.416 Rigby vs. .505 Gibbs

Two Legends of the Safari Trail

Chatting the other day with a customer who brought in a beautiful CZ rifle. Said he was thinking about having it reworked into a .505 Gibbs. Now, that’s not something you hear every Tuesday. But it sure got these old wheels turnin’.

See, I didn’t grow up tracking elephant through mopane thickets. I hunted squirrels in the Missouri hardwoods and ran whitetail with a .30-06. But I remember thumbing through old copies of Outdoor Life and American Rifleman, staring at grainy black and white photos of sunburned Hunters posing beside buffalo, lion, even elephant. That’s when I first laid eyes on two names that stuck like pine tar: .416 Rigby and .505 Gibbs.

These weren’t cartridges for plinking pop cans off a fencepost. These were made for the thick stuff, where every breath counts and there ain’t no such thing as a “second shot unless you’re lucky.”

So, grab a beer, and let’s talk about two heavy hitters from a different world, where the stakes are high and the recoil is higher.

The .416 Rigby: The Gentleman’s Hammer

Back in 1911, John Rigby & Co., a London gunmaker with a taste for the refined and dangerous, decided to build something special. A bolt-action cartridge that could handle anything the African bush could throw at you. The result? The .416 Rigby.

This wasn’t your granddad’s black powder double rifle. The .416 was among the first big bore rounds built for smokeless powder and bolt guns, specifically, the mighty Magnum Mauser action. You got a lighter rifle, faster reloads, and more firepower on tap when the grass started moving in front of you.

She throws a 400-grain bullet at around 2,400 feet per second, putting over 5,000 foot pounds of “sit down and stay there” into whatever’s charging. It’s earned a reputation for deep penetration and stone cold reliability, even when your shirt’s soaked through and the humidity’s choking you sideways.

It’s elegant. Powerful. Deadly. And still one of the most trusted safari rounds over a hundred years later.

The .505 Gibbs: Big, Mad, and Charging

Also born in 1911, but in Bristol, England, was the .505 Gibbs. Originally called the .505 Rimless Nitro Express, this beast had one mission: stop something massive that was charging fast and full of bad intentions.

This is not a cartridge you take lightly. We're talkin’ a 525-grain bullet, pushed at 2,300 feet per second. That’s over 6,000 foot-pounds of energy; enough to put a train on its back.

While the Rigby is about balance, the Gibbs is about brute force. You don’t shoot it from a lightweight rifle. These are long, heavy Mauser-action brutes, built like a railroad tie and just about as subtle.

You’re not making 300-yard shots with the Gibbs. But if a cape buffalo is coming in fast and you’ve got one chance, this is the cartridge you pray you’re holding.

Ballistics Showdown

Let’s stack them side by side:

The .416 Rigby has more manageable recoil, better trajectory, and is just plain easier to live with. The .505 Gibbs is for when things go south and you need a wall of lead between you and bad news.

Who Carries What in the Field?

Professional hunters, the real kind, not the Instagram kind, have leaned on both these rounds for generations. The .416 Rigby is often the minimum for dangerous game. It’s what you reach for when you’re after lion, leopard, or buffalo and still want the ability to stretch your shots.

The .505 Gibbs? That’s backup gun territory. It’s the round a big game hunter keeps slung across his shoulder while walking behind a client with sweaty palms and a borrowed .375. It’s for elephant, hippo, and buffalo at powder-burn distance. Not forgiving, not versatile, but absolutely final.

Modern Loads and What You’ll Pay

Both cartridges have had a bit of a renaissance thanks to nostalgia and a growing interest in safari-style rifles.

• .416 Rigby is more common. Hornady, Federal, Norma, Swift, they all load it. You can find it on the shelf, and brass is out there if you reload.

• .505 Gibbs? You’ll pay. Specialty ammo only. You might wait a bit. But if you’ve got the rifle and the dream, you’ll find a way.

The Rifles Themselves

For .416 Rigby, you’ve got options: CZ-USA, Ruger, Mauser, Dakota, even Blaser. They’re not cheap, but they’re built to keep you alive. Most wear fine walnut and express sights and are ready to walk the trail.

For .505 Gibbs, it’s custom builds and classics: Heym, Westley Richards, Searcy. You’ll pay a premium, and they’re big, heavy brutes, but they’re built for a purpose. And that purpose ain’t punching paper at the local range.

Uncle Kenny’s Final Say

If you’re dreaming of Africa, or just admiring the rifles that tamed the continent one charge at a time, the .416 Rigby and .505 Gibbs should be in your imagination, and maybe even in your safe.

• The .416 Rigby is like a seasoned guide: smart, steady, and reliable. It'll do the job every time, and still have manners at the dinner table.

• The .505 Gibbs? That’s a double bourbon served neat. You don’t drink it every day (maybe), but when you do, you remember why.

Me? I’d take the Rigby. Load it with solids, say a little prayer, and tip my hat to anyone lugging a Gibbs through the bush. But I wouldn’t feel under gunned with either not when the grass parts and you lock eyes with something big and mean that doesn’t want you there.

By:

Uncle Kenny

Gun Buyer | St. Louis, MO | MDRF Enterprises

👉 https://www.mdrfenterprises.com