350 Rigby Magnum

[Rhodes]

linecreek I'm interested in your Enfield 350 Rigby project.
Have you made any progress you can report on?

A question: did you have to do a slant box magazine or any mods to the Enfield M17 mag to work in your rifle. The reason I ask is I'm considering a 350 Rigby or a modified 9.3x74R and am looking at what has to be done with the Enfield magazine to get this to work.

 

[yumastepside]

Below is the start of the slant box and metal removal for my 9.3x74R conversion...

Roger

 

[Rhodes]

Good stuff yumastepside.

Can you post a pic with a full length 9.3x74R cartridge sitting in the action to campare to those above?

 

[bruce moulds]

a friend had a rigby takedown 400/350 mauser.
this rimmed case is the progenitor of the rigby 350s, and some say still the best with its 310 gn bullet.
the rifling was not the standard square cornered type, and it was hard to see its true form just looking up the barrel
perhaps ratchet rifling, or metford segmental.
the 9.3 x 74 slant magazine is similar to the rigby one.
not sure if the aust bonded core bullet maker makes a bullet for this one.
bruce.

 

[bruce moulds]

just looked at woodleigh site, and they do make a 310 gn soft and solid.
bruce.

 

[yumastepside]

Rhodes, I'll send you a PM so as not to hijack this thread....

Roger

 

[yumastepside]

Sorry Bruce, somehow I missed your post......below is the 9.3x74R in the modified P14 action.....I have since taken about another 5mm out of the action towards the trigger after fitting the Timney trigger...the cartridge is 3.775 inches or 95.9mm COAL.....

Roger

 

[bruce moulds]

very interesting,
bruce.

 

[Scrumbag]

Porker, Philip Massaro (Writer and reloader) is quite into the 350 Rigby. Think he's taking one to Africa soon.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

GS Customs 200gr HV it is a speeder 3213fps out of the muzzle I took a whitetail deer at 427 yards with it this year.
I love these bullets started using them in my sons 22-250 for deer 40gr at 4175fps he has taken 6 deer with them from 60-225 yards have never found a bullet yet all have exited.

View attachment 211661

Shawn54
Where do you get those 200 grainers. Is that the speed out of the Whelen if so what load are you using.
PM me if you like
Cheers
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Thanks Shawn, my thinking is along the lines of a more traditional action, Winchester or k98, even Montana which comes in left hand is ideal. The 350 just doesn’t seem right in a 700!

My thoughts originally is also to stick with a traditional load.. not needing to hot rod this one since my 338WM can do all that. This project is more for a brush gun ... samber deer in the thick stuff under 100m. Standard action will be less hefty than a magnum action. I’m not a fan of light rifles in general... even less a fan in medium bores but also don’t see the need for a magnum action in this package.

This is good news, I’m fairly excited about the prospects now. You mentioned the model 700 and I’m assuming it’s because Remington makes a 35 Whelen in their product line. I’m thinking there might be a used custom Whelen turning up at some stage in the future.

@Porker
Why is it that as soon as you mention 35 caliber people think of a fine and dandy bush gun.
The 35 Whelen loaded with 225gn accubonds at 2,900fps makes a fine and dandy 400 yard hunting rifle.
The 350 Rigby is equally as good.

 

[xausa]

I own both a .35 Rigby Magnum and a .358 Norma Magnum. The Rigby has less than four grains more of water in case capacity ((91.25-87.57), but is a good deal larger. .358 Norma brass can be formed out of 7mm Remington Magnum brass with one pass through a die and the cartridge is designed to fit in a standard length action. Mine started life as a 7mm Reminigton Magnum, which I had rebored and rechambered. It feeds flawlessly.

My .35 Rigby is built on an original Rigby slant box action, about as rare as the proverbial hen's teeth. If I hadn't lucked in to the action, I wouldn't have built it.

 

[xausa]

I own both a .35 Rigby Magnum and a .358 Norma Magnum. The Rigby has less than four grains more of water in case capacity ((91.25-87.57), but is a good deal larger. .358 Norma brass can be formed out of 7mm Remington Magnum brass with one pass through a die and the cartridge is designed to fit in a standard length action. Mine started life as a 7mm Reminigton Magnum, which I had rebored and rechambered. It feeds flawlessly.

My .35 Rigby is built on an original Rigby slant box action, about as rare as the proverbial hen's teeth. If I hadn't lucked into the action, I wouldn't have built it.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I own both a .35 Rigby Magnum and a .358 Norma Magnum. The Rigby has less than four grains more of water in case capacity ((91.25-87.57), but is a good deal larger. .358 Norma brass can be formed out of 7mm Remington Magnum brass with one pass through a die and the cartridge is designed to fit in a standard length action. Mine started life as a 7mm Reminigton Magnum, which I had rebored and rechambered. It feeds flawlessly.

My .35 Rigby is built on an original Rigby slant box action, about as rare as the proverbial hen's teeth. If I hadn't lucked in to the action, I wouldn't have built it.
View attachment 435049

@xausa
How do the two compare loading wise and power wise.
Would be very interesting to see how the 350 Rigby would go if loaded properly.
Bob

 

[xausa]

@xausa
How do the two compare loading wise and power wise.
Would be very interesting to see how the 350 Rigby would go if loaded properly.
Bob

Bob, these days my loading is pretty much limited to what I need for local deer hunting. I have no doubt that the .35 Rigby could be improved with modern powders and projectiles, but I am not the man to carry out such experiments. It is axiomatic that a cartridge developed in the cordite era has much more case capacity than is needed to duplicate its performance with modern components.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Bob, these days my loading is pretty much limited to what I need for local deer hunting. I have no doubt that the .35 Rigby could be improved with modern powders and projectiles, but I am not the man to carry out such experiments. It is axiomatic that a cartridge developed in the cordite era has much more case capacity than is needed to duplicate its performance with modern components.

@xausa
You've got love it when you can do the same with less.