Big Bore Addiction Group

[ActionBob]

Used it for my RSM last summer. If you go to that link, and hit the back button, you can go to different charts for any Ruger. Used Ruger #1 chart in the past to look up my 1H in .416 Rigby.
You Are Welcome!

Did that and it comes up as a number used in 77 Mark II's in 1990. But if you read more about Ruger, they don't really have an orderly serial number system so I may call them if I get time.. There was a number listed on the link you provided.

Thanks again!
Bob

 

[sierraone]

@IdaRam I got her all stripped down naked and it actually looks pretty good for gun that I suspect is 25 years old.

The screws were not really tight. That is something I always check on my new guns and I doubt these were ever checked. To me it does not look like it was fired much. A few oil and grime stains in the wood on a couple edges, I doubt it was ever taken down before. Still had burs on the wood from original cutting. There was several little gobs of gunk that look like accumulated oil or grease with accumulated dust mixed in. The bore looks great to me once I got the dust out. I brushed and swabbed it several times but it was not as dirty as my guns get from one good practice session. The bolt looks new and the bolt face in particular shows no wear or use. I'm sure the gun was used because of the dings in the wood...

The gun was cleaner inside than my 416 Rem Mag was after I got back from Zimbabwe.

Those little cracks seem very shallow and I cannot see them inside.

@Bullthrower338 gave me some advice on gluing them but I don't have the tool right now.. So may just leave it apart and look into that farther.

I ordered some ammo, 4 boxes for general practice and 4 for hunting and final sight in... 2 each of barns solids and TSX. That cost almost as much as the gun! In fact I wanted 6 boxes of the practice stuff but they must not have had it as the site would not let me order that many? That would have put me way over the cost of the gun!

I understand about ammo cost for a Rigby. I don't reload and the cheapest I have ever found on line is about $82-84 a box for Hornady. And it's fairly hard to find at that price. If I ever hunt buffalo, I will buy a couple boxes of the "good stuff".
Bob

 

[IdaRam]

Bob,
It sounds like you really scored on this one! Great find! I bet she's going to be a shooter.
I have really fallen in love with my RSM in .375 H&H. Accuracy is outstanding and I think Ruger did a very good job on stock geometry. I've had no problem shooting a bunch of rounds off the bench while developing hand loads. Of course the weight doesn't hurt either She is a tad husky for a .375. No complaints! I think I'm going to be glad of the weight with the Rigby.
Great news that those cracks are not all the way through. Fixing them shouldn't be much of a problem. It may be very tempting to shoot it before repairing them, but I would advise caution. It would be a shame to make them worse when it sounds like a minor issue at this point. Also, I wonder a little bit about improper wood to metal fit where the cracks are? The stock may have swelled a bit or it may be that a previous owner just didn't realize the need to regularly check screw tightness on his heavy kicker.
I feel your pain on the ammo! I guess a hand loading set up just went from a luxury to a necessity! You can use that line with the wife if ya need to
My Rigby just shipped Friday and I can't wait to wrap my sweaty paws around it! Kinda cool we both bought Rigby RSM's on almost the exact same day I'm looking forward swapping stories with you. This will be my largest Big Bore so far, although I did have a .416 Rem Mag for a while.
I will be looking forward to hearing how things go at the range. New guns just make life so much better Bank account... Well, not so much

 

[AFRICADEE]

Herewith a photo of what is in my gunsafe. The latest addition is my CZ 416 Rigby which I bought new, and had the chance to shoot for the first time this weekend. What a nice rifle....I handloaded 300gr Peregrine VRG5's in New Norma cases, 88gr Somchem S365, just off the rifling and got at 100m 3 shot groupings , less than a 3/4 inch. Shot about 30 shots, 10 of the sticks and the rest from my ledsled. Gentle pushback, nothing more than my 12 bore. I dit however before I collected , fitted a Mercury recoild device, Pachmayer Pad and also had the stock stripped of the varnish to give it an oil finish- work in progress. First hunt outing for the 416 is to Namibia for Eland! The other 2, is my trusty 30-06 Remmington and my Sabatti 12 gauge, 28 inch.

