400 grain X-bullets in .416 Rigby

[dubber123]

I have a CZ in .416 Rigby that I love.  I have been shooting plain Hornady round nose 400 grainers that shoot unbelievably well.  I was wondering however, if anybody has experience with the Barnes X-bullet in these rifles?  I am surprised how fast my loads are, (To the point of calling Hodgden to see if my chronograph could possibly be right), and was thinking a more sleek bullet might make this into more of a long range gun.  Any thoughts or comments will be greatly appreciated, thanks!

[gwindrider1]

dubber123,

I can,t speak directly about these bullets in .416, but I have been shooting the 450 grn. TSX in my CZ 550 .458 Win.  The problems I am dealing with in regards to these bullets may not be a factor for you.  Being all copper, they are somewhat longer than other bullets, and in a .458 win., that is an issue.  However, that should not be a problem in a Rigby case.  I do get plenty of velocity with these, 2278 fps.

The other issue to contend with is the copper fouling they leave behind.  It is considerable.  Ten rounds down the tube, and my lands look like they have been plated.  I've only got about 250 rounds through this rifle as yet, so I'm hopeful that the bore will smooth out a bit.  Removing the stuff is not that much of a problem since I started using the foaming cleaners(Knock-Out).  That said, I do see an accuracy loss, and a pressure increase as I continue through a shooting session.

I have shot these into various types of media to get a representative mushroomed bullet, and I am inpressed with the terminal performance.  If you can deal with the fouling, they are great bullets, but I am seriously considering switching to North Forks instead.

I hope that this has helped you, but I suspect you will just have to try them for yourself.  Good shooting!

[dubber123]

Thanks for the reply, I haven't shot any X's out of anything, so you are ahead of me.  My 400 grainers clock 2595 fps. average, with 1/4" case head expansion, so I can apparently go hotter if I want.  I thought the chrono was off, but it kept repeating.  I called Hodgden, and they said it was entirely possible.  This is 195 fps. faster than the manual says. I was hoping the X's might reach the same velocity which should shoot plenty flat for this large of a caliber.  I just wanted to hear some personal responses before I spent the $$$ on these bullets.  Thanks!