.416 Rigby

Type

Rifle/Dangerous Game

Place of origin

England

Production history

Designer

John Rigby & Company

Designed

1911

Specifications

Case type

Rimless, bottleneck

Bullet diameter

10.57 mm (0.416 in)

Neck diameter

11.33 mm (0.446 in)

Shoulder diameter

13.72 mm (0.540 in)

Base diameter

14.96 mm (0.589 in)

Rim diameter

14.99 mm (0.590 in)

Rim thickness

1.65 mm (0.065 in)

Case length

73.66 mm (2.900 in)

Overall length

95.25 mm (3.750 in)

Case capacity

8.28 cm³ (127.8 gr H₂O)

Rifling twist

420 mm (1-16.5 in)

Primer type

Large rifle magnum

Maximum pressure

325.00 MPa (47,137 psi)

Ballistic performance

Bullet mass/type	Velocity	Energy
350 gr (23 g) Barnes TSX	2,612 ft/s (796 m/s)	5,304 ft·lbf (7,191 J)
400 gr (26 g) Barnes Solid	2,515 ft/s (767 m/s)	5,619 ft·lbf (7,618 J)
450 gr (29 g) Woodleigh	2,286 ft/s (697 m/s)	5,223 ft·lbf (7,081 J)

Test barrel length: 660 millimetres (26 in)
Source(s): Reloaders Nest

The .416 Rigby or 10.6×74mm was designed in 1911 by John Rigby, of John Rigby & Company, as a dangerous game cartridge. It is the first to use a bullet with a diameter of 10.6 millimetres (0.416 in). The rifles, as built by John Rigby & Co., were initially made up on Mauser magnum-length actions, although in later years, some were made on standard length actions, a perfect example being the rifle used by legendary professional hunter Harry Selby. Other famous users of the cartridge were Commander David Enderby Blunt, John Taylor, and Jack O'Connor.

Two major developments at the turn of the 20th century set the course for the development of the .416 Rigby as a successful rifle cartridge. The first was the development of cordite in the United Kingdom in 1889 and the development in Germany of the Gewehr 98 magazine rifle.

Prior to the invention of cordite, rifles used gunpowder (black powder) as a propellant. Due to the burn characteristics of black powder it did not produce high pressures and therefore did not produce high velocities. Big-bore cartridges of the era were the 4-bore, 6-bore and 8-bore rifles cartridges. Sub 12.7-millimetre (0.50 in) caliber were considered small-bore cartridges. Although the 4 bore, 6 bore and 8 bore cartridges were considered appropriate for dangerous game during that era, these cartridges lacked the penetration required to take heavy thick-skinned game such as elephant, buffalo or rhinoceros humanely. The development of smokeless powder revolutionized the rifle. One version of this smokeless powder developed in the U.K. was cordite which allowed higher pressures to be developed and thereby increasing the velocity of bullets. The invention of smokeless powder rendered the big bore rifles of the era obsolete. With the emergence of cordite as a propellant what was considered a big bore cartridge changed to any cartridge having a caliber of over 11.6 millimetres (0.458 in). The switch during World War I to modern smokeless powders would cause what constituted a big bore to be further refined to mean any cartridge over 10.2 millimetres (0.400 in).

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Wikipedia