.450/400 3" vs everything else

[Puddle]

450/400 NE is a great cartridge but a 500/416NE makes a lot more sense....it however seems that history and nostalgy still rules....
500/416 NE is the perfect double for a visiting hunter or an experienced African one....it has the perfect ballistics for all African game....

Gotta admit when I do a search on ammoseek I get 25 - 30 hits on factory ammo availability...

All up what does a Krieghoff chambered in that cartridge weigh?

 

[Daniel Cary]

Gotta admit when I do a search on ammoseek I get 25 - 30 hits on factory ammo availability...

All up what does a Krieghoff chambered in that cartridge weigh?

Krieghoff Classic 450/400 N.E. 3" - Martini Gunmakers Canada

Krieghoff Classic 450/400 N.E. 3″ 23 5/8″ barrels The gun is set up for Recknagel pivot scope mounts and it comes with a Doctor red dot sight. LOP 15″ Weight 11 lbs 5 oz The gun is in excellent condition and comes in an original take down soft case. RCBS reloading dies, ammo, brass and […]

martinigunmakers.com

here ya go .. I'm gumming up the thread!

 

[Red Leg]

(416) is sort of the standard, ?

I am not sure what you are trying to ask. Either caliber would be a good choice.

When comparing the two, the 500/.416 offers a bit more frontal area (.416" v. .411") and a meaningful increase in velocity (roughly 200 fps). While a subjective observation, my 500-416 in a Blaser S2 offers noticeably less recoil than a .470 Birmingham boxlock stablemate.

And if looking at either in a Krieghoff set up for a scope, it would be no contest. The 500-416 would win hands down.

 

[IvW]

Does not need to be a K gun. No idea but I would imagine 10 1/2 pounds or so would be ideal.
410gr bullet with a SD of .338 at over 2300fps in a double rifle that you could easily scope with qd mounts......ideal and a contendor for the best thing since sliced bread...

 

[Daniel Cary]

I am not sure what you are trying to ask. Either caliber would be a good choice.

When comparing the two, the 500/.416 offers a bit more frontal area (.416" v. .411") and a meaningful increase in velocity (roughly 200 fps). While a subjective observation, my 500-416 in a Blaser S2 offers noticeably less recoil than a .470 Birmingham boxlock stablemate.

And if looking at either in a Krieghoff set up for a scope, it would be no contest. The 500-416 would win hands down.

Glad to hear Joe, simply looking @ a DSB 416 Rigby.

 

[crs]

To further clarify things, if my .405s are not big enough, I also have two .458s, a DR and an 1886 repeater that has taken ele, buff, leopard, bison, etc. Both have 26 inch barrels and are fun to shoot.

 

[Puddle]

Does not need to be a K gun. No idea but I would imagine 10 1/2 pounds or so would be ideal.
410gr bullet with a SD of .338 at over 2300fps in a double rifle that you could easily scope with qd mounts......ideal and a contendor for the best thing since sliced bread...

Your weight guess is just about spot on.

I pinged Kreighoff with the question and the nice fellow pulled one of their Classic "Big Five" in 500/.416 from their inventory and weighed it for me!

10.3 lbs. I'd say just about perfect.

 

[AZDAVE]

I shoot both the 450/400 and the 500/416. Both are great calibers. I shot my roan and hippo in 2018 with my 450/400 and plan on a DG hunt next year in Namibia with the 500/416. You won't go wrong with either.

if you get the 500/416 the one thing I found is that the Hornaday factory DGS shot to good regulation with the 400gr right at 2300FPS. The softs in the lot I got with the rifle shot for crap and were going in excess of 2475fps. I have developed a solid VERY tight 4 shot group of 400gr Aframes and 400gr CEB solids that hit the same POI. I will share my load data to give you a baseline to start from.

 

[Tokoloshe Safaris]

.450-.400 is a wonderful caliber. I used one for many years. My wife is a PH and will continue to use hers for back up and will continue using hers until she finds a .470.
She has taken all of the DG (the except leopard) a few times over without a problem.

 

[Longfeather1]

When I bought my K-gun 15 years ago I too wanted a 500/416. Problem at that time was that Wolfgang Romney in Germany was the only one loading for it at the time, and at close to $200 for a box of ten any amount of shooting was going to be costly. With the cost of the K-gun already at the extreme top of the budget already, that cost for ammo quickly put damper on my enthusiasm for it. Finding reloading dies, etc. was also problematic. Enter Hornady. Talking directly with Steve Hornady at the SCI show, I found out Hornady was really committed to to loading and providing cases bullets dies, etc. for the older Nitro Express rounds with the 450/400 3 inch being second only to the 470 sales wise.

Long story short, I bought the K-gun in 450/400 instead and have not had any regrets. I've taken a couple cape buffalo with it since then. Never any issues. It's fairly easy to load for, brass and bullets readily available. I actually load quite a few round with 300 grain bullets for practice, etc. In talking with several African PHs the see no problem with using it for Elephant.

In my somewhat limited experience you wouldn't do wrong with one.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

When selecting a double rifle, it depends on what your most important objective is. If you want a double rifle for which ammunition will be the easiest to source, your best choice would be the .470 Nitro Express. Hands down, the most popular double rifle caliber today.

If you want a really versatile double rifle which is also relatively comfortable in terms of recoil, then a .450/400 Nitro Express WAS the way to go. Today, a .500/416 Nitro Express (with it’s 2335 fps velocity) surpasses it by a fair margin.

If you plan on hunting a lot of elephant, then the .500 Nitro Express is definitely a must have. Also .510 caliber bullets are not very difficult to source.

The .577 Nitro Express and .600 Nitro Express have their charisma too, but I wouldn’t recommend them for most people (although if I personally ever get to own a double rifle, I’d really like it to be a .600 Nitro Express Constantine model sidelock ejector by Marcel Thys).

 

[Puddle]

Mere mortal here. 450/400 NE is about my sweet spot. Perhaps the 500/416 NE with an embedded recoil reducer would be just dandy as well. Sourcing ammo and reloading components is important to me.

BTW, just got a reply back from Chapuis (actually Benelli). Seems the models available in the U.S. aren't offered in 9.3x74R or 375 Flanged.

 

[Puddle]

I guess this gets filed under Sad News Department.

I've been chatting recently with Chapuis about all things 450/400 NE. Today they pinged me to say their supply of 450/400 NE ammunition for regulation has become so uncertain they've stopped taking orders for that cartridge until further notice.

 

[Safari Dave]

Kevin will hammer me into the dirt, but I would go for a .470 N.E. or larger in a double.

I would go with a bolt-action for anything smaller.