416 Taylor Info and Advice

[Rez Exelon]

So I'm going to post up a sort of excitement thread, because, well, I figure this is the forum where it needs to be. I just happened to win a 416 Taylor at auction, at what I think is a stupid reasonable price, and I'm kind of stoked about it.

However, I will say that I pretty well know nothing about 416 Taylor except what I've done for basic research. So if anyone cares to share anything for my journey into the caliber I'll be appreciative. The setup I'll be starting with is a CZ VZ24 rifle chambered to 416 Taylor. Alongside the rifle I won auctions for some 416 Rem Mag brass which I understand I can resize to Taylor. Additionally I picked up about 150 410gr Woodleigh bonded bullets. I did also pickup a set of 416 Rem Mag dies, but I'll have to acquire a set of Taylor dies.

Depending if I have to drive to pick it up or if I can have it shipped I hope to have it in my hands this week and see how true the pictures are to life.

 

[Spooksar]

When I first got my Taylor bought CH dies and just necked down 458 Win brass worked well, I’ve since Quility Cartridge Brass with the proper head stampl

 

[Rez Exelon]

Do they do runs of that on occasion? I started looking around and proper stamped brass appeared to be a on a different plane of existence from the one we occupy currently. At least in the search when I checked Starline I noticed they had 375 Win brass which is somewhat of a rarity as well.

 

[Spooksar]

Do they do runs of that on occasion? I started looking around and proper stamped brass appeared to be a on a different plane of existence from the one we occupy currently. At least in the search when I checked Starline I noticed they had 375 Win brass which is somewhat of a rarity as well.

They do runs every once in a while. Took me a couple of years to find some

 

[Rez Exelon]

Well, looking into this more I may have done made a boo boo on the 416 Rem brass. I apparently should have bought the 458. Dang it.

At least I know of someone selling a No 1 in 416 Rem mag soon, so maybe I have an excuse for it.

 

[PerH]

.338 win is formed to to Taylor also and similar sized ones too .

 

[CoElkHunter]

One of the sponsors here @RAVEN ROCKS PRECISION has Norma .416 Taylor brass available. I too run .458WM brass through my Redding Taylor dies to form the Taylor case. Very simple to do.

 

[Rez Exelon]

It's sounding like I need to acquire some 458 to start. This might be a weird me thing, but generally when I've run into situations like this where the right headstamp is hard to find (or expensive) I'll go the route of getting the more available general brass and convert/use that for load development, then transfer it into the proper headstamped cases (knowing that some tweaking might be required).

 

[CoElkHunter]

It's sounding like I need to acquire some 458 to start. This might be a weird me thing, but generally when I've run into situations like this where the right headstamp is hard to find (or expensive) I'll go the route of getting the more available general brass and convert/use that for load development, then transfer it into the proper headstamped cases (knowing that some tweaking might be required).

The headstamped Taylor brass WILL be expensive wherever you find it, so using less expensive WM brass for load development/practice is a good choice and is what I do.

 

[Boyd Brooks]

My 416 Taylor loves a load of 70grs of RL15 pushing a 400gr projectile. I use 458WM brass necked down and have no problems. I did buy proper head stamped brass from Norma and Quality Cartridge over the years, hard to find but it’s out there. My dies are also made by Redding and work great. My avatar picture is my 416 Taylor. Definitely my favourite rifle in the box.

 

[CoElkHunter]

My 416 Taylor loves a load of 70grs of RL15 pushing a 400gr projectile. I use 458WM brass necked down and have no problems. I did buy proper head stamped brass from Norma and Quality Cartridge over the years, hard to find but it’s out there. My dies are also made by Redding and work great. My avatar picture is my 416 Taylor. Definitely my favourite rifle in the box.

I use the same load of RL15 for mine. However, that powder is becoming more unobtanium and priced like it's gold dust when it is available, so I'll be looking for something else when I run out of it.

 

[Rez Exelon]

I'm still figuring out when I'll pick this baby up, but this is at least the preview pic I got from the auction:

I am not good at the waiting bit. To go pick it up would be a 5 hour round trip today or tomorrow while I've got work and dentist appointments. So I may have to pay for the shipping and wait two weeks.

 

[CoElkHunter]

I'm still figuring out when I'll pick this baby up, but this is at least the preview pic I got from the auction:

View attachment 586827

I am not good at the waiting bit. To go pick it up would be a 5 hour round trip today or tomorrow while I've got work and dentist appointments. So I may have to pay for the shipping and wait two weeks.

Nice!

 

[Rez Exelon]

I use the same load of RL15 for mine. However, that powder is becoming more unobtanium and priced like it's gold dust when it is available, so I'll be looking for something else when I run out of it.

Interestingly I have a pound and a half of RL15 with nothing I really use it for. I've also got an 8 pound jug of Accurate 8700 that I don't have anything to do with. That's be super awesome if it'd work for this. IIRC it can be used for 264 Win/ 7mm Rem mag and some others, so maybe I hit the books and see if there's info on it.

