In the late 1950s, Winchester came out with the 264, 338, and 458 Winchester Magnums. In 1962, Remington used the same cartridge case for the 7mm Remington Magnum. The case is essentially the basic belted number that has been around since 1912 as the 375 H&H Magnum but, instead of being left full length at 2.82 to 2.85 inches (depending on which full-length belted magnum you're talking about), the case was shortened to 2.50 inches to make the new generation of short magnums. Weatherby had already been producing shortened magnums since the mid-1940s, but never mind that. And never mind the late 1950s development of the 308 and 358 Norma Magnums.

The main purpose of the shorter magnums was that more power could be stuffed into cartridges with the overall loaded length of 3.34 inches, and therefore fit and feed through a standard-length action. That required the cartridge cases to have less body taper than the 375 H&H, which allowed for more powder capacity. The reason I'm focusing only on the commercial shorter magnums of the "big two" is because it is that original 1956 entry, the 458 Winchester Magnum, that serves as the basis for the 416 Taylor. It is, essentially, the 458 necked down to 416, and then blown out for less body taper. Another approach is to neck up 338 Winchester Magnum cases, which already have the correct body dimensions. However, the "blow-out" is no big deal, which is the beauty of headspacing on the belt, which is essentially a rim moved forward a little ways. Think about it.

Robert Chatfield-Taylor thought about it, and necked up the 338 Winchester Magnum to 375 to make what became known as the 375 Chatfield-Taylor, and later the 375 Taylor. I built a rifle for this cartridge in 1970 using a Model 70 action and Douglas barrel. Some questionable math (all of my math is questionable) dictated that the barrel be 23 inches. All of that worked out very well, and I was able to pretty much duplicate 375 H&H performance with no signs of pressure problems. The rifle shot well, I could shoot it well, but a problem developed. The fabulous Fajen stock, and the fact that a lot of other people also could shoot it well, led a few other big-bore fans at the range to make generous offers for the rifle. One of them offered too much, and I sold it. Many years later, I was told that his son had taken the rifle to Africa, but was denied its use on safari because his ammunition for it was headstamped "338 Win Mag" instead of the "375 CT" as on the barrel. I felt better knowing that.

I suspect that Taylor's work with the 416 came somewhat later than the 375, and it has been reported by others that the 416 Taylor first appeared in the early 1970s, which was later than my first introduction to the 375. Anyway, it then became a loose plan to someday build, or have built, a 416 Taylor.