 

[ActionBob]

After stripping down my RSM and gluing the little cracks, I am pretty confident it should be ok. I am impressed by the fit and finish and machining of this gun... Way better than the new ones. There really were nor tight screws so I think that might be what caused the small cracks behind the tang. I did scrape out a very small amount of wood there to relieve it a bit, had to clean up the glue anyway.

Got the gun all cleaned up and put back together. I think there was more dust mixed with oil than anything. The first swab through the barrel was dusty and then it cleaned up quickly. The bore is like new and the rails and bolt face look like new as well.

AND my ammo order showed up from Cheaper than Dirt! But so did a bit of a snow storm so did not get out to shoot it yet. I can hardly wait!

 

[sierraone]

After stripping down my RSM and gluing the little cracks, I am pretty confident it should be ok. I am impressed by the fit and finish and machining of this gun... Way better than the new ones. There really were nor tight screws so I think that might be what caused the small cracks behind the tang. I did scrape out a very small amount of wood there to relieve it a bit, had to clean up the glue anyway.

Got the gun all cleaned up and put back together. I think there was more dust mixed with oil than anything. The first swab through the barrel was dusty and then it cleaned up quickly. The bore is like new and the rails and bolt face look like new as well.

AND my ammo order showed up from Cheaper than Dirt! But so did a bit of a snow storm so did not get out to shoot it yet. I can hardly wait!

No snow in Pensacola, but it is suppose to be in the 20s at night this weekend. It was 76 yesterday!

 

[matt85]

my midway ordered showed up today with a fresh batch of Speer .416" 350gr SP bullets for plinking loads and some Barnes .585" 750gr TSX and Banded Solids. here are some pictures comparing the 750gr .585" Barnes to the 400gr .416" Barnes.




there is something about the Barnes 750gr .585 banded solid that just screams "monster!". these bullets are so huge that im pretty sure you could seriously hurt someone by just throwing one at them. its hard to imagine what they would do to a animal when moving at 2100fps!

note: im kicking myself because I forgot to order some Barnes 300gr .416" TSX.

-matt

 

[ActionBob]

What is this Matt? No frozen herring in your comparisons?

 

[matt85]

heads up on a left handed 585 Nyati: http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=468135643

Royal, this ones for you!

-matt

 

[Royal27]

heads up on a left handed 585 Nyati: http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=468135643

Royal, this ones for you!

-matt

That would rattle your teeth!!!!

If they haven't sold it in six months maybe I can get it for $1500.

 

[matt85]

bet if you offered $3500-$4000 they might consider. if i had to guess, id say it has been up for sale for a pretty long time. not many takers out there for a big bore like that.

another option would be to have Mr. Hubel build you one like hes building mine. however it would have to be a single shot falling block such as a Ruger #1 since hes (to my knowledge) not set up to make left handed guns.

-matt

 

[ActionBob]

We got hit with a bit of a snow storm, not much snow but messed up the roads enough I did not get out to shoot my "new to me" Ruger RSM 416 Rigby yet... But got the ammo and fed some through.... Wow I am quickly understanding what the big deal is about these guns!

@matt85 this thing passes all your feeding tests with flying colors! I don't understand why CZ and MRC cannot build a magazine, follower and feed rails like this gun has... I really cannot see how it would cost much more to do it right.

 

[sierraone]

Bob, as you are learning, RSMs in general are gems. I am sure there are a few bad ones somewhere. Since you haven't taken yours to the range as yet, here are some thoughts. On mine the front blade bead is too small for me to easily engage on even a fifty yard target, this is do to my vision going down with age. My fix for this problem is to replace the blade/bead with a blade that has a fiber optic bead from New England Custom Gun. The cost is $26.00 and does not require a smith to change. When we were at DSC, Champlin had many used big bore bolt rifles with fiber optic front sights. After sighting down the barrels on several of the rifles there, I told myself I found my fix.. Just keep this in mine if you if the factory bead is too small for your preference!

 

[IdaRam]

You are spot on sierraone. All of my RSM's are going to get the very sight you mentioned. The factory front bead is just too fine. So far the only thing I've found that's not darn near perfect

 

[matt85]

@matt85 this thing passes all your feeding tests with flying colors! I don't understand why CZ and MRC cannot build a magazine, follower and feed rails like this gun has... I really cannot see how it would cost much more to do it right.

its a matter of quallity control. many of the big name companies and even smaller companies like MRC skimp on QC in order to increase profits without raising prices.

i actually asked Ruger about the old RSM rifles at the SCI show and if they would ever again offer them in these cartridges. the answer was very vague but sounded sorta like a "no". after that they tried to push the 416 Ruger on me... not interested.

