal hole at lower velocities? A BWB with a high lung shot of .423 Cal passing through at 1800 fps might make for a long day inspecting the whole farm.... Will first run them through some warthog. Bullet recovery will not happen, but I should get a better idea of performance than on squash ha-ha.

For Buffalo I will opt for 400 - 450 gr. I cannot see myself having a rifle capable of shooting 400 - 450 gr and then using 350 gr on DG. Probably will be 450 gr in the end as 450 gr should give the best penetration as it is the better SD and weight vs Frontal area for a .423 bullet.

After the comments regarding the "bogus" Norma African PH ammo I have bought that they may even not be 450 gr I will not use them as potential "charge stopping" ammunition. Will use them for measurements, sighting in, plinking, hunting plains game and then reloading the brass with bullets and loads that have been tested. That was an expensive fault of "breaking my own rules" of buying ammo instead of loading them myself from scratch.

out of curiosity why not shoot the woodleigh 400g , the 404 Jeff (mine) works excellent with them ?

**Desperatezulu** · 08-01-2023, 10:08

Originally Posted by Rigby

out of curiosity why not shoot the woodleigh 400g , the 404 Jeff (mine) works excellent with them ?

Cost? Availability? Guess what bullets Norma loads in its African PH range? So he has tried them...

Plus the Woodleigh factory burnt down a year ago and has not restarted production yet.

Apologies to TStone for the thread-jack