What is good or bad about the .416 WBY?

algreffe · May 29, 2026

Tdruck said:
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

A buddy from my online Discord community shared a screenshot of his solid weekend win, which convinced me to test my luck too. He passed along the link to httрs://hеllspinonlinecasіno.net/ hellspin casino Australia where I ended up registering within minutes. I spent most of my evening exploring their themed video slots and managed to cash out a decent amount without any drama. It is a reliable option for anyone living in Australia who appreciates straightforward layouts and fast payouts. No complaints here.

Stick with your .416 Remington Model 70 for the buffalo it’s an absolute hammer and has plenty of power without the punishing recoil of the Weatherby. As for the order, change it to a lighter caliber in the Back Country 2.0 for your elk and deer hunting back home. You'll get much more practical use out of it that way.

Muskox · May 29, 2026

Here are my thoughts. Owned both a 378 Weatherby and a 460 Weatherby, never owned a 416.

1. Recoil with factory ammunition is stout and fast.

2. Not sure if it possible to order one without a muzzle brake, but I would not even consider doing one without it. Both my 378 and 460 had factory brakes. I would own a 378 again, and a 416 WBY. I would not consider the 460 too much for me. You really need a muzzle brake and a break-o or similar mercury tube system in the butt.

3. I never killed anything with either one of them. I guy I bought both from had used them on elk. He said they were dramatic on elk.

If you want a heavy and very dramatic killer, I don't think you can go wrong with a 416 Wby as a client rifle. I can't see a PH using one as recoil is severe enough and ammunition is expensive enough that I can't see it being a good option. When more manageable caliber are available.

Beck · May 29, 2026

Tdruck said:
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

The .416 Remington is perfectly adequate for anything that walks on this planet. The .416 Wby's recoil is terrible, and you have to be careful about bullet selection - the added velocity effects bullet performance, and not always in a good way

Flewis · May 29, 2026

I have a 378and 416wby, I had a 460 but lost it in a fire. Hand loaded with 450 grain bullets at 24 or 2500 it would be awesome. My custom 416 has a lot of recoil, more than my 460 did . I have also shot A wby rifle in 416 and it had much less recoil. None of these rifles had muzzle brakes.

coreydb · May 30, 2026

The Weatherbys are great rifles; my own .375H&H is pictured in my Avatar. The questionable issue is whether the 375 WBY is any better at killing DG than the 375 H&H. The Wby and its brand specific calibers, was created for a niche of hunters who wanted faster shooting ammo than the established calibers on the market. Any better? Dead animals can't talk.

Roughneck · May 30, 2026

No experience with the 416 WBY. But I recently picked up a used WBY DGR rifles im 375h&h at a gun show in Fairbanks. So far everything I put through it shoots cloverleaf groups. I have 3 other Winchester model 70s in 375, a 416 rem mag, CZ 416 Rigby and a custom Mauser 404 Jeffery they all shoot 1” but not like the WBY.

Joker12 · Jun 8, 2026

If you are a handloader its easy to load the 416 WBY to perform exactly like the 416RM or the 416 Rigby. That reduces the recoil as well. The cartridge is a good one and downloaded a bit is no different than the other 416s.

coreydb · Jun 8, 2026

AmandaLarson31 said:
That is a classic debate, and you hit the nail on the head—a faster caliber won't make a dead animal any deader! The choice between the classic .375 H&H and the extra velocity of the Weatherby is almost like playing a high-stakes Penalty Shoot Out game where you risk higher recoil for just a bit more flat-shooting edge, hoping that single shot makes all the difference. For DG, reliability and placement trump speed every time. Do you find the extra kick of the Weatherby affects your quick follow-up shots at all?

Oh yeah......

