Reeder Custom Guns - Gary have you guys ever done Encore handgun bbls. in

full .416 Rigby, 9.3x62? Sounds like a good one to set back in the handgun armory, just in case. The 9.3 probably would do OK in a handgun anyway. The over-capacity .416 I don't know, might do fair if inefficient.

Had my eye out for one of the factory TC .416 Rigby rifle tubes for a while, never saw one that was not marked up crazy. They were goofy "fluted" stainless barrels about 24". Wish I'd bought one back then.

it's slightly lower factory pressure than the 9.3x62 and with it's long case and big rim looks a lot like a close factory cousin to your .378 GNR that I dearly love.

If you absolutely have to sport a factory loaded ctg. in your hunting handgun what custom chambering options would be wise for the world?

We built a few of them back before the Encore and I used one in Africa on a 3 week safari back in the mid 90s..
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We have built a few in the Encore but not much call for them in the past. These days as more and more people know what the 9.3 is, we are getting more questions about them. Our 366 GNR, based on the 405 case, is a bit more punch than the 9.3 X 74 and easier to get components for. We also have a new one coming, our 361 Falcon, that is the 30-30 necked to .366 which should give the old 30-30 Marlin model 336 plenty of punch.
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in the pic below the 338 Falcon on the left and 361 Falcon on the right.
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of them were chambered in 9.3 X 72 or 9.3 X 74. I got to liking the 9.3 then and used one of them up on the Arctic Circle in Canada on caribou, Arctic Fox and Ptarmigan. The drilling was 16 gauge/16 gauge and 9.3 X 74. I had a Krieghoff 22 Magnum insert put in the right hand 16 gauge barrel and adjusted it to point of aim. I shot my 2 caribou with the 9.3 X 74, the Arctic fox with the 22 Mag and the Ptarmigan with the 16 gauge. Made it a neat hunt.

I picked it up a few years ago when I was a better earner. Always wanted a double for hogs and 9.3 seems just ducky!!

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but say you got the news you could not enter say a South American country with a Wildcat or Proprietary caliber handgun. Something weird like that.

My beloved FA2008 in .378 GNR would be out. Bless his heart I know with enough time Bob could make me another barrel for around $600 (at least), switching to an Encore would sure be more cost efficient. What plan B would go good in the safe for a world travel option?

Gary's designs are about the most efficient I can figure in the handgun barrel but what if you couldn't use them?!! Had to be a factory produced and listed caliber.

right now. The new rules this year say the handguns have to be in a recognizable caliber. The people that give out the permits look in the book and if you pistol is a 378 GNR, they look and see if there is a 378 listed. If so they sign off on it. Right now we are trying to get the 429 GNR OK'd. But there are no 429 calibers listed so that one is an iffy. Wildcats and proprietary calibers are a major part of this new law but Air2000 that gets our permits for us are solving that problem a bit at a time. And it is not just our calibers either. Alcorn has a 416 Taylor that they are working on and there are a couple of others,and Anne has a copy of my manufacturers license so that is helping. John and Anne both say they will get things straightened out in plenty of time so I just have to keep the faith and a cool head. We have 4 weeks as of this weekend so time is getting short.

But your 378 GNR FA would be fine. And I don't think we would have to worry about them going to a factory caliber only as new calibers come up every year and there would be no way for them to regulate that and the PH's would raise so much hell it would not be the way to go.

But you mentioned a handgun for a world traveler. Those days are gone. I stopped hunting in Australia and New Zealand as there are no handguns allowed, period. A while back I checked into hunting in one of the Combloc countries but the hunt involved lots of paperwork, lots of special permits and hunting with guides and PH's that are an unknown and if you have problems you could end up in a Russian jail with Ivan the terrible as a roommate.

South America is pretty much a no go. I have checked into a couple of countries and all I have checked into say no handguns. Plus they are twice the cost of Africa and for smaller animals that are much less challenging. A good friend checked into a Spanish Goat hunt in South America and he could hunt bear in Alaska for half that price. It was a 3 day hunt and ran about $7000. And it was the same Spanish Goat you can get at the HHC for $795. You could go to Africa and take 3 or 4 animals and stay a whole week for $7000.

So realistically South Africa is your best bet. Once we get past this little hurdle things should be running smooth. These PH's bring too much money into the country for the politicians to mess with it much. They like to show that they are still in charge but that is normal with politicians, no matter what country you go to.

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Got my curiosity up as I have a little experience there. Some good info was the factory 200 gr. ammo was running a little under 2450 fps in a 15" Encore. That is around 75-80 grs. of powder?! I remember me working with my .338 GNR and around 60 grs. of powder with the 14" Encore and 200 gr. bullets. I got a true 2600 fps with very efficient burn. We took (2) Blackbucks at the Y-O with it.

I've never fired a .338 Win. Mag. from a 15" barrel but I have from a 22" and I can think of a more pleasant place to be than close proximity. I'd probably not enjoy a belted Handgun ctg.with the bumping extractor on the TC. I don't think but that was some interesting comparative information.

Should have kept it. Great fun.

custom shop told me at the Celebrity Handgun hunt that the belted magnums were stretching the frames and "suggested" we not build any more of them as they were destroying the frames. That was when TC stopped building them. I figured he knew what he was talking about so that was when we stopped building the belted magnums also. So it is probably good that you did get rid of it.

really puts out the breach thrust. The .416 Rigby is actually low pressure, so it works.

Cabelas many years ago. Blued w/ brake. its a good shooter, son shot a moose in Maine with it and a couple of deer.

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