Reproducing Harry Selby's 416 Rigby

[Marine A5 Sniper Rifle]

I did learn several things today, one being that buffalo horn is harder that Superman's nether region. I epoxied the tip on using two steel dowels. Squaring the two ends turned out to be a troublesome task, but I finally got it done. I don't think it will ever come off. As you can see from the pictures, it was a square block. Shaping that block tried my patience. I did polish a piece, and when finely polished, minute cracks show up along with this beautiful brown streaking. You will see what I mean when I finish the rifle. More on finish later.

I also cut the barrel band sling swivel so it would just slide past the front sight. No way was I going to remove that sight. I will cold solder the band to the barrel between those two pieces of red tape (for sanding off the bluing). I didn't have any solder paste on hand, so that will have to wait until tomorrow.

Shaping the forearm and the tip together to maintain straight lines was horrific. It took a lot of time, and 98% of it was done with a file. My "I wish I had done that..." list is getting longer, but that is always the case.

My major concern at this point is weight - not enough of it. I wanted a 10 lb rifle, and I have a 8 1/2 lb rifle right now. It balances perfectly right under the front receiver bolt, and before I put the recoil pad on it, she would stand straight up without falling over. My second concern is the long bolt handle (see pics), but as I said before, I am going to leave it as is for now,

Tools used:
belt sander
big rat tail file
10" Mill Bastard file
12" half-round file (course)
electric hand sander (like a Jitterbug)
electric hand drill
barrel bed scrapper
2-1" x 1/4" steel dowels

Cost: $0.00

More pictures in next post.

jt

[Marine A5 Sniper Rifle]

I can't get many pictures in a single post, so this post is for pictures only.

jt

[older than dirt]

First I got to say I really like your holding devices. What would we do without rubber bungi cords? LOL Also it`s really turning into one fine looking rifle. Can`t wait to see the finished shooter.

[Marine A5 Sniper Rifle]

First I got to say I really like your holding devices. What would we do without rubber bungi cords? LOL Also it`s really turning into one fine looking rifle. Can`t wait to see the finished shooter.

Like those bungees eh? They did the job, as I have been trying to demonstrate than anyone can sporterize a rifle and do a good or even excellent job with no more than a 4" heavy vise and a bunch of hand tools. I realized that when I saw a picture of Alvin Linden's shop. It was a "lean to" in his sister's back yard. His collection of tools would have fit in a small toolbox. I did need a lathe to open the bolt face, but that job could be farmed out to any machine shop as can welding on the bolt. 99% of the work I have done in my kitchen while watching TV. Now if you are married, all bets are off.

I haven't discussed the finish at all. The metal will be hand polished and rust blued to a dark blue black, or I may go for an iridescent Zischang blue, but Rigby didn't do Zischang blue jobs to my knowledge. The wood finish will most likely be logwood staining followed by Tru-Oil applied in repetitive thin coats followed by buffing with 0000 steel wool soaked in acetone. All the cruddy crap will disappear like a butterfly in a rainstorm. I do have an ancient bottle of finish that is older than me. I have no idea what it is, but it still looks good and fluid. Hmmmm.

I am pleased with it so far, as I have adhered to my original plan to a "T". If I ever build another big bore, I will drill holes in the buttstock for lead weights as well as the forearm. About 2 lbs of lead would do nicely. At 8 1/2 lbs and no muzzle break, I suspect recoil is going to be a bit of a bugger I have a 100 yard range out behind the barn, so I can be on range and ready to fire in about 15 minutes total. I am not recoil sensitive, but I don't care for a pummeling either. The Timney trigger pull is nice and crisp and about 2-3 lbs max. I am accustomed to light triggers, but they aren't everyone's cup of tea.

I have decided to checker it myself. No sense in shying away from any task at this juncture.

jt

[Emri]

I don't think I will be checkering this rifle.

Emri, do you know anyone? Someone needs to profit off my inability to run straight lines.