Tradmark · Jun 10, 2026

My son’s weatherby dgr in 375h&h is a bery very nice feeding and extremely accurate rifle. No need for controlled round feed. None needed. Its a great great rifle

gcbailey · Jun 10, 2026

I don't know about the good, but the bad is that it's a Weatherby.

curt672 · Jul 3, 2026

Tdruck said:
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

I use a 416 Weatherby also, most of the bad comments are from people not familiar with it. The factory ammo is very stout, I have found that to hand load it tames it way down yet still produces speed and energy exceeding the 416 Rigby load your 400gr to about 2575 and your 350 grain to same speed and you will be golden. The 100 yd point of impact for the 400s should be dead on and that will give you about 2.5 high for the 350s so you can use those on plains game -- good luck

Keakakea · Oct 26, 2026

I have a 378 with no brake and I do feel like the vast majority of Weatherby’s recoil reputation comes from folks who have never used them and just parrot what they read on the internet. I don’t think the reputation is completely unearned but it’s still just a big gun that kicks, like all big guns.

Reading some of the folks on here you’d think that people are lucky to not be hospitalized after shooting a Weatherby cartridge.

sgt_zim · Oct 26, 2026

Keakakea said:
I have a 378 with no brake and I do feel like the vast majority of Weatherby’s recoil reputation comes from folks who have never used them and just parrot what they read on the internet. I don’t think the reputation is completely unearned but it’s still just a big gun that kicks, like all big guns.

Reading some of the folks on here you’d think that people are lucky to not be hospitalized after shooting a Weatherby cartridge.

It isn't the amount of recoil, it's what you get for it. 416 Rigby is about the same neighborhood as 378 Wby mag. Why would I shoot 400 gr, 416 recoil with a 300 gr bullet? A 416 or 404J will outperform a 378 all day, every day, and twice on Sundays when it comes to DG at DG shooting distances. You aren't (or shouldn't be) taking 300 yard pokes at buff or ele.

At 50 or 75 yards, what does a 378 do that a 375 H&H or 375 Ruger doesn't do? And at 400 yards on a kudu or gemsbok...how precise is your shooting on 65 ft lbs of recoil?

Faster is faster, and better is better. It doesn't follow with necessity that faster is better.

Flbt · Oct 26, 2026

Tdruck said:
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

This is a guess . I have not been to Africa.
But taking to a few that have and some that took wbm
It’s more the cartridge. Loaded to max from wb.
And with the heat it can cause problems.
If fl I saw 2 300 vanguard maxed by howa
And a lazer something in 7 wbm
It was right at 100 f
The boxes of ammo were on the dash and set of my truck.
All 3 of them had extraction problems
With one of the 300 needing. A body hammer to get the bolt open

Keakakea · Oct 26, 2026

sgt_zim said:
It isn't the amount of recoil, it's what you get for it. 416 Rigby is about the same neighborhood as 378 Wby mag. Why would I shoot 400 gr, 416 recoil with a 300 gr bullet? A 416 or 404J will outperform a 378 all day, every day, and twice on Sundays when it comes to DG at DG shooting distances. You aren't (or shouldn't be) taking 300 yard pokes at buff or ele.

At 50 or 75 yards, what does a 378 do that a 375 H&H or 375 Ruger doesn't do? And at 400 yards on a kudu or gemsbok...how precise is your shooting on 65 ft lbs of recoil?

Faster is faster, and better is better. It doesn't follow with necessity that faster is better.

And I don’t disagree, but variety is the spice of life.

You could argue that 375 H&H is the one gun you need to hunt the entire world and every other cartridge is irrelevant and you would probably be right. But folks will continue to buy and use other cartridges but as soon as someone mentions a Weatherby those same folks will come out of the woodwork and say those particular cartridges are unnecessary.

I’m not a Weatherby fan boy, and honestly prefer my 375H&H but there’s definitely a lot of repeated biases that I was pointing out.

analog_peninsula · Oct 26, 2026

I kind of like my .416 Wby.

