What is good or bad about the .416 WBY?

I've booked my first trip to Africa. Cape Buffalo in Zimbabwe. I ordered .416 Weatherby on order from Weatherby at the SCI show. After getting home and looking deeper into that cartridge, I can't find much positive information about it.
I'm thinking about changing to the order to .375 H&H (they do chamber their DGR for that cartridge). Or cancelling the order. Or just change it to a an American elk/deer cartridge Their Back Country 2.0 is a nice rifle.

It seems like Weatherby rifles and cartridges not popular for African hunts? Though ideally suited with today's bullets. Except for the recoil.

I have a model 70 in .416 Remington. That doesn't seem overly popular either? But it shoots pretty well.

Thanks for any input.

TD

There are just options that will be more than enough to get the job done without knocking all your fillings out of your head.

Well, there’s no doubt a .416 Wby can kill a Cape buffalo. It’s been used many times for exactly that purpose with perfectly acceptable results.

What you will find here are plenty of people with opinions. Many will prefer a controlled-feed action over a push-feed for the sake of absolute reliability. I have several Mk V Weatherbys, but when it was time to hunt DG, I reached for a CZ550 in .416 Rigby.

My biggest issue is that the .416 Wby comes with more velocity (and much more recoil) for little perceptible benefit. I would rather shoot my .416 Rigby with 400 grain bullets than my .340 Wby with 210 grain bullets. The .340 recoil is sharp and bites hard. The lower-velocity .416 Rigby is a BIG, long shove that is less ugly to my reckoning.

For shooting deer and elk at long range, the high velocity of the Weatherby concept makes sense. The .257 Wby with 100 grain bullets is a death ray for deer/impala size critters. For close-range dangerous game shooting, the extra velocity of the .416 Wby seems to come with no upside, and only worse recoil as a downside. I’m sure you’ll find people who will disagree with all of this, but that’s how I see it.

My one and only buff took a .400 grain TSX from the .416 Rigby through the shoulder, both lungs, and a bunch of ribs and was recovered under the hide on the far side. My one and only elephant took a 400 grain solid broadside that went all the way through. It was a two-shot safari and I don’t see any reason to change anything.

If you do want to use a .416 Wby, find one you can go shoot first. You might change your mind. Also, the .416 Rem in a Winchester model 70 is perfect.

Weatherby’s are fine but usually a bit over the top on the large calibers, I had & now again have a Weatherby Ultralight in 338/06 which I really like, their smaller calibers can be extremely good .

You have a very fine rifle in you Winchester M70 in .416 Rem excellent for all big game !

A number of people have problems with the Weatherby's velocity where they have to push the pressure envelope and when you do that changes in temperature can cause problems.

Shooting on a nice cool day and you'll have zero problems, increase that temperature 20-30 degrees and you might.

Not knowing when your buff hunt will be, I would suggest that you try shooting the rifle at warmer temperatures, if you need to you can leave the ammo inside your vehicle where it is quite a bit warmer than it is outside. Then check how easy it is to remove a case after its been shot.

I have a cousin that loves the 416 Weatherby and uses it on deer and elk here in the western US with no problems, but then the temperatures are usually below 50⁰ when he is hunting.

You already have a wonderful Cape buffalo rig in your .416 model 70. At the very least I would change the order to a different caliber that fills an empty spot in your personal arsenal, but truthfully my inclination would be to cancel the entire thing and spend that money on a a trophy fee for some other animal of Interest when you're in Zim.

I’ve never owned or shot a .416 Wby. I have shot a .460 Wby and owned a .378 Wby. The .378 was a more vicious recoiling rifle than the .460 (maybe partly due to the fact the .460 had a Pendleton Dekicker brake). The .378’s recoil velocity made it unshootable for me, even with slightly reduced loads.
I have a .375 Wby, a .416 Ruger and a ..458 Lott and all are more shootable than the .378 was. I shot my buff and several PG with the .416 Ruger, all one shot kills.
You have a .416 Rem mag which is about a ballistically a duplicate to the Ruger. You’re good to go without giving yourself a concussion.

Keep your .416 Weatherby and also order a .460 Weatherby. Can’t have enough Safari Rifles, they are works of beautiful art. All the .416’s in general are an extremely useful group.

