416 Ruger

The 416 Ruger cartridge is one of the newest ammo rounds we have covered recently. Developed in 2008 as a joint venture between Ruger and Hornady it is a relatively unknown round but the 416 isn’t a new concept.

Overview of the 416 Ruger

The 416 Ruger is a beltless, rimless, bottlenecked cartridge design based on the 375 Ruger cartridge. The reason Ruger and Hornady came together to make this round was to create a cartridge that equaled the 416 Rigby and the 416 Remington but would fit in standard length 30-06 action.

Purpose of 416 Ruger

The overview touched on the purpose of why the 416 Ruger ammo was created in the first place. Which was to create a round that would fit in a 30-06 action.

But the purpose of the 416 Ruger is for taking down dangerous game.

It’s the perfect round for hunting such game as elephant or buffalo. This round is meant for taking down game that, if wounded, would present an immediate threat to the shooter.

Performance of 416 Ruger

The numbers on the 416 Ruger are incredible, so incredible that its only real use is hunting large game in places like Africa. Most North American game can be taken with 375 Ruger sufficiently.

The .416 Ruger uses a 400-grain bullet which has a muzzle velocity of 2400 feet per second and 5,116-foot lbs of force.

At 100 yards this round has an incredible velocity of 1902 feet per second and nearly 3,212-foot lbs on target.

Those numbers are just astonishing.

Considering .223 Remington in 55-grain clocks in at 2520 feet per second and dismal 776-foot lbs on target at 100 yards you can really see the insane difference in these rounds.

If you are looking for a faster round with similar force you can take a peek at the 7mm Rem Mag.

Guns that Shoot 416 Ruger

The main issue with 416 Ruger is your gun selection. The gun market is currently trying to stabilize after a crazy 2019-2020.

So a lot of your less common caliber guns are much harder to find or impossible to find.

.416 Ruger is one of those hard-to-find guns. There are two guns both of which are made by Ruger that sports the 416 Ruger chamber.

Ruger Hawkeye

The Ruger Hawkeye is a true work of art bolt action rifle. This beauty has a non-rotating bolt and features a stainless steel barrel and action in a wood stock.

There is a Ruger Hawkeye version with a blued barrel if you prefer the darker action and barrel.

This gun is truly a work of art. If you can find one grab it because they are currently not easy to come by.

Ruger Guide Gun

The Ruger Guide Gun is very similar to the Ruger Hawkeye with a few minor differences with the muzzle brake and iron sights.

You can mount a scope to either gun but the Guide gun comes with iron sights out of the box whereas the hawkeye does not.

416 Ruger Ammo Price and Availability

Like the guns 416 Ruger Ammo is extremely difficult to track down and purchase.

This is one of the few rounds that you almost can’t find anywhere. It’s gonna be tough to find these rounds and reloading may be your best and only option.

Hornady is the only ammo company I know of making 416 Ruger ammo. But you likely won’t find it in stock anywhere online.

Your local gun store might have it if you’re lucky but I would call first.

FAQ

Another interesting round that is for large game like the 416 Ruger is the 300 Remington Ultra Mag, better known as 300 RUM.