It worked pretty well on buff, hippo, and croc.

curt672 · Oct 26, 2026

my 416 Wby -- and my hand loads

sgt_zim · Oct 27, 2026

Keakakea said:
And I don’t disagree, but variety is the spice of life.

You could argue that 375 H&H is the one gun you need to hunt the entire world and every other cartridge is irrelevant and you would probably be right. But folks will continue to buy and use other cartridges but as soon as someone mentions a Weatherby those same folks will come out of the woodwork and say those particular cartridges are unnecessary.

I’m not a Weatherby fan boy, and honestly prefer my 375H&H but there’s definitely a lot of repeated biases that I was pointing out.

I get it, different strokes for different folks.

But there's another consideration.

Water doesn't provide uniform resistance to projectiles. Its resistance calculation contains the square of the speed. It has been a minute since I took physics, so get your favorite AI to explain why.

Randy Garrett demonstrated it pretty convincingly about 20 or 25 years ago with 500 gr solids fired from 45-70, 458 WM, 458 Lott, and 460 Wby mag.

In order of depth of penetration
45-70 - far and away the deepest penetration, I think MV was 1500 fps or so
458 WM
458 Lott
460 Wby mag - far and away the shallowest, MV of 2550 or so

That was a huge surprise to me when I read about it years ago. Intuitively, we all assume it should be the other way round.

I'm not suggesting a 45-70 is the ideal buffalo gun, but the results of the test should give you pause. More recoil + shallower penetration seems not quite ideal.

Do Wby mags work? Obviously. If you've got one and it shoots straight, hang on to it, use it. We've learned quite a lot about terminal ballistics in the last 35 years or so. Speed just isn't what it's cracked up to be when it comes to penetration.

curt672 · Oct 27, 2026

sgt_zim said:
I get it, different strokes for different folks.

But there's another consideration.

Water doesn't provide uniform resistance to projectiles. Its resistance calculation contains the square of the speed. It has been a minute since I took physics, so get your favorite AI to explain why.

Randy Garrett demonstrated it pretty convincingly about 20 or 25 years ago with 500 gr solids fired from 45-70, 458 WM, 458 Lott, and 460 Wby mag.

In order of depth of penetration
45-70 - far and away the deepest penetration, I think MV was 1500 fps or so
458 WM
458 Lott
460 Wby mag - far and away the shallowest, MV of 2550 or so

That was a huge surprise to me when I read about it years ago. Intuitively, we all assume it should be the other way round.

I'm not suggesting a 45-70 is the ideal buffalo gun, but the results of the test should give you pause. More recoil + shallower penetration seems not quite ideal.

Do Wby mags work? Obviously. If you've got one and it shoots straight, hang on to it, use it. We've learned quite a lot about terminal ballistics in the last 35 years or so. Speed just isn't what it's cracked up to be when it comes to penetration.

25 years ago they didn't have the bullets they do today, you push a soft fast expanding bullet at WBY speeds it will not go as deep as the slower calibers -- it opens up to far to fast , by the example you show the 458 Lott is not as good as the 45-70 we all now better. I would take any of the bottom 3 before I took a 45-70

Certus · Oct 27, 2026

The speeds the weatherby produces is a moot point unless you’re only using factory ammo. Just reload it the same as a Rigby snd suddenly it’s the best cartridge out there

One of the rarest weatherby rounds, I love that you chose it (although I see cancelled). The weatherby rifles are fine, single stack mags so should feed reliably. Pushfeed is a meh issue too.

Have a great hunt, the model 70 will be fantastic too

What is good or bad about the .416 WBY?

algreffe

Muskox

Beck

Flewis

coreydb

Roughneck

Attachments

Joker12

coreydb

Tradmark

gcbailey

curt672

Keakakea

sgt_zim

Flbt

Keakakea

analog_peninsula

curt672

sgt_zim

curt672

Certus

Members online

Forum statistics

Proudly sponsored by

Latest posts

Latest profile posts

Share this page