The Art Of Hunting The Indian Panther : A Comprehensive Guide

Major Khan

AH legend
Joined
Dec 3, 2019
Messages
2,189
Reaction score
6,097
Media
159
Articles
46
Given how the readers of my articles have become passionately interested in the sport of shooting the Indian panther ( which we refer to as “ Chita Baagh “) , l have decided that tonight , l am going to provide a full and comprehensive guide , to the art of shooting the Indian panther and how it was done back in the old days of shikar in India , until that abomination of a law , the Wild Life Protection Act - 1972 was passed .

First , let us talk about the panther itself , as an animal . There are 2 types of panthers in India .
The 1st is the large forest panther . A forest panther , as it’s name suggests , lives in dense jungles and a very large male , will get up to 200 pounds . They will normally live on a diet of cheetal deer , hog deer, 4 horned buck and some times wild boar .
Below , is a photograph taken by myself of the largest forest panther which l had ever shot , weighing a full 200 pounds .
Screenshot_20191208-071341_01_01_01_01_01_01.png


Below l have provided another photograph, taken by myself of another ( albeit slightly lighter ) forest panther also shot by myself .
Screenshot_20191208-071335_01_01_01_01_01.png





Dr. Jagdish Kumar , a very well known Indian sportsman of our time ( among local shikarees) recorded that these brutes can sometimes get up to 250 pounds . However , the heaviest specimen ever shot by myself weighed an even 200 pounds and l have never seen 1 forest panther which weighs more than 204 pounds.
It is interesting that in Darjeeling , central India and places of West Bengal ( where my good friend and fellow retired professional shikaree , Sgt. Kawshik Rahman was based ) the forest panther was called , the “ Hunting Leopard “

The 2nd variety of panther is the village panther . Which would usually raid villages at night to carry off a stray dog or goat.These brutes were much smaller than their forest dwelling cousins and were a very big nuisance back in our time . They would often come right into villages, to enter goat pens and drag away an unfortunate victim. They are used to seeing villagers and therefore not as shy of human beings that their bigger cousin. A very large male will weigh right up to 170 pounds and today , it is this variety of panther which is responsible for the greatest amount of human - wild life conflict in south east Asia .In Darjeeling , central India and West Bengal , the village panther is referred to , as “ Spotted leopard “ or just “ leopard “


In my entire life , l have never considered any sport more thrilling than the sport of shooting panthers . I have killed 20 in my entire life , 13 of which were man eaters . This is superseded by my good friend , Sergeant Kawshik Rahman who has killed 32 panthers in his entire life ( till now ) . This was superseded by my dearly deceased friend , Tobin J Stakkatz, who killed 40 panthers in his entire life. However , all of us have been highly superseded by our mutual friend , the much celebrated Captain Kareem Hossain Newaz , who has killed 81 panthers till now , and judging by recent increases of human - wild life conflict , will probably make it 82 , any day now.
The irony is that out of the 4 of us , Newaz is the only 1 who never was a professional shikaree.

Below , l have provided a photograph of the news paper article , detailing the exploits of Captain Newaz . At the time , this article was published in 1984 , Newaz had already shot his 73rd panther. With a youth spent hunting village panthers in the Syedabaad tea gardens , Newaz is still quite the character at the age of 72 . It must be borne in mind , however that these are the village panther and not the much larger forest panther .
received_531068654383343.jpeg







Kawshik and l both frequently get asked a question , as we have hunted both species extensively:
Which member of the cat family is more dangerous to hunt ? The panther or the royal Bengal tiger ? Conventional wisdom dictates that a royal Bengal tiger ( the heaviest of which , can get up to 500 pounds ) is far more dangerous than a panther ( the heaviest of which , can get up to 200 pounds ) . Thus , most assume that a royal Bengal tiger is more dangerous than a panther , as it is more resilient than a panther. However , this is not necessarily true. While it is 100 % true , that a royal Bengal tiger is far more tenacious of life , than a panther , both Kawshik and l , are of opinion that the panther is far more dangerous than a royal Bengal tiger. Think of it this way. If you are having to contend with a royal Bengal tiger which is aware of your presence and is trying to attack you , believe me when l tell you that you will see him coming . A panther , however , is far more devilish and faster in his method of attack and will ambush you , for which you must be 100 % vigilant . And let me tell you this . There is nothing , that a professional shikaree loathes more than having to follow a wounded panther into the thickets. A wounded panther is at least 30 % more dangerous than an unmolested panther , because it will charge you at extremely short ranges and will not just attack the shooter , but may attack any one in the shikar party at random. However , it’s actions are anything but random. When a wounded panther is lying in wait for his pursuers in the thickets , he will cold bloodedly decide whom to pounce on , first . Once , he is through with his first victim , only then will he turn to his next victim and so forth . Having a wounded panther pounce on you , is almost a guaranteed death sentence . It will rip your rib cage open with it's claws , piercing your lungs , all the while biting you in various parts of your body . In the unlikely event that you do survive the attack , you will look as if someone drove a lawn mower over you and you will probably lose an ear ( As had happened to Kawshik's tracker , Jeddiah) , or worse , an eye .



