Description

                                      Product Overview 450 Rigby

The .450 Rigby Magnum Rimless better known simply as the .450 Rigby is a .45 caliber (11.6 mm) rimless, bottlenecked cartridge intended for the hunting of heavy dangerous game. The cartridge is based on the .416 Rigby necked up to accept a .458-inch (11.6 mm) bullet. The cartridge is intended for use in magazine rifles. The cartridge should not be confused with the .450 Rigby Nitro Express which is a rimmed cartridge intended for double rifles.

Performance

Unlike many of the modern .458 caliber dangerous game cartridges like the .458 Winchester, .458 Lott or the .460 Weatherby Magnum, the .450 Rigby was designed to operate at more moderate pressures. Maximum pressure limits enforced by CIP is given at 4,000 bar (58,000 psi). At these pressures, the cartridge easily reaches the intended 2,300–2,400 ft/s (700–730 m/s) with the 500-grain (32 g) bullet. The lower pressures provide greater operational reliability in tropical environments where the cartridge is intended for use. Heat can cause higher than normal pressures which can lead to difficulty in extracting the spent case. In a dangerous game hunting situation such failures can result in injury or possibly a fatality.

Unlike the .458 Winchester Magnum and to a degree the .458 Lott, the .450 Rigby reaches the coveted 2,400 ft/s (730 m/s) velocity mark with the 500 gr (32 g) with ease and well under the pressure limits imposed by the CIP upon the cartridge. Handloaders can take advantage of the wide range of .458 caliber (11.6 mm) bullets available. Acceptable bullets weight range from 300-grain (19 g) to 600-grain (39 g). The 500-grain (32 g) bullet can easily reach 2,500 ft/s (760 m/s) and staying within the pressure limitation imposed on the cartridge.

Sporting Use

The .450 Rigby was designed primarily to take heavy, thick skinned, dangerous game species. Due to the cartridge’s performance, it would be considered a better cartridge for these game species such as African elephant, Cape buffalo, rhinoceros and perhaps hippopotamus than the usual standby cartridges used on these game such as the .458 Winchester Magnum or even the .458 Lott cartridges especially if one was to use handloaded ammunition. When hunting these game species a bullet of a tough construction is required especially at the velocities the .450 Rigby is capable of attaining. It is important to tailor the performance to the velocity rating of the bullet with regard to this cartridge as it provides a step up in performance over the cartridges the .458 caliber (11.43 mm) bullets are manufactured for. This is especially true for soft-nosed bullets as they can open up too rapidly at velocities the .450 Rigby can attain. When hunting these game species only bullets weighting 450–600 gr (29–39 g) of a tougher construction should be used.