The .416 Rigby is a rifle cartridge designed in 1911 by London based gunmaker John Rigby & Company, for hunting dangerous game. It is the first cartridge to use a bullet of .416 inch (10.57 mm) diameter. The rifles, as built by John Rigby & Co., were initially made up on the Magnum Mauser 98 action (a derivative of the Gewehr 98 bolt-action rifle), although in later years, some were made on standard length actions, a perfect example being the rifle used by legendary professional hunter Harry Selby. Other famous users of the cartridge were Commander David Enderby Blunt, John Taylor, and Jack O'Connor. Origin and history Two major developments at the turn of the 20th century set the course for the development of .416 Rigby as a successful big game hunting cartridge. The first was the development of cordite in the UK in 1889 and second the development of the Magnum Mauser 98 action based on the Gewehr 98 bolt-action magazine rifle which was designed in Germany. Prior to the invention of cordite, rifles used gunpowder (black powder) as a propellant. Due to the slow burn characteristics of black powder, it did not produce high pressures and therefore did not produce high velocities required to take large, thick-skinned game such as Cape buffalo, rhino, and elephant. The development of smokeless powder revolutionized the rifle. One version of this smokeless powder, cordite, allowed higher pressures to be developed, thereby increasing the velocity and performance of rifle cartridges. The higher velocities produced by cordite allowed the use of smaller diameter projectiles which penetrated big game much more reliably. The next improvement was the development of the Gewehr 98 rifle by Paul Mauser. Paul Mauser did not invent the bolt-action rifle but rather he refined the design, allowing controlled round feeding, a stripper clip for fast loading, and a strong action with the ability to withstand high pressures generated by the new smokeless powders. The rifle design would go on to become the most common and successful rifle design in the history of firearms. During World War II most Axis and Allied nations, with the exception of the Americans (M1 Garand), British (Lee–Enfield), and the Russians (Mosin–Nagant) used rifles based on the Mauser 98 action. Today this is still the most popular rifle design and is used by Heym, Holland & Holland, Mauser, Rigby, Westley Richards, Winchester, and several other gunmakers. The