.416 Steyr: Sensible, Moderate Big Bore

The author set out to design a “sensible” big bore cartridge which would duplicate the performance of the classic .404 Jeffery or the .400 Nitros… but with modest powder charges. Key to shooter success and acceptance would be a special “EXPRESS” load that would duplicate the recoil of the .30-06 but offer a much bigger bullet. This load would be great for hogs, elk black bear, moose, or even African plains game.

Most serious hunters bound for Africa or Alaska in search of large, or heavy, dangerous game, often stop in caliber size at the medium bore .375 H&H. Of course, if things go wrong, not only do even bigger bores work much better- such as the .416s, .458s or even the .500 Nitro, but they also feel a lot more comforting in the hunter’s hands- especially if things take a turn for the worse.

Alas, few shooters can handle the tremendous recoil they dish out. How much more recoil do they produce than the classic .375 H&H? PLENTY! In like weight rifles, the .416 Remington has 45% more recoil than the .375. The .416 Rigby has 56% more. The .458 Winchester Magnum and .458 Lott have 66% and 96% more recoil, respectively. The .500 Nitro with 100 grains of powder under a 570-grain bullet dishes out 134% more recoil than the .375 H&H! Scoping any of these bruisers would surely result in a nasty scope cut on the forehead. With open sights, you are limited to shots not much over 100 yards with any of the above. Accurate shot placement is also much more difficult in the field with open sights.

For these reasons, most professional hunters or guides recommend bringing a scoped medium bore .375 for the task. Fortunately, they will probably carry one of the aforementioned big bores to sort things out should things take a turn for the worse. Personally, I do not care for having to rely on someone else to finish what I have started.

Installing a muzzle brake is NOT the way to go on a big bore rifle. The muzzle blast from a brake in the field feels much worse than an ice pick in the ear. Ethically, as your tracker, PH, or guide make their living out in the field, who are we to cause permanent hearing loss to others just because we find a big bore rifle’s recoil objectionable?

Long ago, I had achieved excellent field results with the .376 Steyr. Repeatedly, I had gotten almost full-length penetration in zebras (5+ feet, from the front or the rear) using the 270-gr Barnes X bullets. Looking at the 350-gr...

.416 bullet from the same maker, I felt if I could achieve similar velocities with the larger and heavier bullet, that would result in a very respectable increase in power. I looked hard at simply opening the .376 Steyr case up to .416 caliber to achieve the performance I was after- and that was the route I chose to go.

Calculations showed that at this speed, the lighter bullet would have recoil similar to a .30-06.

With a more modest capacity in comparison to the .416 Remington or Rigby, I also felt it would be much better for developing a special “Express” load that most any shooter could handle. My goal for it would be a 250-gr bullet at the same speed as a full-power load for the 350-gr bullet. Calculations showed that at this speed, the lighter bullet would have recoil similar to a .30-06. So if a shooter could handle the ‘06, they would be comfortable also shooting the Expressload.

I also wanted to duplicate the velocity of the classic .404 Jeffery and the .400 Nitros- a 400-gr bullet (soft point or solid) at a respectable 2,150 fps. Hopefully, with some luck and careful load development, the three weights might impact fairly close at 100 yards so as to make resighting in the field unnecessary. My final goal was to hopefully not have it generate appreciably more recoil than the .375 H&H. Were all of these goals possible, or was my wish list a few items too long, or perhaps too optimistic?

I am happy to say that all have been easily met, and other important ones were also realized. Most importantly, the .416 Steyr is a pleasure to shoot for even 50 rounds at a time. This is something that no other big bore could ever hope to claim. Finally, hunters have a better alternative to the .375- a sensible big bore rifle- the .416 Steyr.

Chapter 1: The .416 Steyr

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With the parent cartridge being the .376 Steyr, I first looked at critical dimensions to see if any changes might be necessary. Close communications with Dave Manson, from Manson Precision Reamers (www.mansonreamers.com), resulted in some helpful suggestions. Dave was able to provide me with a set of chambering and die making (sizer die) reamers in a very prompt manner. Once the barrel...

was chambered, both reamers were sent off to Redding (www.redding-reloading.com) for a set of custom full length dies.

They came to me with a tapered expander ball that smoothly took the parent case up from .375 to .416. I simply lubricated the inside of the case neck using a cotton swab and Imperial Sizing Die Wax- also available from Redding- and ran each case up into the FL die. The resultant formed case then had its inside neck degreased using a cotton swab and carb/choke cleaner. Priming with Federal 210 large rifle primers gave me a ready to load case. The process is very quick and easy. Many of the Hornady cases have been reloaded over eight times- primer pockets remain tight; trimming has not been necessary. The Redding dies rework the brass in a minimal manner. With the FL die backed off of the shellholder one-eight of a turn, cases so sized feed and chamber smoothly.

