I have a Winchester Mod. 70 in 375 H&H Mag and a Ruger No. 1 in 458 Win. Mag. When shooting both rifles off hand the recoil doesn't bother me that much and I can tell very little difference between the two. But when shooting from the beench it's a different story.

I'm interested in getting a rifle in a 416 caliber. I would like to have something simular to the 98 Mauser action, a Ruger 77 MK II or a Winchester 70 Classic action. I know they are other rifle brands with the Mauser action but I'm not familiar with them, any suggeations ?

I have been reading about recoil of different calibers and some say that a 416 Rem. Mag has more recoil than a 458. They are only a couple of 416's that are standard production with gun manufacturers, 416 Rigby and 416 Rem. Mag. I don't think I would be interested in the 416 Weatherby. I know I could build a custom 416 Taylor and that might be just what I'm looking for.

Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks Bill

There are several ways to reduce recoil from a bench rest. The best way I've found is to use a rifle rest that absorbs the recoil rather than your shoulder like the Lead sled sold by a lot of suppliers.

Being an old cheap son of a gun I built my own. I only use one bag of shot on it, but it probably reduces the recoil by 80 to 90 percent.

here is a pix of my homade lead slead. It probably weighs 50-60 pounds wlthout the lead, add 25 pounds of shot in a bag and even a 460 Weatherby feels less than a 243. I know my 8mag and my buddy's 300 RUM are pussy cats.

There is a nylon strap runs behind the butt that transfers the recoil to the rifle rest. This has been replaced with a 1/8 inch piece of steel shaped like the butt pad as I tore the strap off with a 458 Win mag a few weeks ago. It came unsewed. I used an old car jack for the front support. The commercial lead sleds are well over a hundred bucks, this was made out of scrap lying around the shop and some lyman shooting bags I already had and a little cutting and welding.

Take a look at the CZ550 in .416 Rigby. I don't believe it has more recoil than a .458 but after a certain point it doesn't really matter....it just hurts. Part of the reason that some may say the .416's have more recoils is the the .416 RemMag has been available in some fairly feathery rifles for a big-bore, could just be the difference in weight.

www.czusa.com