416 Ruger build

[K95]

Hi guys
I am wanting your ideas and thoughts on building a barrel in 416 Ruger for my R8. This caliber isn’t available through Blaser themselves and have contacted a company called Palehorse zero who do a lot of custom gunsmith work included building barrels for Blaser rifles. They will build a Barrel in most calibers, any length with the Blaser profiles, with any twist rate along with extras like fluting, barrel coating etc. This is where I would like some advice. What I was thinking was a 416 Ruger chambering in a semi weight (19 mm ) fluted barrel, 24” long with a 1-14 twist. The main use for this barrel will be for Buffalo. Am I choosing the right caliber for the job? Blaser make a 416 Rem and 458 Lott but they are in a much larger profile (22mm) which causes a problem with my stock which only allows for the 19 mm diameter. I didn’t want anything that was going to kick the crap out of me or it needed a set of wheels to carry it around. Is what I am suggesting a logical choice? I have the 375 Ruger in a custom left handed Sako which I can shoot all day and my standard weight 340 Weatherby barrel is comfortable to shoot prone. Do I need the 416 ? and perhaps the 375 Ruger will do just fine on Buffalo I am I open for any suggestions please.
Ken

 

[Tally-Ho HUNTING SAFARIS]

375 ruger is more than adequate, why waste the money? spend it on the safari rather

also 416rm is a great calibre, have you asked if you can get in the thinner barrel??
couldnt u modify the stock to take thicker barrel, it will still work for other narrower barrels

 

[USMA84DAB]

I have both of these cartridges also. If it provides any comparison for you, I do not fire the .416 Ruger without the sissy pad on my shoulder, not wanting to develop a flinch. I have not hunted with it yet, to see if the recoil is noticed then or not.

Since you have access to dictating your twist rate, you might consider trying 1:12" or even 1:10". Art Alphin at A-Square recognized that the terminal ballistics are enhanced when one spins the bullet faster. van der Walt's writings seem to concur with Alphin. Since this would be a DG rifle, straighter penetration would be a good thing. I have heard of no problems as the cartridge is with the 1:14" twist, but there was a reason Art selected 1:10" twist for the .495 AS. I seriously doubt you could spin the bullet fast enough to need to worry about bullet blow-up.

I heartily scorn the 24" barrel cult, and the "beat the crap out of everyone around you" muzzle brake. My 20" .375 Ruger Alaskan did a fine job in RSA - carried like a dream - which is what one does with the rifle 99% of the time. Handy getting in and out of the bakkie, no snagging on thorns & rocks, less weight to carry. The two cartridges were designed to get peer/near peer performance (.416 Rem, .416 Rigby in this case - .375H&H in the case of the .375 Ruger) with 4" less barrel. I like taking advantage of this.

It is your "precious", so build it exactly how it tickles your fancy. I am not sure that "need" is relevant.

The .375 Ruger will handle any hunting chore you undertake - you would have a PH backing you with a stopping rifle, so just focus on your shot placement. However, if you can effectively fire it, having more gun is better. There are better stopping rifles, certainly, than the .375.

I had good success using the CDS (custom dial system) Leupold uses on their scopes, so the legend of the .416 not having enough range is garbage. It will handily take whatever you shoot inside of 300 yards/the ranges actual hunters stalk animals. I realize that sometimes, say for Black Wildebeest, ranges can get stretched, but I am in the "stalk closer" school of hunting theory. I think you could take just the .416 Ruger and shoot whatever you wanted, especially if you learn the rifle/cartridge and use the CDS. DG will be within 100 yards, so then the ballistic curve is immaterial at that range.

Just my $.02 worth, which is worth what you paid for it! Hope these thoughts helped you ruminate through your decision-making process.

 

[K95]

Thanks fellas for your feed back. I will look into the possible advantages of the faster twist. I know that the 375 Ruger would probably get the job done on every thing, but was thinking a combination of the 416 for the larger game and either the 9.3 or 340 Weatherby barrel for every thing else should work well. Regarding the barrel length, it’s more for balance and not a additional 60 to 100 fps and since with the Blaser action making the rifle more compact a 24” tube would be the same overall length as the 20” Ruger rifle. Years ago I had a 416 Taylor and found it perfect for our Australian buff so was thinking it should work ok on the Cape buffalo seeing they are a bit smaller in size. Any thoughts on projectiles, some say solids while others use good bonded expanding bullets. 400 gr pills are the norm but is there any advantage in going heavy for caliber with a 450 gr.
Ken

 

[TOBY458]

You are looking exactly where I was looking when I had an R8. 416 Ruger or even 416 Rem Mag would be great in the semiweight profile. Not sure you'd need fluting though. You could have them give you the estimated weight for fluted and non fluted and make your decision based on what you want your end result to be. I would say 8lbs unloaded bare rifle weight would be great. You'd be just over 9lbs with scope and ammo. (If you don't put a huge 30mm scope on it).