416 Ruger, the modern day 450/400 NE

[BeeMaa]

I really like seeing old threads revived.

@USMA84DAB has both the 375RUGER and 416RUGER. By his accounts, just as effective as any other 375 or 416. His only complaint is finding reloading components, specifically brass for the 416RUGER.

 

[ldmay375]

I really like seeing old threads revived.

@USMA84DAB has both the 375RUGER and 416RUGER. By his accounts, just as effective as any other 375 or 416. His only complaint is finding reloading components, specifically brass for the 416RUGER.

The Ruger Alaskan in 416 & 375 Rugers are most certainly two of my favorite rifles. Easy packing rifle and the cartridges are good performers.
Before the current component shortage of everything, I would think the 416 Ruger brass was the typical cyclical production. Much like the 416 Remington and 458's.
I shot both the 375 Ruger & 416 Ruger yesterday. This again reaffirmed how much I like the rifles and cartridges.

 

[Puddle]

I guess I'll do my part in keeping this thread revived...

I've decided if I can rustle up 200 pieces of fresh brass (lifetime supply for me) I'm going to have one built.
My requirements aren't that demanding; 400 grain A-Frame @ 4,000+ ft-lb ME resulting from no more than 2,150 fps MV using a temperature-insensitive powder like H4895 or Varget. A 22 inch barrel should easily accomplish that.
Will have both iron sights and a 1.5-5x or 1-6x or similar scope in Talley bases & QD rings, 4 rounds down plus 1 in the chamber. All up and ready to go it should weigh the same as my M70 375 H&H at 9.5 lbs and balanced between the hands. Wood stocked or not? Dunno yet.

 

[gizmo]

I guess I'll do my part in keeping this thread revived...

I've decided if I can rustle up 200 pieces of fresh brass (lifetime supply for me) I'm going to have one built.
My requirements aren't that demanding; 400 grain A-Frame @ 4,000+ ft-lb ME resulting from no more than 2,150 fps MV using a temperature-insensitive powder like H4895 or Varget. A 22 inch barrel should easily accomplish that.
Will have both iron sights and a 1.5-5x or 1-6x or similar scope in Talley bases & QD rings, 4 rounds down plus 1 in the chamber. All up and ready to go it should weigh the same as my M70 375 H&H at 9.5 lbs and balanced between the hands. Wood stocked or not? Dunno yet.

I have a 416 Ruger in a Ruger Hawkeye. My set up is very similar to what you’re describing. I love the rifle and the caliber. Hornady factory offerings are atrocious and dangerous. I managed to get some dies to load it with TSX or Barnes solids. With that I can see taking it back to Africa for situations where I don’t want to use my double. If my only option was factory offerings it would never leave the safe again. I haven’t had time to develop a load yet as I’ve been working on a few other rifle loads but likely will this spring sometime. I have a ton of brass so I’m really looking forward to working on it.

 

[gizmo]

@Puddle I’ll be glad to share load data with you once I start working on it if you’d like.

 

[ldmay375]

I guess I'll do my part in keeping this thread revived...

I've decided if I can rustle up 200 pieces of fresh brass (lifetime supply for me) I'm going to have one built.
My requirements aren't that demanding; 400 grain A-Frame @ 4,000+ ft-lb ME resulting from no more than 2,150 fps MV using a temperature-insensitive powder like H4895 or Varget. A 22 inch barrel should easily accomplish that.
Will have both iron sights and a 1.5-5x or 1-6x or similar scope in Talley bases & QD rings, 4 rounds down plus 1 in the chamber. All up and ready to go it should weigh the same as my M70 375 H&H at 9.5 lbs and balanced between the hands. Wood stocked or not? Dunno yet.

For my Alaska use I have been using the 350gr TSX. My previous load was a seemingly mild load of IMR 4320 which was about 2350 fps from my 20" barrel. Excellent groups from my rifle and 2 others. And as expected works very well on moose.
This year I loaded the 350gr TTSX and 2000-MR. I am still playing with this combination. But, currently muzzle velocity is about 2550 fps. I am going to play with the seating depth a bit. And I may target a 2500 fps muzzle velocity from my 20" barrel. Wild ass guess but the current load does not appear to be excessive in this rifle. I have a couple of others than I am going to fire this in to see how they group.

