Wanted .416 Rigby Bolt Action

[Kynoch2015]

“.416“ bore diameter
“ “2.90 “ case length
“18 Tons” pressure

 

[Moosemind]

Here's a 404 Jeffery with "upside down" proof marks.

 

[RR 314]

Here's a 404 Jeffery with "upside down" proof marks.View attachment 579719

Cool. Thanks. Had never noticed that before.

 

[Kynoch2015]

Here's a 404 Jeffery with "upside down" proof marks.View attachment 579719

That must be a cool gun!

 

[Accidental Villain]

Right. That’s what has me concerned about this one’s authenticity. The letter says brevex, but the thumb cut seems to say milsurp.

Ok. No chance your rifle is a milsurp. Your rifle is made in `57 right? Thats about when they started making those Brevex actions. The Brevex actions are made on the original Mauserwerke Oberndorf machinery transported to France after WWII. It could be that the first ones made are made "true" to the original with thumb cut. I don`t know. There`s a lot of bearded knowledge on this forum so hopefully someone can chime in here and shed some light on the mystery.

 

[nhunt003]

It passes all the signs of a Brevex Action to me. I wouldn't be surprised if Roberts cut out the thumb hole. The only way to find out if it's a Brevex is to check the markings underneath the action. They wouldn't have put Brevex on the Rigby letter if they were unsure of the origin.

Well, I finally got my hands on it today (Huge delays due to the winter weather in the south and SHOT show for me). It is definitely the genuine article. It’s marked with the “BV” and M400 right behind the lug. Apparently this early one still had the thumb cut after all.

The rigby historian says that the stocks were all different in that era and this one very well may be original. There is apparently no way to know for sure about this as it matches the records fairly well. It is extremely well fitted and finely checkered.

Headspace feels a little tight on the hornady ammo I have. I do t have gauges for 416 Rigby (yet). I’ll clean the chamber good (this is almost always overlooked) and, worst case, I might get some dies and bump the shoulders back a little.

The extractor is a little loose and I don’t think it’s original (anyone have a line on one?). The ejector may have some wear, but I won’t know until I get the extractor sorted out.

Overall I’m very pleased with it. Y’all please let me know if you have any more info or thoughts. Appreciate all the correspondence so far.