.450 Rigby

I've been eyeballing a Sako 85 Brown Bear in 450 Rigby myself. They run $2500 new, so I doubt I can think of a good enough reason as to why I NEED it. But, I sure do like the looks of it! And since I sold my 470 Merkel, and several other 458 Win Mags over the years, I've kind of missed having a 45 plus caliber rifle. Nothing but puny 416 and 375 rifles in my safe now!

Well Toby you will have to change your name to 416 or 375.if you don't get buying soon.......seems like reason enough to me..:whistle::D
 
As "absurd" as life itself. As the famous quote goes: "Every man dies. Not every man really lives" (William Wallace). Congratulations on being fully alive flat8, I am genuinely happy for you.

Thank you for the kind words @One Day... . I see you're in Flag. I'm down in PHX but I get up that way quite a bit. One of these days perhaps we can get a coffee and swap some stories.
 
Got my first box of .450 ammo (I don't reload). Interesting to see the Rigby next to a Lott. Hoping to get out soon and shoot it!

IMG_4587.jpg
 
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Got my first box of .450 ammo (I don't reload). Interesting to see the Rigby next to a Lott. Hoping to get out soon and shoot it!

You might want to visit with @PHOENIX PHIL

Lots of good reasons to handload for a 450 Rigby! :)
 
Got my first box of .450 ammo (I don't reload). Interesting to see the Rigby next to a Lott. Hoping to get out soon and shoot it!

You might want to visit with @PHOENIX PHIL

Lots of good reasons to handload for a 450 Rigby! :)

Wow that looks like some shoulder pain with that 450 Rigby. One thing I'll tell you about that Rigby case is the shoulder reminds me of the .416 Rigby. Short and virtually no slope. If you hand load that round, I'd make sure to clean the inside of the neck thoroughly to remove any dust whatsoever.

Before learning to do that on the .416 Rigby I had, I collapsed that shoulder inward when seating bullets. Losing brand new expensive brass like that really hurts.
 
Thanks @phoenixphil. Although hand loading isn’t in the cards for me anytime soon, I enjoy learning that kind of info.
 
graphite inside the case neck will aid both expander and bullets to slide more easily and with more consistency.
the shoulder angle is not dossimilar to ackley improved, but before its time.
a vld angled deburrer will also let bullets start into necks more easily than a std angled one.
should that fail, buffalo arms can supply a dual diameter expander to your requirement that allows bullets to start well.
different sized ones offer different neck tension.
bruce.
 
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That does put things into perspective!!!

The beauty of the cavernous case is that you can run it at Lott velocities or a little higher, at materially lower pressures.

But be sure to buy your powder in 8 pound jugs! :)
 
Thanks @phoenixphil. Although hand loading isn’t in the cards for me anytime soon, I enjoy learning that kind of info.


Brent

What if I told you that by saving that brass (which you have already paid for), you could handload 450 Rigby ammo for about 75 additional cents each?

Interested?

Plus, you could have loads that will drop an Elephant, or a Whitetail (ie a 500gr at 2,400 fps or a 300gr at 2,000 fps).

Just trying to live up to my enabler title! :)


Tim
 
Brent

What if I told you that by saving that brass (which you have already paid for), you could handload 450 Rigby ammo for about 75 additional cents each?

Interested?

Plus, you could have loads that will drop an Elephant, or a Whitetail (ie a 500gr at 2,400 fps or a 300gr at 2,000 fps).

Just trying to live up to my enabler title! :)


Tim

Very interested. But it’s mainly a question of time ...
 
Very interested. But it’s mainly a question of time ...
No excuse! I can load 20 rifle cartridges in 30 minutes or less! You can buy a large LEE press, an RCBS scale and powder measure, loading dies and a few odds and ends and be loading in no time.
 
No excuse! I can load 20 rifle cartridges in 30 minutes or less! You can buy a large LEE press, an RCBS scale and powder measure, loading dies and a few odds and ends and be loading in no time.

I truly have no idea where to start!
 
I truly have no idea where to start!

First step is to Buy any good loading manual and read through the “how to” sections.

Then ask yourself if you are still interested.

Don’t get into it because we say you should...we are hopeless enablers!

But if you plan to use that rifle, you can pay for your initial investment in equipment pretty quickly vs buying 450 Rigby ammo!

And handloading will allow you to use the rifle in ways you never could with factory ammo.
 
I truly have no idea where to start!

Don’t want to take this thread further OT but I can help here. Started reloading 10+ years ago and have made every mistake in the book.

That 450 Rigby is impressive. Gun and cartridge.
 

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