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A few years ago, I bought a used Win M70 Super Grade in 300 RUM and had it converted to a 404 Jeffery. I purchased a bunch of Hornady and Swift factory ammo, as well as several boxes of 400 gr Swift A Frame bullets, Federal 215 primers and 8 lbs of H4350.
@Shootist43 gave me a magic load, which he got from @Von Gruff: 400 gr Swift A Frame over 84.0 grains of H4350. Since I hadn't reloaded in 30+ years, I went over to a friend that is big into reloading and got a little refresher coarse from him. Using his reloading equipment and MagnetoSpeed, with my dies and components, we consulted the Swift manual and noticed H4350 wasn't listed. In the Hornady 10th edition, max load for H4350 is 78.9 grs for the 400 gr DGS or DGX.
So like all good reloaders, we started low and worked our way up. Being frugal with the Swift bullets, we loaded just 2 rounds at each load in the ladder. We safely worked up to 84.0 grs and velocity was about 2300 fps from my 23 inch barrel. I loaded 5 rounds with this load and the velocity was very consistent with very low SD and ES.
A few weeks ago, I loaded up 16 rounds (the other 4 I made dummies) with this load and have been waiting for a break in the rain to get to the range. Today was the day.
My real reason for going to the range was to sight in a Holosun red dot on my new 10mm. But I also wanted to shoot the 404 J to confirm the load and to start my prep for Zambia later this year.
I was pleased with the results! A couple of observations: Even using a standing shooting bench set up, the recoil is quite attention getting. I quickly decided that two shots at 50 yards, two at 100 and two at 200 yards would suffice for the day. It's also nice to be able to see those large holes easily from the 6 power scope. I will save the remaining 12 rounds for practice another day. I have another 80 cases all cleaned and prepped, so will get them loaded and set aside for the trip in late July.
@Shootist43 gave me a magic load, which he got from @Von Gruff: 400 gr Swift A Frame over 84.0 grains of H4350. Since I hadn't reloaded in 30+ years, I went over to a friend that is big into reloading and got a little refresher coarse from him. Using his reloading equipment and MagnetoSpeed, with my dies and components, we consulted the Swift manual and noticed H4350 wasn't listed. In the Hornady 10th edition, max load for H4350 is 78.9 grs for the 400 gr DGS or DGX.
So like all good reloaders, we started low and worked our way up. Being frugal with the Swift bullets, we loaded just 2 rounds at each load in the ladder. We safely worked up to 84.0 grs and velocity was about 2300 fps from my 23 inch barrel. I loaded 5 rounds with this load and the velocity was very consistent with very low SD and ES.
A few weeks ago, I loaded up 16 rounds (the other 4 I made dummies) with this load and have been waiting for a break in the rain to get to the range. Today was the day.
My real reason for going to the range was to sight in a Holosun red dot on my new 10mm. But I also wanted to shoot the 404 J to confirm the load and to start my prep for Zambia later this year.
I was pleased with the results! A couple of observations: Even using a standing shooting bench set up, the recoil is quite attention getting. I quickly decided that two shots at 50 yards, two at 100 and two at 200 yards would suffice for the day. It's also nice to be able to see those large holes easily from the 6 power scope. I will save the remaining 12 rounds for practice another day. I have another 80 cases all cleaned and prepped, so will get them loaded and set aside for the trip in late July.