“Africa is a demanding mistress. Once you have drank from her cup she is never far from your thoughts” George Hoffman, my dear friend and creator of the great .416 Hoffman.

I think you guys are going to save me some money! I do have to give credit to the Wby. company for even getting me interested and now obsessed with going to Africa. First, my Grandpa had a .300 Weatherby Mag and the picture book catalog back in the 70's. I would look at that book for hours.
Second, I retired in the fall and decided to build a little pole barn, while working on it, I listened to the WBY On Your Mark Podcast for days. Their company seems awesome and I always liked their .257 and 7mm chamberings for deer and elk. I have a little .257 that really is like a death ray.
The podcast got me motivated to book some hunts out west, then join and attend SCI and book Africa. Now I'm hooked!
TD

The bad: when you pull the trigger
The good: nothing that your 416 rem can’t do with less fuss
I’d switch it to another cartridge you’d use. The 375H&H belongs in everyone’s gun safe.

But at the end of the day go with what sounds fun to you!

I'm with @BryceM - the extra V from DG Wby cartridges just doesn't confer any real advantages at DG distances.

If you needed to cross a 5' wide ditch, and you can jump 6', you're across the ditch. It may look more impressive if you can jump 10 or 12', but you still only need to jump 5'.

Not a great analogy, but good enough.

A 9 lb rifle firing a 400 gr bullet at 2700 fps generates pretty close to 100 ft lbs of recoil. Might as well step up to a 505 Gibbs or 500 Jeffery and 500+ gr bullets.

I had a 460 and I have a 378 and the 416 in a custom rifle . None had or have a muzzle break. I have shot the 416 in the weatherby rifle and didn’t find it too bad. Now my 416 is another matter altogether.

Some may differ, but your Weatherby is a perfectly usable rifle, and are more than accurate enough for the job.

The big turn off for most is the recoil. In a 9lb rifle, the Weatherby generates forces far beyond what most shooters can deal with. That leaves you with several choices.

You could change the order to a 375 as you stated in your original post. This would be my suggestion if it's still possible. You can't possibly go wrong with a 375 H&H.

The other alternatives are to add weight and recoil reducers in the stock, plus have ammo downloaded. This will bring the recoil lever down to a level most hunters can tolerate. The downside is, if you do that, you have roughly the same power level as the 416 Remington.

Tdruck said:

I have a model 70 in .416 Remington. That doesn't seem overly popular either? But it shoots pretty well.

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You have a perfect buffalo rifle right here! As to popularity, factory ammunition is commonly available for the 416 Rem Mag which indicates it is popular enough for various companies to still manufacture ammunition. This same rifle in 416 Rem Mag was my first DG rifle 30 years ago. It was a great choice then and a great choice now.

I think the Weatherby in 375 H&H would be more practical or in another more versatile caliber for North American hunting.

Thank you for the advice.

TD

Powerful lineup.

skydiver386 said:

Some may differ, but your Weatherby is a perfectly usable rifle, and are more than accurate enough for the job.

The big turn off for most is the recoil. In a 9lb rifle, the Weatherby generates forces far beyond what most shooters can deal with. That leaves you with several choices.

You could change the order to a 375 as you stated in your original post. This would be my suggestion if it's still possible. You can't possibly go wrong with a 375 H&H.

The other alternatives are to add weight and recoil reducers in the stock, plus have ammo downloaded. This will bring the recoil lever down to a level most hunters can tolerate. The downside is, if you do that, you have roughly the same power level as the 416 Remington.

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Which begs the question...why not just go with a 416 Rem/Rigby/Ruger? Or a 404 Jeff?

Thank you for the input. I wound up canceling the Weatherby order. I guess I got too excited when I ordered it!
The model 70 has proven to be a really nice rifle, it is shooting good.

More is better...well, not always. Especially true when it comes to Weatherby.

I believe you made a good decision by canceling the order. Invest your money in another hunt or additional animal. Your shoulder will thank you.

Tdruck said:

Thank you for the input. I wound up canceling the Weatherby order. I guess I got too excited when I ordered it!
The model 70 has proven to be a really nice rifle, it is shooting good.

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No dog in this fight but there is nothing your M70 wont do that the Weatherby won't do other than smack the snot out of you