School me on .416 taylor

[Elkeater]

So I recently posted asking about the .416 Ruger vs the .416 rem mag. I’m really itching for a big bore. Now the reason I had asked about the .416 Ruger was that I have a Ruger m77 II in .300 win that really doesn’t leave the safe. It’s nice. Classic walnut and blued steel and all that. It’s really at this point just become my Africa rifle as I have other rifles for my North American hunts which tend to be rougher affairs calling for things like carbon fiber and cerakote. Anyways to say all that due to availability of brass for the .416 Ruger and such I stumbled on the .416 Taylor. I had never heard of it before but I started wondering if anyone had necked .458 win mag down to .416 and lo and behold here we are. The reason I want the .416 caliber is that I want a bit of do all rifle for Africa but I have buffalo planned eventually and while I know the .375 H&H does the job I also know that many in here have touted the .416 caliber’s as hitting buffalo with much more authority. Looking at load data a 350gr ttsx at 2400fps would make a solid plains game load for some of the bigger animals like wildebeest and Eland (which is probably top of my list on my next trip) and loaded with a 400 gr northfork at 2300 would be a solid buff round.

So I guess what’s the thought on the .416 Taylor. Yay or nay? Are the velocities real or aspirational? Just seems like .458 win brass is easy to find and even headstamped .416 Taylor is out there.

Here’s the rifle I’m thinking of rebarreling btw.

 

[Inkgardener]

I plan on converting a 300 wm over to 416 Taylor. I like it better than 416 Ruger or 416 Rem. You need to handload though. I bought dies off eBay a few months back.

 

[mdwest]

I have a 416 Taylor. I absolutely love it. I’m able to get 416 Rigby performance out of a standard Mauser action, and was able to build the rifle myself.

Now for the bad news…

While brass and bullets and powder are easy to come by, dies are very hard to find… and factory ammo options are incredibly limited..

So feeding it isn’t an easy task..

I was fortunate and able to find a set of Lee dies years ago when I built the rifle.. I bought 4x boxes (10 count) or Norma solids to get properly head stamped brass for hunting, and picked up a couple of hundred once fired pieces of 458 Win Mag brass that I resized and use for range fodder..

 

[Mekaniks]

YAY!

The Taylor is awesome and would have been the "poor man's Rigby" if Winchester didn't have have their head up their posterior in the 70's....

Instead we have the 416 rem and 416 Ruger....

When I build a 416 it will be a Taylor.....

 

[luger6]

I have taken 22 African game with mine including two Cape Buffalo. One shot kills except for one giraffe. I used 400gr A-frame and 340gr Woodies on the first trip and North Fork 370SS and 370CPS on the second trip. I am very fond of the caliber which basically does the same thing as the 416 Rigby but with less powder = less recoil. The only problem is that there is a little volume in the case so you have to think about what powder you use and also the length of the bullet.

 

[DLSJR]

I think the 416 Taylor is a really great cartridge, even though I shoot a 416 Hoffman. You can get great performance in a standard length action. One thing I’d suggest though is just stick with one bullet weight for everything. I’m a big fan of 400 grain bullets.

 

[Boyd Brooks]

Love my 416 Taylor, in a Parker Hale commercial Mauser action. It hasn’t been to Africa but it has taken a couple black bears here at home.

 

[steve white]

I have taken 22 African game with mine including two Cape Buffalo. One shot kills except for one giraffe. I used 400gr A-frame and 340gr Woodies on the first trip and North Fork 370SS and 370CPS on the second trip. I am very fond of the caliber which basically does the same thing as the 416 Rigby but with less powder = less recoil. The only problem is that there is a little volume in the case so you have to think about what powder you use and also the length of the bullet.

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Nice boss!!
The 416 Taylor has always seemed sensible to me.

 

[DieJager]

I plan on converting a 300 wm over to 416 Taylor. I like it better than 416 Ruger or 416 Rem. You need to handload though. I bought dies off eBay a few months back.

Norma sells loaded ammo for the 416 Taylor. Only solids though

 

[1:66 twiste@d]

I am converting a savage bolt 30-06 over to a 416 taylor. I just bought the magnum head bolt for it. Bought 40 brass off GB. The barrel is a prefit savage.

 

[Altitude sickness]

I’m a big fan. Mine is on a pre 64 model 70 action. 21”barrel . Perfect African setup. From the Hendershots ammo website.

 

[odonata]

Now the reason I had asked about the .416 Ruger was that I have a Ruger m77 II in .300 win that really doesn’t leave the safe. It’s nice. Classic walnut and blued steel and all that.

Here’s the rifle I’m thinking of rebarreling btw.

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I had a Ruger M77 MkII in 7mm Rem Mag that I rebarreled into a 458 Win Mag. It was a really enjoyable project to work on and putting pillars & crossbolts into it was easy to do with hand tools. It shoots great & I really like it. I think the rifle you posted a picture of would make an excellent 416 Taylor. I say go for it!

