Pros/cons of shortening a .416 Rigby?

[njc110381]

Hi guys. I've just got back to shooting my CZ550 .416 Rigby after a bit of a break (covid, lack of enthusiasm etc!) and I'm thinking it's a big old lump of a gun for someone of my stature (5'6, 14 stone). I think I need to cut an inch off of the stock and I'd like to take a bit off of the barrel too. I think it's 25.5" at the moment, but how short can I go? 20"? 22" maybe? I don't want to lose too much performance but at the end of the day it's a .416, so it's got plenty of poke to afford a bit of a loss.

Has anyone cut theirs down? How much by and what difference did it make?

 

[CoElkHunter]

Hi guys. I've just got back to shooting my CZ550 .416 Rigby after a bit of a break (covid, lack of enthusiasm etc!) and I'm thinking it's a big old lump of a gun for someone of my stature (5'6, 14 stone). I think I need to cut an inch off of the stock and I'd like to take a bit off of the barrel too. I think it's 25.5" at the moment, but how short can I go? 20"? 22" maybe? I don't want to lose too much performance but at the end of the day it's a .416, so it's got plenty of poke to afford a bit of a loss.

Has anyone cut theirs down? How much by and what difference did it make?

“14 stone”?. Is that the same/more than 14 “rock”? Good question about possibly cutting down your Rigby though.

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

I had my CZ 458 Lott done. Stock cut to fit me, recoil reducer installed, action smoothed, barrel cut to 22 inches and AHR trigger and safety installed. All the work was done by AHR before Wayne stopped doing them. Made for a sweet shooting and handling rifle.

 

[Luvthunt]

I cut the barrel on my 416 Rigby to 22” and have no problem reaching 2400 fps with 400 gr bullets. Can’t help with the stock as I lengthened mine.

 

[Desperatezulu]

I have the same rifle - barrel is around 25.1" (640mm to be precise)

I ran my standard load through an internal ballistics simulator with shorter barrels to see what came out.
My standard load/setup runs at 2350f/s with a 400gr A-Frame.
22" barrel with same load suggests 2270f/s
20" barrel comes out at 2210 f/s

2210f/s is probably adequate for 99% of applications. If it were me, I would tweak the load (firstly using a different powder to my current standard) and bump the velocities back up. I'm pretty sure I could get back to 2350-2400 without too much hassle - other than the recoil.

A couple of considerations:
- the balance of the rifle. The CZ's are pretty chunky in the stock and if you've added more weight in the stock in the form of a mercury recoil reducer, then the balance of your rifle will start being affected the more you lop off the front. I doubt it will be noticeable at 22-23" but I suspect at 20" it will become muzzle-light. Which is going to make the perceived recoil worse because of muzzle flip.
- The powder combo I use doesn't fully combust in my standard set-up and I see this only gets worse with a shorter barrel. This will partly add to the declining velocity but will also make for a bigger muzzle flash. Maybe this matters to you and maybe not. If you use a load that fully combusts prior to the bullet exiting the muzzle then not an issue. And you may get less velocity reduction in that case too.

 

[Nhoro]

I have a CZ 550 458 Lott. I am 5 ft 8". I trimmed the stock about 15 mm in total and found that shooting became more comfortable (Less felt recoil). I then added 2 cases filled with lead to the stock-right at the back. This was to correct the balance. That also made a huge difference. My barrel is still 25 " standard. I found that balance is more important than length of the barrel. So balancing between the hands or just in front of the trigger guard made the rifle feel lighter and more maneuverable even though I actually ended up with a rifle almost 1/2 a pound heavier. Shorter barrel is louder.

 

[USMA84DAB]

Dr. Robertson, and Gregor Woods are both proponents of short (20"-22") barrels.

 

[uplander01]

Modern powder choices allow much shorter barrels than in the past. When you go much under 22 though rifles a get a little stubby, and loud for the guy standing next to you,..i.e.your ph

 

[DrBob]

Your still have plenty of headroom since the 416 Weatherby shows how much spare power available. With about 25 fps per inch loss of barrel length... a little extra powder is all that is needed. 2350 to 2400 is really all that is needed. The Weatherby showed that too much is too much.... recoil, muzzle blast and penetration. I found that 101 grains of Retumbo with the 450 grain Woodleigh was great.... 2250 fps with ease out of both my CZ and Ruger.