Hank, it just dawned on me.
Since you are of like stature, perhaps you can share the LOP on your Rigby??
LOP on the Rigby is 14 3/8".
I find whenever discussions of recoil start, about any caliber, that some say it's too much, while others say no, it's manageable. It's difficult to have a discussion about recoil, as with many things, without making sure we're talking about the same thing. So at the risk of getting us (way) off track with your issue Wayne, here goes.
The "manageability" of the
felt recoil generated by any rifle depends on a number of factors,
including, but not limited to:
First, and this is important, is both the weight of the gun, and the balance of the gun. A well designed stock, fit apart, will go some way to mitigating felt recoil.
Second, is the fit of the gun to the shooter. A poorly fitting gun will almost always punish you more than a well fitting one. Off the shelf guns tend to fit the 'average' shooter. The more you differ from the average, the more poorly the gun will fit you.
Third, is the weight of the bullet. Light for caliber bullets will have lower recoil, I'm told, that heavier bullets. Something about physics.
Fourth is the shooting position. Shooting a .416 Rigby from a bench is not the same as shooting it standing up. Equally, shooting it prone is different from shooting off of sticks. I would be surprised if anyone - and I do mean
anyone - thought it was fun to put a half dozen rounds through a .416 from a bench. My .300 Win Mag hits me pretty hard from a bench. The .416 is enough to do some damage to your shoulder, if not your face.
Fifth, we need to look at the shooter. Some of us are smaller than others, some are larger, and we have different builds. A runt will have less body mass with which to absorb the recoil.
There is another website with tried to offer an objective measurement of recoil. They devised a 'recoil factor' for various (dozens of) calibers. The recoil factor is the recoil velocity multiplied by the recoil force for various bullet weights. I have no idea if that's a meaningful way to calculate anything, but I don't really think that's relevant, since this is a relative measure across calibers rather than an absolute measure.
A recoil factor below 100 they suggest could be handled by anyone, while a recoil factor over 1000 was described as "very painful." 400 - 700 is described as "heavy." So here goes, with thanks to them for this:
Caliber and recoil factor
25-06: 146
30-06 246
.375 H&H 628
.416 Rigby 1187
As you can see, using this measurement, which, again, is relative, so should work for our purposes, the .416 is considered "very painful." My Rigby fits me well, is well designed, well balanced, and reasonably heavy. I would think all of those are to be expected, since Rigby made it. The recoil is therefore mitigated to some extent. I can assure you I have never felt the recoil when shooting at a buffalo, even when I've had to put multiple shots into it. Equally, I can tell you that I have never really enjoyed shooting more than a couple of rounds off a bench, and in fact, I try not to - I have a fear of developing a flinch! (As an aside, it also appears as if the .416 is quite a step up from the .375 (which is my experience)).
I have also shared Wayne's experience - most people who see me shoot it at the range are interested, but very few want to take a shot, once they've seen the recoil in action on someone else. Even fewer want to take a second shot.