-matt

 

[sierraone]

You are spot on sierraone. All of my RSM's are going to get the very sight you mentioned. The factory front bead is just too fine. So far the only thing I've found that's not darn near perfect

I need to get glasses, just too damn stubborn. I believe these fiber optic sights might let me postpone glasses a little longer. I have a Ruger 1H in .416 Rigby also, same front sight. I will eventually put a fiber optic bead on it also.

 

[ActionBob]

its a matter of quallity control. many of the big name companies and even smaller companies like MRC skimp on QC in order to increase profits without raising prices.

i actually asked Ruger about the old RSM rifles at the SCI show and if they would ever again offer them in these cartridges. the answer was very vague but sounded sorta like a "no". after that they tried to push the 416 Ruger on me... not interested.

-matt

Yea Matt it sucks that there even needs to be quality control.. how about pride of workmanship? A local gun shop has two CZ's, one in 30-06 and one in 270... One the follower passes your tests, the other the damned thing hits and binds on the sides and sticks half way down.... That gun is just a piece of crap! The one next to it is fine. I'm pretty sure the only real difference between the two should be the size of the hole down the barrel.

I talked to a Ruger guy at DSC... Told him I was impressed by their innovation.... And as he was smiling and opening his mouth, I then told him how impressed I was with their customer service! The smile got bigger and again I cut him off (a personality fault of mine) as he wanted to talk ... Told him it is too bad they have to have such good service to fix the crap they send out! (smile seemed to melt and his shoulders sagged a bit) I strongly suggested they figure out to do a better job of machining and watch quality control better.... Really got no decent response or even excuses. I told him I thought they really had some great things going if they could offer better products... Even suggested I would happily pay more for a premium product, like Winchesters Ultra's.

 

[matt85]

most big name companies these days are just riding the name their forefathers worked hard to create. companies like Remington, Winchester, Savage, Ceska zbrojovka (CZ), and Ruger among many others at one point or another produced top of the line firearms at reasonable prices. then at some point along the line started cutting corners to increase profits. now they all product average at best quality firearms and expect you to either send it back for repair or simply deal with the issues.

-matt

 

[WInMod70]

Guess I should introduce myself instead of lurking in the shadows. My big bore addiction was started and fueled by my grandfather. Shooting his Winchester model 70 in 458 began a walk down a long and dark path of addiction to recoil. After shooting his I was forced to wait many years but have since added a Winchester Model 70 416 to my own personal collection. After shooting it for the last three years I have now been thinking it needs a friend such as a 458 Lott to keep it company....

 

[IdaRam]

OUCH! I have a mental image of a deflated balloon with a big R on it.
Matt and Bob, I couldn't agree more. Quality Assurance/Quality Control is a problem at most gun companies today. But, from the point of view of a manufacturing guy, I believe the heart of the problem is in the PHILOSOPHY and CULTURE of the companies not so much QC/QA specifically.
Quality CANNOT be "inspected" in after the parts have been made. Integrated manufacturing and quality assurance practices are essential. If you're catching the out of tolerance parts after they've been made you are forcing yourself to decide between throwing them in the scrap bin or sacrificing product quality. Neither is a good or sustainable option.
The problem is a PROCESS problem, and a CULTURE problem. A process that always yields the desired result, every time, should be the only acceptable answer.
Develop the best process for a given component or operation. Document that process so that each time it is performed it is performed the same way, regardless of who's doing it. Create the quality process and the manufacturing process in tandem and make sure they work together in harmony.
The QA department is not the bad guy, but all too often they are forced into the role of being the "Quality Police". QA should be regarded as manufacturing's best friend. And they will be if the culture fosters and enables it. Too often they are just the unfortunate ones that end up detecting an error when its too late and delivering the bad news.
YOU CAN'T INSPECT IN QUALITY! It must be manufactured in.
Not intended to be a rant, but after 30 years in manufacturing I've seen very,very few companies that do this well. When done well profitability will increase. Good processes pay for the effort it took to develop them.
Once again, just my 2 bits