Press Release: 29 May 2019
More than two decades after the development of their last cartridge, London gunmaker John Rigby & Co. is set to release a new calibre, the .416 Rigby No. 2, which will be chambered in Rigby’s Rising Bite double rifles.
Dr. Eckhard Stief, a passionate German hunter, rifle collector and avid fan of rifles, is the genius behind the design of this new and improved .416 Rigby No. 2 cartridge. Working hand-in-hand with Rigby, he has seen through the development of the new calibre from concept.
As a keen cartridge developer, Dr. Stief has previously improved calibres for medium and small-sized game but four years ago decided that he would like to work on one last project – to develop an improved, more modern calibre for big game, so struck up the alliance with Rigby to see through the project.
A fan of the .416 Rigby, Dr. Stief maintains that John Rigby who developed the original cartridge in 1911 was ahead of his time when he produced the calibre, adding that it can be compared to new modern age cartridges.
Using the .416 Rigby’s original design, Dr. Stief has simply added a rim to the cartridge, to improve the extraction in double rifles, maintaining the same cartridge pressures and velocities.
Dr. Stief commented: “I selected the .416 Rigby for development because it’s powerful for shooting big game and penetrates well but it can also be used on medium-sized game like kudu and oryx, making it a good all-rounder. For me the modern shape of the case and good shoulder is important, plus the neck is not so long like many older calibres and there is lots of bullets readily available. By not changing the mother cartridge, reloaders can use their normal reloading full die set, simply needing a new case holder and original published reloading data can be used, so long as their rifle is chambered for the calibre. I have simply selected today’s best calibre from the big game calibre group and added a rim, aiding cartridge extraction.”
Marc Newton, the managing director of Rigby, added: “We are delighted to work with Dr. Stief, to develop a new Rigby calibre for our Rising Bite rifles. By adding a rim to the original .416 Rigby it modernises the cartridge and brings it into 21st century.”
Where can I obtain .416 Rigby No. 2 ammunition?
has any of the 416 no. 2 ammo available for purchase?
In 1997 Paul Roberts sold the Rigby name and other intellectual property to Neil Gibson of Texas, but kept the right to continue building certain Rigby guns and rifles in England, while Gibson began making Rigby weapons in California. In 2010, two American investors, Jeff Meyer and John Reed, acquired the assets of John Rigby Co.. They returned the manufacturing to London, J. Roberts Son, and published the book
This was suggested by John Pondoro Taylor more than 50 years ago. Experience has shown that .416 Rigby has adequate power for any animal as shown by the fact that staunch double advocates like Taylor and J.A. Hunter became users of the .416 Rigby in the latter part of their life. Now with modern American bullet designs, the .416 becomes unbeatable. It can also fire 300 and 350 grain bullets at higher velocities, but a double will not accurately group different bullet weights.
This is a wonderful idea and will be a great all round double cartridge .
Well done
Congratulations to the development of the 416 Rigby No.2.
John Howard “Pondoro” Taylor loved this cartridge very much, but being a double rifle man, he wanted this cartridge in the Rimmed version, as Rigby has now developed. It is a pity that John Taylor did not live to see this occur.
Now for the next project. Can you please make a rimmed version of the 450 Rigby Rimless. You can call it the 450 Rigby No.2, and build it for Double and Single Shot Falling Block Rifles. Regulate it for a 500 grain bullet, not the 480 grain bullets that Kynoch use to produce. The reason is it to be used on large African game.
I am a registered Field Guide and use to work in Kruger National Park, where there are African Elephants, which can get troublesome at times and a person wants something that has better stopping power.
Regards
Witold Jakutowicz