 

[Muskox]

If you are buying safari rifles or in this case building them for the just in case jumbo that escapes the circus then yes. Or maybe a one off African safari, maybe.

If you are serious about Africa and want a drama free cartridge, I would not build one. I have arrived at hunting destinations without ammo, either through my own Fudd-ness or through the Airlines.

I personally wouldn't do it.

I'd build a 416 Ruger.

If you just want a fun cartridge then do it.

 

[DocHolliday]

I had a Ruger M77 MkII in 7mm Rem Mag that I rebarreled into a 458 Win Mag. It was a really enjoyable project to work on and putting pillars & crossbolts into it was easy to do with hand tools. It shoots great & I really like it. I think the rifle you posted a picture of would make an excellent 416 Taylor. I say go for it!

Call Redding. The dies I bought 6 mos ago were on the shelf. The man I spoke with said that they tried to keep some in stock. Gave me the part # and had to order through a dealer. A little convoluted, but not bad. Got my dies in 10 days.

 

[Papa72]

I say go for the .416 Taylor, if you solve the die problem first. If you find yourself disappointed with the Taylor at some later date then you could easily ream the chamber out to .416 Ruger without changing barrels again. I did this on a short chambered Taylor I acquired last year.

 

[Elkeater]

So for anyone looking for dies, midway has Redding .416 Taylor dies in stock currently.

If you are buying safari rifles or in this case building them for the just in case jumbo that escapes the circus then yes. Or maybe a one off African safari, maybe.

If you are serious about Africa and want a drama free cartridge, I would not build one. I have arrived at hunting destinations without ammo, either through my own Fudd-ness or through the Airlines.

I personally wouldn't do it.

I'd build a 416 Ruger.

If you just want a fun cartridge then do it.

So for me I think this is more of a scratch the itch type rifle. I looked at .416 Ruger and brass availability kinda bothered me. I honestly can’t see being able to hunt dangerous game more than once maybe twice in my life. Just guessing I’ll be able to do 3-4 plains game hunts and 1-2 DG hunts. Being a single income home (not complaining, kids have it good with a stay at home mom) Africa isn’t out of our reach but isn’t something I can do every year. Mostly due to having created little safari addicts. If I went on my own my kids would disown me so safaris for us are about 4 times more expensive than if it was just me going. Dang fun though. So glad my kids have the opportunity to hunt in Africa. I only dreamed of that as a kid.

 

[Elkeater]

Well I think I’ll go down this road. Found Lee dies for decent price on amazon. So I’ll either get a new barrel or I’ll have some .416 Taylor dies in the classifieds.

Also for anyone looking there’s a few more Lee .416 Taylor dies for sale on amazon right now.

 

[Muskox]

I have 3 kids that are starting hunting, well so far 1 is this year. All girls, the other two are still not sure if they want to or not.

She wants to go on a Safari and we have a lot of points to get through on North American hunts before we do that. Probably a 2028 thing. I went to Namibia a long time ago, and I need to go back.

Living in Europe she can't hunt, so we are stuck until next fall. She is going to go with me next week for roe deer in Slovenia and then in Austria a couple weeks later.

I think in your case, I would build what i wanted.

I am not a hard core safari hunter, same as you family finances. But I do guided hunts all over Europe every year. 5 last year and 8 this year. I can tell you that the ammo problem is a pain.

Last year I got to a driven hunt and one of the guys didn't have ammo. So I gave him some of mine. Worked out, but it could just as easily not.

 

[Elkeater]

@Muskox. That’s great you’ve got one out of three so far interested. Do be got two kids. Son is 10 and enjoys hunting. Not much name about it but certainly enjoys it and is looking forward to deer season this and another safari at some point. My nearly 12 year old daughter on the other hand is a straight up little killer. Always itching for a hunting adventure. She goes from pretty princess to killer real quick.

Ya I’m not as serious a safari hunter as some on here. Not that I don’t want to be. If I was going to get really serious and chase the big 5 and all that I’d probably just go ahead and drop the money on a Ruger RSM in .416 rigby. But seeing as I can drop $3900 on one of those or spend $600 on a re barrel job I’m thinking for my purposes the Taylor will probably work.

 

[Muskox]

For certain.

I buy rifles to rebarrel regularly. I see something that I want and it's in the wrong caliber, doesn't take much to make it in the right caliber.

I got a good deal on a old Austrian falling block in 5,6x57R. The stock is broke but the action is good. So it will be a 7x65R and I'll restock it, rebarrel it and use it. Every one of these rifles I see is crazy money. This is an 80's gun and I know the guy that built it, been in his shop. So I'll clean it up for my use when I get back to America next year.