Let us get down to the business of tracking a panther . There will always be 1 tell tale sign that a panther had recently killed something in the area . Check the barks of all the trees nearby . A panther will ALWAYS clean it's claws on the bark of a tree , before going to make a kill . Aside from the foot prints of panthers , this is a tell tale sign that a panther is operating in the area .

Below , is a photograph taken by myself of a tree bark which had the unmistakable marks of a panther's claws .
IMG_20191211_005017_01_01_01.jpg



As opposed to to a royal Bengal tiger , which is often drawn out by the method of beating , a beat will seldom work for drawing out a forest panther and it will never work for drawing out a village panther . The reason is because of this is because of the sheer size of the animals . A royal Bengal tiger cannot hide in a hole in the forest ground to slip past the beaters , owing on account of it's massive size , of up to 10 feet . A forest panther , never getting bigger than 8 feet ( head to tail ) has a slightly easier time , hiding in holes in the forest ground to slip past the beaters . A village panther , which usually reaches a size of 5 feet 8 inches , for a fully grown male will virtually always escape being flushed out , in a beat .

Thus , for hunting these brutes , it is imperative that baits be used as the only fail proof method . The preferred bait to use in India was a common domestic goat , the cheapest being an old she goat which has stopped giving milk . However , prices always rise and by the end of the 1960s , l was forced to pay 15 Rupees for a single old she goat . If l could bring the goat back alive to the rakhaal ( farmer ) , l could get back 10 Rupees . Thus , l had every motivation not to let the goat get blemished in any way , during my melee with the panther .

The trick is that you tie a goat to a tree near any caves or nullahs , where your trackers find panther tracks and claw marks , on trees . Ensure that the goat does not see you , as you are settled in , waiting for the panther . Only when the goat is certain that it is completely alone , will it start to bleat and attract the attention of the panther .

Ideally , the shikaree then digs a hole in the ground around 15 to 20 feet , away from the goat , to use as a hiding spot . The holes in Indian forest ground are filled with numerous loathsome insects or even may be the home of a snake or 2 ( like the deadly Indian cobra ). Thus , it is very crucial that the shikaree light a small fire inside the hole and fan the smoke all around , to remove any insects or snakes from the hole . About a quarter tin of insect repellent should also be sprayed into the hole , as an added precaution .
The hole should be covered with a piece of dark green tarpoulin cloth and the cloth should be covered with leaves .

As an alternative , a macchan may be built , or a tree may be used by those shikarees who would feel more comfortable and safe , taking their shot from an elevated position .
Below , l have provided a photograph taken by myself of Kawshik's old Nepalese gun bearer , Rishi Chokroborti building a macchan , in a tree .
Screenshot_20191201-080817_01_01.png



The shikaree who opts for the hole in the ground , should always assign a very alert spotter to climb a nearby tree with a pair of binoculars to spy of the panther , when it is coming towards the goat . The spotter must have some method of signalling the shikaree to become alert of the panther's presence . When l would send my servant, Ponual up in to a tree with a pair of binoculars , he would always have a long piece of string in his hands connected to an empty bottle of some sort which was lying inside the hole where l was hiding. When Ponual would see the panther coming , he would silently tug on the string . Seeing the bottle getting pulled , would act as a signal for me to alert me of the panther's presence .


The panther was always shot at night in India . For this reason , it is imperative that the shikaree mist always be dressed in dark colored clothes which will not catch the panther's eye . The forest panther also has an immense sense of smell and so an agent should always be used to mask the smell of the shikaree , so that the panther cannot detect the presence of the shikaree . If it does , then the panther will take flight , even before the shikaree has a chance at a fair shot .
The ideal masking agent is the common kerosene used in the hurricane lamps , commonly found in all the villages of India . One's clothes should be soaked for 1 hour in a drum of kerosene and then dried , before wearing .