Desiring to keep things simple, the headspace dimension was kept the same as the parent case. This allowed for a .376 Steyr headspace gauge to be used for the .416 and also required no changes to the magazine for proper feeding. Though the shoulder seemed to provide an adequate surface area for providing headspace. The body-shoulder junction dimension was increased from 0.475 to 0.490”. This would also provide for a slight increase in powder capacity and increase the shoulder surface area slightly.

Note that while firing the first 300 rounds, made by simply necking up unfired .376 cases, the original shoulder proved to be fully adequate for headspacing purposes. Not one cartridge ever failed to fire due to an insufficient shoulder, allowing for the firing pin to move the case forward without detonating the primer. The base diameter just above the extractor groove was decreased slightly- from 0.508 to 0.506”- so fired cases would have a cleaner look when using the Hornady brass.

Necking the .376 case up to .416 results in the case shortening slightly from 2.36 to 2.33”. As the formed case is virtually identical to a fired case, no fireforming is required. Full-power loads were used right from the start with the first firing serving to fill out the shoulder.

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Chapter 2: The Rifle

I began by sending off a new ProHunter in .376 Steyr to my gunsmith. My instructions were very simple: install a .416 caliber Shilen stainless barrel with a 1-14” twist, and chamber using the Manson finishing reamer. As the barrel channel in the Steyr gray stock was oversized for the original .376 barrel, increase the outside contour on the .416 to “fill up” the channel space. The 24” barrel was to finish up at 0.785” in diameter at the muzzle- an appropriate length and weight for the cartridge and caliber size. I also had him install the original factory open sights onto the new barrel. At my request, Steyr converted the bolt handle to their Tactical round knob style. This is an excellent shape to have on a dangerous game rifle.

When things take a turn for the worse in the bush, having six extra rounds in your rifle… is much better than having them in your pocket!

The standard gray synthetic stock works well on the .376. I have over 1,400 full-power rounds through mine. However with the .416’s increased recoil, I found that the gray stock was flexing in the magazine sidewall area, causing the tang at the action rear to forcefully contact the stock. When I switched to the black, fiberglass-reinforced stock for the .416, all earlier binding problems disappeared. Now with over 1,500 rounds through this rifle, it is certain that the more rigid black stock is the way to go.

So contoured, the finished empty rifle (with no scope) weighs 8.35 lbs., or about 15 ~ 20 % less than other big bore rifles. It balances perfectly and is of a manageable weight for a rifle that may get carried a lot in the field, but seldom shot. Right from the beginning, I installed an excellent LimbSaver recoil pad by Sims Vibration Laboratory (www.limbsaver.com) on this rifle. Of a totally new design and construction, it provides astounding recoil absorption. I regularly fired 100 plus, full-power loads with no shooter discomfort. The LimbSaver pad is available pre-sized to fit a number of factory rifles plus several incremental sizes that can be ground to fit.

The standard detachable magazine holds 3 rounds, plus one in the chamber. With the Steyr High Capacity Kit installed, you can have a total of 8 + 1 rounds in the rifle. This would be an excellent...

choice for the professional hunter or guide. Note that no other big bore rifle in the world even comes close to this cartridge capacity. When things take a turn for the worse in the bush, having six extra rounds in your rifle is much better than having them in your pocket! Just as important, a quick magazine change will then place eight more rounds on tap- a very comforting feeling for sure.

For accuracy testing I mounted a Leupold Vari-X II, 4-12 power scope using their QRW bases. The moderate recoil of the .416 Steyr never resulted in the scope even coming close to hitting me on the forehead. For hunting use, I would choose to mount their popular 1.75-5 Vari-X III safari scope for even greater eye relief.

Chapter 3: Considerations for the .416 Steyr

There were several goals I had in mind when designing the .416 Steyr. I wanted it to be the first truly “sensible” big bore rifle that most any shooter could enjoy using.

• Duplicate the ballistics of the .404 Jeffery or the .400 Nitros, using 400-gr solids or soft points.
• Have a faster 350-gr Barnes X-Bullet load that would shoot flatter than the 400’s, while offeringmore than adequate weight for heavy game.
• Create a load using the Barnes 300-gr X, which would be adequate for medium-sized game,having it shoot close to the point of impact of the 350’s.
• Develop a special “Express” load for the .416 Steyr using a prototype 250-gr Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet, which would be indistinguishable in recoil from the popular .30- 06, but offer far more impact on game than a .30 caliber bullet.
• Find a moderate, pleasant shooting cast bullet practice load which can still offer good performance in the hunting field.
• See if .429 caliber pistol/rifle bullets could be sized down to work as inexpensive jacketed rounds for light practice.

While this may seem like a very tall order, I am pleased to announce that all of the above were accomplished during my load development and testing. The results in all areas are very good- in some areas they are...