 

[Doug3006]

I took my first Cape Buffalo in Zambia’s Luangwa Valley with a Ruger Hawkeye African loaded with factory Hornady 400 grain DGX bullets (the old unbonded version). The first shot killed him, but I gave him another up the backside as he exited stage left. 50 yards and he dropped with a bellow. That rifle is still one of my favorites because I took my first Buffalo with it. I’d do it again, except now I have some “sexier” options. I would lend it to my son with the same factory loads (I bought a case so I’ll have a lifetime supply) so that should tell you how confident I am in the adequacy of the rifle and cartridge.

 

[ChrisG]

I guess I'll do my part in keeping this thread revived...

I've decided if I can rustle up 200 pieces of fresh brass (lifetime supply for me) I'm going to have one built.
My requirements aren't that demanding; 400 grain A-Frame @ 4,000+ ft-lb ME resulting from no more than 2,150 fps MV using a temperature-insensitive powder like H4895 or Varget. A 22 inch barrel should easily accomplish that.
Will have both iron sights and a 1.5-5x or 1-6x or similar scope in Talley bases & QD rings, 4 rounds down plus 1 in the chamber. All up and ready to go it should weigh the same as my M70 375 H&H at 9.5 lbs and balanced between the hands. Wood stocked or not? Dunno yet.

2,150fps is easy-peasy for a .416 Ruger. I had the Ruger Hawkeye African (since traded in a got a .458 win mag because... why not?). The only thing I will say is that I had to add about a pound of weight to the rifle, evenly distributed between the buttstock and the forend to bring it up to about 10 lbs. scoped. I was pushing a 400 grain DGX bullet to about 2,300fps or so with (don't quote me on this) something like 81.0grains of Alliant Power Pro 2000MR. This is the best powder for this cartridge last I knew. I also had a load for a 340grain Woodleigh Weld-core at about 2,600. That is what I took the bear in my Avatar with. It seemed adequate.

At 2,150fps, it should be pretty soft shooting and hit pretty hard

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

I have a 416 Ruger in a Ruger Hawkeye. My set up is very similar to what you’re describing. I love the rifle and the caliber. Hornady factory offerings are atrocious and dangerous. I managed to get some dies to load it with TSX or Barnes solids. With that I can see taking it back to Africa for situations where I don’t want to use my double. If my only option was factory offerings it would never leave the safe again. I haven’t had time to develop a load yet as I’ve been working on a few other rifle loads but likely will this spring sometime. I have a ton of brass so I’m really looking forward to working on it.

Top 5 bullets for 416 Ruger, IMHO are:
Swift A-Frame
Swift A-Frame
Swift A-Frame
Swift A-Frame
Swift A-Frame

 

[Puddle]

At 2,150fps, it should be pretty soft shooting and hit pretty hard

Yup. And at ~9.5 lbs all up I'll be working that action and back on target in a New York minute.

 

[Vanguard2279]

I took my first Buffalo with a .416 Ruger Guide Gun. I settled on a 400-grain TSX backed up by Power Pro 2000-MR. I eventually put it into an H-S Precision stock. I absolutely love that rifle and would not fear taking it for anything.

 

[ldmay375]

I really like seeing old threads revived.

@USMA84DAB has both the 375RUGER and 416RUGER. By his accounts, just as effective as any other 375 or 416. His only complaint is finding reloading components, specifically brass for the 416RUGER.

I have had rifles in both the 375 & 416 Rugers for several years. They quickly become my favorite cartridges in these calibers. I still like the 375 H&H's & 416 Remingtons that I have. But, I like the performance in a bit smaller package. Fortunately, all the rifles that I have dealt with in these cartridges have surpassed my accuracy preference.

Several / many years ago, I had a very difficult time finding 458 Winchester brass. I have also experienced the same with 416 Remington & 458 Lott. Those times were a lesson learned for me.
I picked a bad time to have an interest in hand-loading 223 Remington, 308 Winchester, and 30-06. It was timed perfectly during this ongoing world wide stupidity.