Jim

No Jim, I don't. I don't do checkering either. I CAN, just don't. It is very time consuming. I stocked an O/U shotgun 30 years ago in school. I checkered the forearm and got a simple pattern laid out on the grip area. The forearm is finished. The grip has lines laid out on one side. It still ain't finished 30 years later and I don't have the inclination nor time to do it. The two Mausers I built and stocked aren't checkered either. Let me know if you find someone that does nice work reasonable !!

[Emri]

I have decided to checker it myself. No sense in shying away from any task at this juncture.

jt

OK, I just read that after making the above posting. You need more than a single checkering tool. You need a right hand lay-out tool and a left-hand lay-out tool in addition to the single line cutter. Those tools keep your lines evenly spaced, YOU have to keep them straight !! There are some other tools that help to straighten out lines that get to going astray, but you have to realize they are going crooked and stop. Then use the tool to straighten the line out before continueing. Did I mention above that checkering was time consuming ??

Good Luck !!

Emri

[Marine A5 Sniper Rifle]

You need a right hand lay-out tool and a left-hand lay-out tool in addition to the single line cutter.

I have all the cool tools, but my problem is keeping the lines straight. Try as I might, I eventually get that crossover line that ruins the whole job. I try to fix it and cut out the adjacent lines, leaving a big bare spot and the process repeats itself. Maybe it is lack of patience. Whatever, I intend to take my time on this one, maybe half a panel a day and do 18 lpi.

By the way, I had a very nice 7mm Mauser I built in college that was half checkered for thirty years. People who saw it would get real quizzical looks on their faces.

jt

[Marine A5 Sniper Rifle]

I took the day off from working on the big bore, and decided to take it to the range. All I can say is OMG but does she buck. Offhand I was hitting within 6" of the center of the target at 100 yards. I have to develop my DGR etiquette a bit better before I go to the bench. I might point out that a loose grip on the trigger hand will result in getting your knuckles rapped, which is distracting. I was wearing nothing but a tee shirt, and no problem on the shoulder end. That means that recoil compensator was worth every dime it cost. I did not have excessive barrel climb either, so I guess my ideas on stock design worked out well. I got my ideas from reading Jim Howe's books, plus several others, so I'm not breaking any new ground, just using the experience of others.

I need to practice dry firing to get it all together, as I want to be able to get off 2 shots in 3 seconds, which might be unrealistic. I figure that is about all the time one would have under charge. I watched some YouTube lion charges, and 3 seconds may not be enough. The trick is to have a sight picture almost instantly. I have to avoid that "knuckle rap", as it hurt like Hades. I was having trouble picking up the front sight due to shadows in the woods. I will switch to a "day-glo" green bead and fill the groove in the rear of the back sight with white paint. That should help. I will also use full bore loads when live fire practicing, since it is the recoil I must adapt to.

Anyone have any idea how far away I need to place my chronograph to keep the muzzle blast from blowing it apart?

It was fun. If you have never fired a 458 Winchester or 416 Rigby or any other big bore bruiser, it is a hoot. Don't worry about the recoil, it only lasts a split second.

jt

[Larry C.]

Have a .416 Remington. It is without a doubt one of my favorite guns to shoot. The recoil does not bother me, but after about 20 rounds, I get a headache that won't quit.

Chasteen

[Marine A5 Sniper Rifle]

Have a .416 Remington. It is without a doubt one of my favorite guns to shoot. The recoil does not bother me, but after about 20 rounds, I get a headache that won't quit. Chasteen

They are fun to shoot, but how do you keep the trigger guard from rapping your knuckle? I went out to the range again today, and I changed loads because I realized the load I was using was pushing the pressure limitation in my rifle. I am now loading 91.4 grs 4350 behind a 350 gr bullet, which is on the lower end of the pressure scale, but recoil didn't change much. I did eliminate the sticking cases. I am also shooting 6" to 8" high at 100 yds, but I can fix that with a shorter front sight insert.

Jim