We now come to my favorite part of discussion . What are the adequate rifles and calibres and bullets to use for panthers ?
Let it be known that the forest panther and the village panther differ from 1 another , in terms of resilience . Therefore , the most suitable calibre for dispatching a village panther may not be the most reliable calibre , for dispatching a forest panther which is far heavier than his village counterpart .

Speaking about the village panther , based on my field experiences and rifles brought by my clients , my personal favorite calibre for a village panther is the .270 Winchester , burning a 150 grain soft nose cartridge . For me , the ideal rifle to fire this bullet is the pre 64 Winchester Model 70 bolt rifle with a Weaver telescopic sight ( l have been told , that as of recent years , the newest Winchester Model 70 rifles on the market are just as good , if not better than my beloved pre 64 variants ) .
However , my words should not be treated as gospel , because every calibre from .243 Winchester to .458 Winchester magnum has been used by my clients , to take village panthers , with success . If you really want to take things to extremes , then take a look at Kawshik's shikar partner , the late Karim Chowdhury . Karim was killing a good deal of village panthers ( to harvest their skins ) using a Brno semi automatic rifle , in the .22 Long Rifle calibre . However , Karim was shooting at animals which were already poisoned by folidol and left in a deeply weakened state close to death , when Karim would approach them and simply shoot them between both eyes , at a distance of 3 paces . This can hardly classify as sport hunting and is best left out of the discussion .

Personally , l would not choose to shoot a village panther with a calibre smaller than a .264 Winchester.

We now come to the forest panther. For these heavier brutes , l would not recommend anything smaller than a .30 calibre of some sort . My personal favorite is the .30-06 Springfield cartridge , using a 220 grain Remington Core Lokt soft nose bullet . My favorite rifle for this cartridge , is also a pre 64 Winchester Model 70 rifle with a heavy barrel .
As an interesting note , l had 1 client who used to Nagpur every year to shoot a forest panther , and his weapon of choice , was a semi automatic military surplus M1 Garand , loaded with Remington Core Lokt soft nose 220 grain bullets . He was absolutely devastating with that M1 Garand and took 8 panthers with it , in 8 seasons ) .
Again , my words should not be treated as gospel , because forest panthers have been taken successfully by my clients , using every calibre from .30-30 Winchester to .458 Winchester magnum with the greatest amount of success. However , my preference is for the .30-06 Springfield , or even better , the .300 Winchester magnum .
Even though , it is a little too much on the heavy side for a panther , a 9.3 calibre Mauser ( loaded with 286 grain soft nose bullets ) or even the .375 Holland and Holland magnum ( loaded with 300 grain Winchester Silvertip soft nosed bullets ) is not out of place , in the slightest for shooting forest panthers ( especially considering that if the client shikaree wished to shoot a royal Bengal tiger or gaur as well , on his trip , then he would have , in all probability , brought at least a .375 Holland and Holland magnum calibre rifle anyway )

Below , l have provided a photograph of my dear friend and fellow professional shikaree , Sergeant Kawshik Rahman and his client , Don Fernando Delgado with a forest panther which was shot with Don Fernando's pre 64 Winchester Model 70 , loaded with .375 Holland and Holland magnum calibre 300 grain Winchester Silvertip soft nosed cartridges .
Screenshot_20191018-001109_01_01.png





For us Indian shikarees , we did not really have much of a choice , other than to use whatever we had . The gun which l used to shoot panthers , was my old " Magnum 12 Bore DBBL Made In Belgium " . This was an Belgian side by side shot gun of 12 calibre , with 3 inch chambers , extractors and 28 inch long barrels ( the left being fully choked and the right being modified choked ) . Loaded with 2.75 Inch Eley Alphamax Lethal Ball cartridges , it ( to it's credit ) never let me down , even though trajectories were extremely high at distances greater than 30 yards
. It accounted for 20 panthers in my life . My method was always the same . I had a pencil torch light attached to the barrels of my shot gun , with masking tape . I would take aim at a panther in the dark and then instantly flick the light on , aiming at the panther's head. As it would turn it's head towards me , l would fire at it , right between both of it's eyes.



Below , l have provided a photograph taken by myself, of my " Old Belgian " which flawlessly helped me account for 20 panthers and much great sport in the last 60 years .
FB_IMG_1575727193927.jpg


Below , l have provided a photograph taken from the internet of a Lethal Ball projectile , once it is removed from the cartridge.
Screenshot_20191208-062004_01.png





My best friend , the dearly departed Tobin Stakkatz , who was my fellow professional shikaree in Allwyn Cooper Limited , always used a .423 Mauser bolt rifle , built by Fabrique Nationale , in Belgium. This used 347 grain metal covered bullets and it was a most deadly weapon , in Tobin's hands , helping him account for 40 panthers .


