Appearing in issue #175, May/June 2005 of the Fouling Shot, this article was written by CBA member, Ken Ewing.
I started casting bullets when I was in my early 20’s, self taught at first, and they were not of great quality. Then a friend helped me to refine my efforts a bit. I joined the Cast Bullet Association a few years back and, concurrently, subscribed to the CB-L for a few years. Finally, I started learning how to cast bullets of decent quality and for specific purposes. All my cast bullets were for handgun at first. After joining the CBA I started casting for rifle and found it was a whole new game. Now I am able to put together bullets for a rifle that will withstand modest rifle velocities and not leave five pounds of lead in the barrel after 30 rounds. But this article is not about how to produce good rifle bullets from molten lead alloys. It is about a rifle specifically for use with big lead bullets.
Perhaps many of us who have been lifelong shooters are dedicated gun nuts, and have thought about building a rifle that uses a cartridge not currently produced. I certainly have many times, but other things prevailed. About five years ago I found that my status was about to change and would result in a little less “home supervision.” Now, I won’t encourage anyone to drastically alter their lives by becoming closely acquainted with procedures used by opposing legal counsel. But it happens. And to have something positive to think about I started planning that rifle I have always admired in .416 caliber.
The commercial .416’s are all too much rifle for the North American continent. And the likelihood of my going to Africa or the other exotic hunting destinations is on a par with teaching a pig to fly. So I was thinking in terms of a .416 in a somewhat less vigorously recoiling configuration. Then some fortuitous timing of events resulted in Remchester introducing their respective short .30 cartridges and rifles. I took a look at those two cases and decided the Winchester .300 WSM case was about what I wanted for powder room. Now I had a case, relatively easy to obtain, and not the cost of a new Mercedes for every 100.
Next I decided to make a bullet. I had already designed a bullet for the .358 caliber that worked well and felt making one similar in .416 was a good gamble. My design criteria for cast bullets might best be called “off-the-wall.” I have no engineering background and am not even the rankest amateur the in study of ballistics or aerodynamics. Thus, my bullets are made to “whack-’em hard.” Happily, Dan Lynch of Mountain Molds is willing to accommodate my goofy ideas and cuts moulds for me the way I would like them done. He is the only maker I know of who will do that. I asked him to make a double cavity mould in 350 grain for wheel weights and 2% tin with gas check, two lube grooves, and crimp groove. The as-cast diameter was to be .418” with a .600” nose length. The flat nose bullet was to have a long tangential ogive and 75% meplat. The finished mould cast exactly the way I envisioned the bullet. So now I had a bullet.
Perhaps it is a bit unusual to design a gun around a bullet but that is what I did. With the bullet and case in hand I decided that all I wanted to do was neck up the case to .416 and not change any other dimensions. Doing so left plenty of shoulder to headspace on and should work reasonably well in one of the short actions built to use the .300 WSM cartridge. A friend and I both obtained one of the Montana Rifle Co. stainless short actions. I took that action and a Pac-Nor stainless .416 barrel in #6 contour to build my rifle. To top it off I ordered a set of Ashley XS sights with aperture rear and white dot front with tritium insert. I had previously had a new barrel put on a used 788 I bought that the previous owner had converted to .358 with an oversize chamber. Since it wouldn’t shoot I put the new barrel on. John Noveske, Noveske Rifleworks did that job for me and I was pleased. So I shipped my collection of parts to John and told him what I wanted.
I started casting bullets when I was in my early 20’s, self taught at first, and they were not of great quality. Then a friend helped me to refine my efforts a bit. I joined the Cast Bullet Association a few years back and, concurrently, subscribed to the CB-L for a few years. Finally, I started learning how to cast bullets of decent quality and for specific purposes. All my cast bullets were for handgun at first. After joining the CBA I started casting for rifle and found it was a whole new game. Now I am able to put together bullets for a rifle that will withstand modest rifle velocities and not leave five pounds of lead in the barrel after 30 rounds. But this article is not about how to produce good rifle bullets from molten lead alloys. It is about a rifle specifically for use with big lead bullets.
