.416 Rigby, Remington mag, or Weatherby Mag

[s281c]

So, I decided I have to have a new big bore rifle.

I'm leaning toward one of the .416's anyone have any experience with these?

[HEUER]

No experience with the 416's, but have shot 458 WIN MAG. I can tell you that it shoots flatter than .458. I don't think you can go wrong with the rifles you have mentioned. Remington has some nice African Big Game rifles from there custom shop, and the model 70 safari grade is an outstanding classic. CDNN investments sometimes sells weatherby accumark seconds pretty inexpensively, but calibers vary.

[crank]

I was lucky enough to burn up a couple of rounds out of a .416 Rem about 13-14 years ago or so it seems. I will get your attention from the bench but in a standing position if you have enough meat on you it won't push you around too bad. The rifle was accurate within reason when I shot it from the bench (PAST recoil pad on) but we were dialing it in for the guy so he was ready for elk season. From the offhand it also performed well. A friend of mine put one together on a T/C TCR and though I never shot it, he loved it but he also is 6'5" and a solid 280-300lbs so that is not a fair comparison for most. The .416 has better penetration typically but does not offer as many bullet options as .458 bore. If dangerous game in Africa is your game be aware that .458 is a lot easier to obtain than others. This can be a big plus if your ammo goes AWOL. If you are limiting yourself to North America the choice is not so critical for availability. I own a Browning Safari in .375H&H which may turn out to be a lot of fun once I get it back together and shoot it but it is not as serious as what you want for caliber. There are a lot of good reasons to get a .416 in whatever version, as they are all going to be spendy but all are quality. I don't recall where I saw it but I did see a very funny quote "one nice thing about a .416 is that you don't shoot a lot of ammo". I someday hope for building a .408 Chey-tac but it will be a big mother with a lot of weight and a BIG muzzle brake. The key will be is this a hunting rifle and do you handload. If your answer is yes to both then you will have a lot of fun cobbling up loads for anything that you can lay your sights on. If not then you may want to consider something less exclusive if you only plan to test the limits of your backstop or to one-up your buddies.
Mark