Below , l have provided a photograph taken by myself of Tobin , with his FN .423 Mauser bolt rifle , slung over his shoulder .
Screenshot_20191202-234925_01_01_01.png




For panthers , only soft nosed cartridges should be used which will properly expand inside the animal's vital organs and render it hors de combat quickly . A solid metal covered bullet is the last thing which should be used for killing panthers , as they are soft framed animals and the bullet will completely pass through the brute , without dumping it's energy inside the creature .
Tobin , however was the exception to this rule . He only used solid metal covered bullets , his entire life , on all animals . His reason was because he simply did not trust soft nosed bullets after an incident in 1961 , when he had a soft nose bullet of 347 grains from the company , RWS badly break apart without penetrating too deeply into the body of a royal tiger .
If Tobin used soft nosed bullets , then it would have saved him a great deal of trouble in many situations .However , Tobin was extremely skilled at planting brain shots and end on end shots on panthers , and his level of accuracy with that .423 Mauser helped him greatly .

The ideal regions to shoot a panther are :
1) In the head , right between both the eyes . This shot requires a great deal of skill and practice , and should not be attempted by the novice , because it requires the shikaree to be directly in front of the panther and the margin for error , is very small . A miss can lead to a lost panther , or worse : a charge.
2) In the heart . It must be remembered that the heart of a panther is located at the base of the chest between the 2 front legs . In order to reach the heart , either a shot must be taken from the front , or from the broad side position . If the shot is taken from a broad side position , then it must pierce the bone of the upper front leg , to reach the heart . It is imperative that the bullet hold together , long enough to reach the heart , where it needs to expand to cause greater damage , by creating a bigger wound cavity . I believe that a good soft nose bullet of at least 105 grains , can accomplish this on most village panthers and a good soft nose bullet of at least 200 grains can accomplish this on most forest panthers.
3) Through both the lungs . This shot should be attempted from a broadside position , using only the best expanding bullets available , like the Remington Core Lokt or the Winchester Silvertip . This is also the shot which l recommend for most novices and beginners , because it is the widest target target on a panther's body and any reasonably competent shooter can attempt it .

It is irrelevant whether a bolt rifle , a lever rifle , a semi automatic rifle or a double barrel rifle is used for panthers , provided :
1) That the shikaree can shoot with it accurately.
2) That the weapon is of utmost reliability .

However , things change greatly when 1 has to follow a wounded panther into the thickets . This is usually the work of a professional shikaree or a local resident shikaree hunting by themselves and not the sort of work delegated to a foreign client .
For this sort of work , what one needs is a double barreled rifle with short muzzles , twin triggers and no automatic safety . The bore size of such a rifle should be at least of 9.3 calibre , or better yet : The iconic .375 Holland and Holland magnum cartridge ( taking care to have the double barreled rifle , regulated to take the 300 grain Winchester Silvertip soft nosed cartridge ) .

For a double barreled rifle meant to be used for following up wounded panthers into the thickets , l do not recommend a bore size smaller than 9.3 . This is because a wounded panther will have adrenaline pumping through it's veins and so the shikaree will benefit from the extra punch of the calibres above .366 bore .

A double barreled rifle is mandatory here , because the twin barrels and twin triggers will allow a second shot instantly after the first , without needing to work a bolt . The speed of a wounded panther in the thickets is rivalled by none , and a shikaree simply could not do good with a bolt rifle , in this 1 situation , where the bolt rifle would become useless after the 1st shot .
Tobin Stakkatz , however , was the exception to this rule . He always followed the wounded panthers into the thickets with the same FN .423 Mauser which he would normally hunt with . When l told him once about how a double barreled rifle was mandatory for pursuing wounded panthers into the thickets , Tobin's answer was " Well , at the ranges you're being charged , it's impossible to miss . I'll take my chances with the Mauser ! " .
To his credit , out of the 2 dozen wounded panthers in his life , which Tobin had to follow , he never got injured even by 1 . That is a testament to the sheer skill of this great man .


The guns for the night time shooting of panthers should always be equipped with a small pencil torch light and the shikaree should practice , how to quickly flick it on and off and throw the beam of the light , over his intended target .