Perhaps many of us who have been lifelong shooters are dedicated gun nuts, and have thought about building a rifle that uses a cartridge not currently produced. I certainly have many times, but other things prevailed. About five years ago I found that my status was about to change and would result in a little less “home supervision.” Now, I won’t encourage anyone to drastically alter their lives by becoming closely acquainted with procedures used by opposing legal counsel. But it happens. And to have something positive to think about I started planning that rifle I have always admired in .416 caliber.
The commercial .416’s are all too much rifle for the North American continent. And the likelihood of my going to Africa or the other exotic hunting destinations is on a par with teaching a pig to fly. So I was thinking in terms of a .416 in a somewhat less vigorously recoiling configuration. Then some fortuitous timing of events resulted in Remchester introducing their respective short .30 cartridges and rifles. I took a look at those two cases and decided the Winchester .300 WSM case was about what I wanted for powder room. Now I had a case, relatively easy to obtain, and not the cost of a new Mercedes for every 100.
Next I decided to make a bullet. I had already designed a bullet for the .358 caliber that worked well and felt making one similar in .416 was a good gamble. My design criteria for cast bullets might best be called “off-the-wall.” I have no engineering background and am not even the rankest amateur the in study of ballistics or aerodynamics. Thus, my bullets are made to “whack-’em hard.” Happily, Dan Lynch of Mountain Molds is willing to accommodate my goofy ideas and cuts moulds for me the way I would like them done. He is the only maker I know of who will do that. I asked him to make a double cavity mould in 350 grain for wheel weights and 2% tin with gas check, two lube grooves, and crimp groove. The as-cast diameter was to be .418” with a .600” nose length. The flat nose bullet was to have a long tangential ogive and 75% meplat. The finished mould cast exactly the way I envisioned the bullet. So now I had a bullet.
Perhaps it is a bit unusual to design a gun around a bullet but that is what I did. With the bullet and case in hand I decided that all I wanted to do was neck up the case to .416 and not change any other dimensions. Doing so left plenty of shoulder to headspace on and should work reasonably well in one of the short actions built to use the .300 WSM cartridge. A friend and I both obtained one of the Montana Rifle Co. stainless short actions. I took that action and a Pac-Nor stainless .416 barrel in #6 contour to build my rifle. To top it off I ordered a set of Ashley XS sights with aperture rear and white dot front with tritium insert. I had previously had a new barrel put on a used 788 I bought that the previous owner had converted to .358 with an oversize chamber. Since it wouldn’t shoot I put the new barrel on. John Noveske, Noveske Rifleworks did that job for me and I was pleased. So I shipped my collection of parts to John and told him what I wanted.
While the waiting was going on I had to decide on a stock. I expected the recoil to be substantial, so I wanted a composite stock. I spent a lot of time looking and finally decided on a Lone Wolf stock. Bob Culbertson has a nice little shop at his home and does most of the building himself. I looked at the samples he had on a dozen or so rifles and picked the one I wanted. It was a straight stock design with cheek piece, recoil pad and sling studs. After discussing the rifle with him he recommended I have the balance point at the front receiver ring and make the stock out of carbon fiber and Kevlar in epoxy resin.
.300 WSM, .416 x .300 WSM, .458 x .300 WSM
I started out by saying I wanted the finished rifle to be not less than nine nor more than 10 pounds. Again he suggested I not do that and instead let the finished weight be determined by the material needed to result in the balance point as previously stated. So we had an agreement.
He said he would need the rifle before he started building the stock. After I received the rifle from the gunsmith I took it over to Bob in Montana. A week later he called and said I could come and get the rifle.
My completed gun has a 20” barrel, 13-1/4” length of pull, and weighs exactly eight pounds. When I saw the weight my first thought was “oh my, what have I done...” Actually it wasn’t phrased exactly like that but the words printed will do to convey the idea. At eight pounds, 20” barrel, and balance between my hands the gun is easy to carry and mounts quickly and easily with the sights on line as I put my cheek to the comb.