 

[Boyd Brooks]

I use the same load of RL15 for mine. However, that powder is becoming more unobtanium and priced like it's gold dust in the can when it is available, so I'll be looking for something else when I run out of it.

Yes, I haven’t seen any for sale in Ontario, Canada for a long time. I haven’t looked lately, and I’m in AZ for the winter, but my Woodleigh reloading manual has a large section on the 416Taylor. Will have to research available powers, and cross check the book, and start load development again. Sometimes you just have to make your own fun!

 

[mdwest]

the cheapest way to obtain properly head stamped 416 Taylor brass is to wait for Norma to do their annual big bore ammo sale.. you can usually get a 10 round box of solids for about $50... I buy a couple of boxes each year... use it for range fodder.. and you have once fired properly head stamped brass..

Most of my 416 Taylor brass is just necked down 458 Win Mag brass that I had a guy at a range in Virginia source for me.. I think I picked up 200 pieces for right at $100 from him.. That plus the 40 Norma brass has me pretty much set up with my Taylor for life..

My particular rifle really likes 400gr TSX projectiles over a healthy dose of IMR 4064.. Im easily getting 416 Rigby performance out of it.. with no pressure problems at all..

Im just using Lee Pacesetter dies to load for my Taylor.. I think I paid $38 for them new gunbroker several years ago... theyre not super easy to find now.. but you can still find RCBS, Lee, and Redding 416 Taylor dies if you look..

I think you'll really enjoy your new rifle..

I didnt really intend on owning a 416 Taylor.. I had a mauser action laying around.. and by chance came across a 416 Taylor barrel brand new for super cheap.. so I just went with it.. and started a build.. thinking if I didnt like it, I'd just sell it off and use the money to build something else later..

Its probably been 5 or 6 years at this point.. and Im still shooting the taylor... and Im still loving it.. it will definitely go on my next buffalo hunt with me..

 

[Rez Exelon]

Yeah, I just fell into this one. My part of the country I can usually find good deals on big bore stuff. That's why I have three 375 H&H's at the moment...They all kind of fell into my lap on good deals. Fortunately, around the time I got the first one, a reloading setup fell into my lap too, otherwise I don't know that I'd have shot any of them.

I like the pro tip on the Norma sale --- that also sounds like a great way to get factory round to check loading/performance data against. I'll also start looking at auctions and estate sales for ammo. I've found lots of ridiculous stuff that way before too. (I say thinking about the pile of projects that have not received the love and attention they need.)

 

[RAVEN ROCKS PRECISION]

I wouldn’t count on a Norma big bore ammo sale this year.

We have plenty of 416 Taylor brass (as well as 458 Win)

416 Taylor Brass

Norma 416 Taylor Brass

ravenrocksprecision.com

As low as $2.60 each for the Taylor.

 

[CoElkHunter]

the cheapest way to obtain properly head stamped 416 Taylor brass is to wait for Norma to do their annual big bore ammo sale.. you can usually get a 10 round box of solids for about $50... I buy a couple of boxes each year... use it for range fodder.. and you have once fired properly head stamped brass..

Most of my 416 Taylor brass is just necked down 458 Win Mag brass that I had a guy at a range in Virginia source for me.. I think I picked up 200 pieces for right at $100 from him.. That plus the 40 Norma brass has me pretty much set up with my Taylor for life..

My particular rifle really likes 400gr TSX projectiles over a healthy dose of IMR 4064.. Im easily getting 416 Rigby performance out of it.. with no pressure problems at all..

Im just using Lee Pacesetter dies to load for my Taylor.. I think I paid $38 for them new gunbroker several years ago... theyre not super easy to find now.. but you can still find RCBS, Lee, and Redding 416 Taylor dies if you look..

I think you'll really enjoy your new rifle..

I didnt really intend on owning a 416 Taylor.. I had a mauser action laying around.. and by chance came across a 416 Taylor barrel brand new for super cheap.. so I just went with it.. and started a build.. thinking if I didnt like it, I'd just sell it off and use the money to build something else later..

Its probably been 5 or 6 years at this point.. and Im still shooting the taylor... and Im still loving it.. it will definitely go on my next buffalo hunt with me..

I'll have to try IMR 4064.

 

[Rez Exelon]

So thinking about something --- and this may be a really dumb question. But if the 416 Taylor is based off the 458 Win Mag, and 458 Lott sets can shoot 458 Win Mag... does that mean it might be possible to convert a Taylor rifle to a Lott?

I've never really looked into these conversions and I suppose there's probably more to it than just reaming a chamber out on a barrel. But this came up in my mind because I have something like 60 rounds of 458 Lott without a rifle to shoot it in.

By the same token, I assume that it might be easier/safer to just try and locate a 458 Lott barrel for this VZ24 if I ever really wanted to go that route.