A word of caution is mandatory here . Never try to use buck shot to take a panther . I can lead to fire consequences for the shooter , or anyone else in the shikar party .
The very first time, l had tried to shoot a panther , was in 1965 and l had loaded the right barrel of my " Old Belgian " with an Eley 2.75 inch Alphamax l.g cartridge ( holding 8 pellets to the cartridge ) which an English client had brought to India and left behind . When l had attempted to shoot the panther after successfully baiting it , l accidentally killed the goat by mistake , when 4 of the pellets hit the goat . What was worse , was that the panther escaped , even though it was hit by 4 pellets . Eventually , my Nana ( who went in pursuit of that panther ) managed to kill it with a 300 grain soft nose bullet from his .405 Winchester Model 1895 lever rifle .
Upon doing a post mortem of the brute , l saw that the l.g pellets had all pierced the panther's skin and flattened on the muscles of the panther . I was so disgusted by the lack of penetration , that l never used buck shot to shoot an animal ever again . I would use triple A cartridges for mouse deer and then l would use Eley Alphamax Lethal Ball cartridges for anything bigger.








Once the shikar was over , sometimes the shikarees would need to field dress the panther and remove and preserve it's skin , because the nearest village or town would be at least 1 day away ( if the shikar happened in one of those far off places outside Nagpur ) .

Allow me to teach you all some rudimentary taxidermy , in case it is of interest to anyone .
With a pair of scissors, a sharp knife, pliers, salt or alum with ash, one can dabble in some amateur skinning. To those who are interested from an academic perspective, this is how it is done : The first and foremost thing is to measure the animal, as quite often after it has been skinned and stretched, the resulting specimen is often larger than the original, and some shikarees actually prefer it this way . 1stly , with charcoal, spots on the animal must be marked out, after turning it on its back. Starting from the lower lip, all the way to the tail, the next cuts are from the inside of the fore and hind legs, through its pads. Now the skin can be taken off, although around the head, extreme care must be taken. It’s not for the squeamish and many a time I have had friends who vommitted, seeing such a sight .
Carnivora take a longer time to decompose but also give off an offensive odour and hence it is always better to have your nose and mouth covered with a handkerchief. The skin is cleaned to remove blood and then stretched out, with pegs if one has carried them, over a carpet of dried grass, and liberally mixed with ash. There should be extra support under the head and the ears must be turned inside out. It is then treated with an equal amount of salt and ash, to get the moisture out. This has to be repeated multiple times for the next forty-eight hours, after which it is ready to be mounted by your taxidermist. This is, of course, how my Nana taught me, and he was always passionate for this sort of thing. In south India, there is always moisture in the air, hence parts of the skin, which do not feel the effects of the preservative at the time, will simply decompose taking the hair along with it, leaving unsightly bald patches on the skin. In places where the skin is thick, it must be thinned down with a sharp knife so that the curing agent reaches the roots of the hair and hardens the whole skin.

Below , l have provided a photograph , kindly given to me by Kawshik , of a dressed panther skin . I have provided it here , for reference.


Screenshot_20191022-172022_01_01_01.png



I hope that this account has proven enjoyable . If any of my readers has ever hunted the African leopard , l would love to learn all about the modern methods used to hunt these great cats in Africa , all well as the calibres used and the general weight of an African leopard.

@Kawshik Rahman , l am also beginning to wonder if we should introduce Captain Newaz to this site ? He did kill the most Panthers out of all of us , and is the only 1 out of us who is still active in hunting dangerous animals .
 
Last edited:
Excellent account of panther hunting and skin prep. Please do introduce Captain Newaz. We have read many references to him in your stories. It will be very interesting to hear from the man himself.
 
Great!
Great, great report!
Thank you, Sir, for your time and willngess to share your knowledge!!!

On this international hunting forum, an Indian hunting perspective and history is what was missing.
However we were lucky to have Seargent Rahman Kawshik and you, to join here!
 
Excellent account of panther hunting and skin prep. Please do introduce Captain Newaz. We have read many references to him in your stories. It will be very interesting to hear from the man himself.
I am most grateful for your kind comment . I will meet him and his family on Independence day ( 16th December ) and l will tell Captain Newaz all about this site .
 
Great!
Great, great report!
Thank you, Sir, for your time and willngess to share your knowledge!!!

On this international hunting forum, an Indian hunting perspective and history is what was missing.
However we were lucky to have Seargent Rahman Kawshik and you, to join here!
This is nothing compared to the beautiful article which you sent me about my favorite rifle , the Winchester Model 70 , Mark Hunter . I never knew that they were made in .300 Holland and Holland magnum.
 
