416 Rigby vs 458 win mag

[Mountaineer]

I hope to be hunting Cape buffalo and elephant someday with my son. In your opinion is there a real performance difference between the 416 Rigby and the 458 win mag? Thanks.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

I hope to be hunting Cape buffalo and elephant someday with my son. In your opinion is there a real performance difference between the 416 Rigby and the 458 win mag? Thanks.

Go for the .416 Rigby. Higher velocity & lower pressures.

I’ve personally shot most of my Cape buffalo and elephants up until now, with a .375 Holland & Holland Magnum. Perfectly adequate for everything except for body shots on bull elephants.

 

[krish]

I hope to be hunting Cape buffalo and elephant someday with my son. In your opinion is there a real performance difference between the 416 Rigby and the 458 win mag? Thanks.

If you want a 416 Rigby I have one cz550 416 Rigby New in the box fancy grade for sale. Have not listed it yet. ALSO a aruger RSM.
Krish

 

[redriverjake]

Speaking from experience, the 416 is far more versatile across a wider range of scenarios. If you only want to shoot buff and ele then the 458 may be a shade better with a touch more "punch" but if you're buying a rifle for all around applications then a 375 or a 416 will serve you better. Happy hunting.

 

[Mountaineer]

Is a 416 suitable for body shots on elephants?

 

[krish]

458 lott will do everything you want on DG. That is where stopping caliber start.
KRISH

 

[deewayne2003]

I have hunted neither, however I was asking myself the same question before I booked my first Africa hunt for tuskless in 2024.

I got a .416 Rigby thinking a 400gr Woodleigh SP for buff & 400gr Hydro for elephant.

Then I stumbled across a .470NE and ended up keeping the .416Rigby as a backup.

The .416 seems to have lots of potential for longer distance shots when topped with a decent scope; which would open up plains game opportunities…. Especially with some of the lighter bullet options out there if you load your own ammo.

Just my 2 cents after asking myself the same question.

 

[BourbonTrail]

Is a 416 suitable for body shots on elephants?

Short answer: yes.

Several on this site have successfully hunted elephants with a 416, body shots included.

@Green Chile shot a bull with one (body shot) on a recent trip. It worked well for him.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Is a 416 suitable for body shots on elephants?

Very. Although, the .450+ bores do have an advantage in this department due to the larger bullet diameter (which punches larger wound cavities through vital organs and causes the game to hemorrhage from blood loss quicker).

This is particularly important, because you'll have to use non-expanding bullets for elephant hunting. So you'll have to rely on sheer bullet diameter for creating these wound cavities, rather than any form of bullet expansion.

Still .416 caliber is more than adequate. Except in very low visibility shooting situations such as terrain with dense foliage.

 

[krish]

Very. Although, the .450+ bores do have an advantage in this department due to the larger bullet diameter (which punches larger wound cavities through vital organs and causes the game to hemorrhage from blood loss quicker).

This is particularly important, because you'll have to use non-expanding bullets for elephant hunting. So you'll have to rely on sheer bullet diameter for creating these wound cavities, rather than any form of bullet expansion.

Still .416 caliber is more than adequate. Except in very low visibility shooting situations such as terrain with dense foliage.

That is what I thought , as bigger hole is needed for body shot for a quick kill.
Krish

 

[Green Chile]

Yes and keep in mind there are some solids that do expand slightly. This is the .416 400 grain cup point solid from NorthFork that I used last week on a big bodied bull. Body shot at 40+ yards and big bull was down in less than 50 yards. It physically buckled the elephant on the body shot. PH thought it was going down right there.

 

[krish]

First Congratulation on such a nice Trophy.
You got a point, I did not think of those solids.
Krish

 

[Green Chile]

That was my first use of that solid and I really liked the performance. It also penetrated a huge eland from end to end. I will use them again for sure!

 

[krish]

I have ton of Barns flat nose solids. That is why I did not think of other solids and cutting edge solids.
Krish

 

[Mountaineer]

Congratulations on a beautiful trophy!

 

[sureshot375]

Is a 416 suitable for body shots on elephants?

Absolutely!! I think actually a better choice for body shots than the .458. Penetration with the .416 is hard to beat.

 

[Tally-Ho HUNTING SAFARIS]

I hope to be hunting Cape buffalo and elephant someday with my son. In your opinion is there a real performance difference between the 416 Rigby and the 458 win mag? Thanks.

get a 416 rem mag!!!!!!!! you wont look back

 

[GOX6]

I highly recommend the .416 Rigby - not, repeat, NOT, the Remington .416! - as a general-purpose big-bore African caliber. It's far more effective, IMHO, than the .458 Winchester, which has notorious penetration problems. If you want the bigger caliber, I'd go for the .458 Lott - but it's all yours. I'll stick with the .416, which I trust absolutely to bring down everything in Africa.

 

[Tally-Ho HUNTING SAFARIS]

the 416 rem mag and the 416 rigby have almost identical ballistics
the rem mag uses way less powder
the rem mag ammo is 30-50% cheaper than 416 rigby ammo
the felt recoil on a 416 rem mag is less than a 416 rigby
i will stick with my 416 rem mag, its never let me down and has brought down many animals for me as my day to day backup gun, incl lion, ele, hippo, buff etc etc etc

 

[bassasdaindia]

416 would be my choice