It was time to get to working on load data. I am unaware of any other rifle that has been built as I designed this one to be done. Certainly no commercial rounds are available so there is no load data, either. I own a copy of QuickLoad. It is helpful for a general idea of what to expect. But I have found that it starts ringing alarm bells and putting up red flags when I enter data for a load I use in the .358 Winchester that is straight out of the latest Nosler manual and in the middle range. So I think QL is extremely conservative. Therefore I feel I am on fairly safe ground if I carefully use good loading tech-nique and pay attention to pressure signs.
To find a starting load I borrowed from Ken Waters’ Pet Loads compilation. Ken designed and built a .416 rifle using the .350 Remington Mag case, and subsequently published the load data for his .416 Express in the compilation. Ken also developed load data for the .416 Taylor. It just happens he used three of the same IMR powders for each cartridge. I checked the capacity of the Waters Express and the Taylor cases in QuickLoad and found that the Express was 15% less than my case and the Taylor was 7% more than my case. So after a bit of extrapolation I came up with equivalent loads for a 350 grain bullet with the three common powders. I then averaged the two starting loads for each powder and concluded I was erring on the safe side since my results would be skewed towards the Express cartridge.
It was time to do some loading. The smith who built my gun ordered a set of loading dies from Hornady. He took a Mauser action he has, chambered a stub barrel in his shop, and fire formed 100 rounds of new brass for me. So I had the proper set of dies to start with. But this is to be a cast bullet rifle. And the Hornady dies are a two die set. I obtained a die body from RCBS and sent it to friend Lloyd deVore who performs magic with a lathe. He turned out a perfect neck expanding die for cast bullets. Out to the shop and crank a loading press handle. With 20 rounds of loaded ammo I head for the range and set up my target. The moment of truth. Hmm, what is this uncontrollable shaking, am I developing a serious viral infection?
The first shot can only be described as a tremendous shock. None of my other rifles come even close to half the recoil of this one. An eight pound rifle with a 350 grain bullet propelled out the muzzle at approximately 2150 f.p.s. can only be “exciting” the first time it is shot. But then you begin to get accustomed to it and find it isn’t too bad. And it really isn’t too bad. Indeed, I have moved my velocity up to about 2300 since that first shot. And it isn’t at all painful, just a very stout shove. And it doesn’t even slam my thumb knuckle into my nose or cheekbone like so many heavy rifles do. So when I carry this rifle in the very steep mountains of north Idaho I will be glad I agreed to what the stockmaker suggested I do.
My completed gun has a 20” barrel, 13-1/4” length of pull, and weighs exactly eight pounds. When I saw the weight my first thought was “oh my, what have I done...” Actually it wasn’t phrased exactly like that but the words printed will do to convey the idea. At eight pounds, 20” barrel, and balance between my hands the gun is easy to carry and mounts quickly and easily with the sights on line as I put my cheek to the comb.
It was time to get to working on load data. I am unaware of any other rifle that has been built as I designed this one to be done. Certainly no commercial rounds are available so there is no load data, either. I own a copy of QuickLoad. It is helpful for a general idea of what to expect. But I have found that it starts ringing alarm bells and putting up red flags when I enter data for a load I use in the .358 Winchester that is straight out of the latest Nosler manual and in the middle range. So I think QL is extremely conservative. Therefore I feel I am on fairly safe ground if I carefully use good loading tech-nique and pay attention to pressure signs.
To find a starting load I borrowed from Ken Waters’ Pet Loads compilation. Ken designed and built a .416 rifle using the .350 Remington Mag case, and subsequently published the load data for his .416 Express in the compilation. Ken also developed load data for the .416 Taylor. It just happens he used three of the same IMR powders for each cartridge. I checked the capacity of the Waters Express and the Taylor cases in QuickLoad and found that the Express was 15% less than my case and the Taylor was 7% more than my case. So after a bit of extrapolation I came up with equivalent loads for a 350 grain bullet with the three common powders. I then averaged the two starting loads for each powder and concluded I was erring on the safe side since my results would be skewed towards the Express cartridge.