Poton
Exceptionally written , as always . Are you coming to the Independence Day dinner ? Newaz bhai will be there . Let us tell him about this beautiful forum . He will love it a a great deal .

PS : I would like to add a bit to your article , which you already know , but somehow appear to have overlooked to mention in your article , old friend . A Shikari was only allowed to secure one forest panther , per season ( with the exception of man- eaters) .
However. there were no limits on village panthers , which were classified as vermin back in those days. This is what allowed Newaz Bhai to keep himself quite preoccupied in the tea gardens .
 
Poton
Exceptionally written , as always . Are you coming to the Independence Day dinner ? Newaz bhai will be there . Let us tell him about this beautiful forum . He will love it a a great deal .

PS : I would like to add a bit to your article , which you already know , but somehow appear to have overlooked to mention in your article , old friend . A Shikari was only allowed to secure one forest panther , per season ( with the exception of man- eaters) .
However. there were no limits on village panthers , which were classified as vermin back in those days. This is what allowed Newaz Bhai to keep himself quite preoccupied in the tea gardens .
Good Heavens , you are right , Kawshik !
I also wrote " fire consequences " when it should have been dire consequences . How embarrassing .
By the way , can you tell Daniel to bring me a good back sight to add to my Belgian shot gun ? I will pay him when they land in Bangladesh .
And yes , l am certainly coming to the Independence Day dinner .
 
Very interesting read! Thanks for sharing another story!
 
Good Heavens , you are right , Kawshik !
I also wrote " fire consequences " when it should have been dire consequences . How embarrassing .
By the way , can you tell Daniel to bring me a good back sight to add to my Belgian shot gun ? I will pay him when they land in Bangladesh .
And yes , l am certainly coming to the Independence Day dinner .
Poton
Since your shot-gun is very accurate out to thirty yards with a flat trajectory , have you considered using a ghost ring sight ? I will tell Daniel .
 
Major Kahn, I absolutely concur with your assessment of a good Winchester Model 70 whether they be pre-64 or one of the newer CRF models. For a working man's rifle they leave very little on the table. For those guys that like and can afford the high end guns, I say God bless them, but for the rest of us the CRF Model 70(s) are more than good enough. The only wish I have re. the Winchesters is that they would make them in the larger calibers as well.
 
Major Kahn, I absolutely concur with your assessment of a good Winchester Model 70 whether they be pre-64 or one of the newer CRF models. For a working man's rifle they leave very little on the table. For those guys that like and can afford the high end guns, I say God bless them, but for the rest of us the CRF Model 70(s) are more than good enough. The only wish I have re. the Winchesters is that they would make them in the larger calibers as well.
Shootist43 , you like Winchester Model 70 rifles too ? I absolutely adore this make and model of rifle . By any chance , do you own a .416 Remington magnum variant of this rifle ? I was always curious to see how it performs in the field , based on what l have read about it , from the internet .
 
No I do not own a 416 Remington Magnum. I do own a 416 Rigby but it is in a single shot Ruger No. 1. I actually like the 404 Jeffery caliber better. The Jeffery bullet is 0.423" just slightly larger than the 0.416" Rigby. Both use a 400 Gr. bullet albeit at slightly different velocities. The Rigby is generally around 2400 FPS while the 404 Jeffery is 2300 FPS. There are a number of AH members that use a 416 Remington Mag. It utilizes a smaller case than a Rigby but operates at significantly higher pressures. Because of the higher operating pressure I believe the gun kicks a little harder vs. the shove that one experiences from the Rigby. Also the 0.416 Remington seems to chambered in rifles lighter than the Rigby. This too adds to the felt recoil. Some time back we had quite a discussion on this very point. In the end, I doubt that any being shot by one of these calibers could tell the difference.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
53,441
Messages
1,125,776
Members
92,305
Latest member
GeorgeCast
 

 

 

Latest profile posts

thriller wrote on Bronkatowski1's profile.
Until this guy posts something on pay it forward free I would avoid him at all costs.
sgtsabai wrote on Buck51's profile.
If it hasn't sold by next week I might be interested. Stock would have to be changed along with some other items. I'm already having a 416 Rigby built so money is a tad bit tight.
The35Whelen wrote on MedRiver's profile.
Hey pal! I'll take all the .375 bullets if they're available.
Thanks!

Cody R. Sieber
@DERIAN KOEKEMOER SAFARIS is proud to say that we are members of PHASA.
WhatsApp Image 2024-03-09 at 08.11.01_9d17b32f.jpg
 
Top