History & Origins
As former European colonies in Africa gained independence, safari hunting on the continent began a slow decline due to resource mismanagement and political factors. This, in turn, led to a decline in interest in big bore rifles and cartridges used to hunt dangerous African game species. However, by the 1980s African nations recognizing the potential benefits, began developing areas as hunting and safari destinations. As interest in safari hunting in Africa increased so did interest in dangerous game rifles.
Early on .416 Rigby had been one of the most celebrated medium bore magazine rifle cartridges during the heyday of African hunting. Today, the .416 Rigby is considered a big bore cartridge. The Rigby was a large, voluminous cartridge in comparison to most magazine rifle cartridges of its time which had used cordite as a propellant and operated at a medium pressure. Rifles chambered for the cartridge required not only a longer action but also an over-sized bolt face, all of which increased the cost of the rifle chambered for the cartridge. Cartridges such as the .416 Rigby – which was considered an entry level cartridge in countries which mandated 40 caliber (10 mm) cartridges – lost out to cartridges such as the .458 Winchester Magnum and the .375 H&H Magnum which could be chambered in much less costly bolt action rifles. As ammunition for the cartridge dried out, professional hunters such as Selby put away their .416 Rigby rifles for the lack of available ammunition.
The renewed interest in Safari Hunting in North America beginning in the 1980s created a market for a specialized African cartridge. African nations mandated minimum caliber legislation beginning in the 1950s which mandated minimum calibers for dangerous game hunting. The minimum cartridges for hunting of dangerous game was set at either the .375 H&H Magnum or at the 40 caliber (10.36 mm) with a few countries allowing the 9.3 x 62 Mauser as an exception to the rule.
Remington realizing the opportunity designed what was to become the second dangerous game cartridge to originate in the United States to be commercialized – the first being the .458 Winchester Magnum. The introduction of the .416 Remington Magnum by Remington led to renewal of interest in the .416 caliber (10.36 mm). This in turn resulted in resurrection of the .416 Rigby cartridge when Ruger released the Ruger Model 77 RSM rifle chambered for the cartridge while Hornady began manufacturing .416 Rigby ammunition. Weatherby was to followed Remington's lead soon after, releasing the .416 Weatherby Magnum which was based on its .378 Weatherby Magnum cartridge.
The design of the .416 Remington Magnum can be traced to wildcat cartridges like the .416 Hoffman cartridge of the 1970s and the .416 Barnes Supreme of the 1950s. George L. Hoffman of Sonora Texas solution to having a .416 in (10.6 mm) chamber in a common rifle action was to neck up an improved .375 H&H Magnum case to .416 in (10.6 mm). The new cartridge named the .416 Hoffman was introduced in the late 1970s. The .416 Hoffman was mainly chambered in custom rifles. Remington realizing that a new market had opened, designed the .416 Remington Magnum cartridge to compete with the .458 Winchester Magnum, .375 H&H Magnum and the .416 Rigby. The Remington cartridge had a striking resemblance to the .416 Hoffman. The new cartridge, unlike the Rigby, could easily be chambered in pre-existing rifle models such as the Remington Model 700, Winchester’s Model 70 and any rifle which could fire a belted magnum cartridge based on the .375 H&H Magnum. This avoided the need for a costly new action or redesign of pre-existing rifle models all of which would add to the cost of the rifle.
The .416 Remington like the .416 Hoffman uses an improved .375 H&H Magnum case as the starting point. The .416 Remington Magnum was based on the company’s then fairly new 8 mm Remington Magnum which was necked up to accept a .416 inches (10.6 mm) bullet. The 8 mm Remington Magnum in turn was based on the .375 H&H Magnum which improved by blowing out to reducing the taper and increasing case capacity and then necking it down to accept a .323 inches (8.2 mm) bullet. The resulting .416 Remington Magnum emulated the performance of the .416 Rigby and the .416 Hoffman in that like the Rigby and the Hoffman it was capable of launching a 400 gr (26 g) bullet at 2,400 ft/s (730 m/s).
Read more about this topic: .416 Remington Magnum
Famous quotes containing the words history and/or origins:
“There is no history of how bad became better.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Compare the history of the novel to that of rock ‘n’ roll. Both started out a minority taste, became a mass taste, and then splintered into several subgenres. Both have been the typical cultural expressions of classes and epochs. Both started out aggressively fighting for their share of attention, novels attacking the drama, the tract, and the poem, rock attacking jazz and pop and rolling over classical music.”
—W. T. Lhamon, U.S. educator, critic. “Material Differences,” Deliberate Speed: The Origins of a Cultural Style in the American 1950s, Smithsonian (1990)