It was time to do some loading. The smith who built my gun ordered a set of loading dies from Hornady. He took a Mauser action he has, chambered a stub barrel in his shop, and fire formed 100 rounds of new brass for me. So I had the proper set of dies to start with. But this is to be a cast bullet rifle. And the Hornady dies are a two die set. I obtained a die body from RCBS and sent it to friend Lloyd deVore who performs magic with a lathe. He turned out a perfect neck expanding die for cast bullets. Out to the shop and crank a loading press handle. With 20 rounds of loaded ammo I head for the range and set up my target. The moment of truth. Hmm, what is this uncontrollable shaking, am I developing a serious viral infection?
The first shot can only be described as a tremendous shock. None of my other rifles come even close to half the recoil of this one. An eight pound rifle with a 350 grain bullet propelled out the muzzle at approximately 2150 f.p.s. can only be “exciting” the first time it is shot. But then you begin to get accustomed to it and find it isn’t too bad. And it really isn’t too bad. Indeed, I have moved my velocity up to about 2300 since that first shot. And it isn’t at all painful, just a very stout shove. And it doesn’t even slam my thumb knuckle into my nose or cheekbone like so many heavy rifles do. So when I carry this rifle in the very steep mountains of north Idaho I will be glad I agreed to what the stockmaker suggested I do.
.There is still much work to do. My sight set has a too high front sight so I must change that to bring the point of aim up at 100 yards. My goal is to have +2” at 100 so I can reasonably expect the gun to shoot plus or minus two inches out to approximately 180 yards. I still have some problems to work out with proper seating depth so I have a good gas seal in the throat and the gun feeds well. The wide meplat makes that a bit of a challenge.
.358 Winchester (225 gr.), .416 x 300 (350 gr.) I intend to do a lot more load development. I presently use 61 grains IMR 3031 for my load. I’m not at all sure 3031 will be the best powder for this cartridge until I have tried a lot of others. But all the things yet to be done are fun for those of us who enjoy experimenting with their guns.
I suppose it is fair to expect some to ask what I might want with a .416 rifle? The best answer I can give is I didn’t have one and always wanted one. Beyond that does anyone need a reason for having more than three rifles? And it gave me an excuse to build a rifle that doesn’t otherwise exist unless someone else had the same idea after looking at the .300 WSM case.
And how does it shoot? I just had the chance to put it on a bench last week. At 50 yards I got one three shot group that was tight enough it was difficult to discern three holes. They measured approximately .416 x .550. But 50 yards is not a good measure of how a rifle shoots. At 100 yards the bullets were dispersing because they weren’t seated out far enough to give me a good gas seal and the barrel had leaded a bit. Until I have done much more work on loads and getting a proper seal I won’t know how well the gun shoots. That can be another story at a different time.
And did it all go smoothly? No, it definitely did not!I found I had to backtrack several times and still have some loose ends to tie up and clean up. But I suppose that is the price one pays when he doesn’t have the skills or the tools to do all the work himself.
For now I am pleased to have realized a long desire to do something really different with a rifle that might not have been done by anyone else. And it seems to work in spite of me. So if that chance to hunt Alaska ever comes up I know I will have a rifle suitable to the hunt.
I suppose it is fair to expect some to ask what I might want with a .416 rifle? The best answer I can give is I didn’t have one and always wanted one. Beyond that does anyone need a reason for having more than three rifles? And it gave me an excuse to build a rifle that doesn’t otherwise exist unless someone else had the same idea after looking at the .300 WSM case.
And how does it shoot? I just had the chance to put it on a bench last week. At 50 yards I got one three shot group that was tight enough it was difficult to discern three holes. They measured approximately .416 x .550. But 50 yards is not a good measure of how a rifle shoots. At 100 yards the bullets were dispersing because they weren’t seated out far enough to give me a good gas seal and the barrel had leaded a bit. Until I have done much more work on loads and getting a proper seal I won’t know how well the gun shoots. That can be another story at a different time.
And did it all go smoothly? No, it definitely did not!I found I had to backtrack several times and still have some loose ends to tie up and clean up. But I suppose that is the price one pays when he doesn’t have the skills or the tools to do all the work himself.
For now I am pleased to have realized a long desire to do something really different with a rifle that might not have been done by anyone else. And it seems to work in spite of me. So if that chance to hunt Alaska ever comes up I know I will have a rifle suitable to the hunt.
