404 Jeffery builders

[Jack Stevens]

That's one of the reasons I opted for 404J over the 416s. I'm certainly not allergic to recoil, but if it'll do the job with a 400 gr bullet at 2100, give or take a bit, I don't see a reason to lean into it. But that's just me.

Last night I dug out my copy of Jeffrey’s 1912 catalogue and looked again at the .404 rifle page. They specify the 400grn bullet doing 2125fps from a 24” barrel.

The barrel on my AHR .404 is 23”, so a velocity of 2100fps as a handloading target with that length barrel should duplicate the original 1912 specs.

 

[sgt_zim]

Last night I dug out my copy of Jeffrey’s 1912 catalogue and looked again at the .404 rifle page. They specify the 400grn bullet doing 2125fps from a 24” barrel.

The barrel on my AHR .404 is 23”, so a velocity of 2100fps as a handloading target with that length barrel should duplicate the original 1912 specs.

i'm getting 2150 out of my 23" Montana rifle on 76 gr 2000MR.

once i put glass on it and it'll hold 1-ish MOA, in done

 

[krish]

I’m loading mine to about 2050fps with good accuracy.

I have some Norma 404J brass but more Hornady. Some small amount of old Bell brass.

Except for a rare seasonal run of brass by Hornady, the best time to have gotten into the 404J game, as far as ammo and reloading components, was back around 2010. Available and affordable.

Possibly you might find some on tables at a large state-wide gun show or at a SCI event where vendors who specialize in the African big game accouterments are known to hold hold court, but good luck on that.

View attachment 515943

I bought about 300 pieces of bell when they were still available. Got 404j in the last 2 years. Collected bullets along the way. Got some norma and RWS 300 PIECES. BOTH THE 404J came eith about 15 boxes of Hornadey ammo. I am good.
Building couple of more 404j's on cz 550 action.
Krish

 

[Jack Stevens]

i'm getting 2150 out of my 23" Montana rifle on 76 gr 2000MR.

once i put glass on it and it'll hold 1-ish MOA, in done

I don't have any 2000MR, just a lot of 5744, RL-15, some RL-17, and quite a bit of Varget.

I'm thinking that Hornady used RL-17 in their factory line of .404, and just for sh*ts & giggles was going to pull bullets on a few rounds, dump out the powder and weigh it on my scale, and then try to reload it with that powder but to the 2100-2125fps range. So about 200-225fps less than what Hornady loaded it too.

Technically, that's not a "reduced" load since it's duplicates the original m.v. specs except that Jeffrey used Cordite, not the stuff we have today.

 

[FlowHamed18]

Looks like that's it. Apparently, Hornady is no longer in the 404J brass business, either.

Good gravy. It's almost as expensive as 50 BMG brass.

There is a factory in Germany which produces .404 brass

Hülsenmanufaktur

I ordered some different caliber (but no .404 to be honest), it's a good quality for a fair price.

But I don't know if shipping in the US is an option. Maybe just ask them, they are very friendly

 

[Jack Stevens]

There is a factory in Germany which produces .404 brass

Hülsenmanufaktur

I ordered some different caliber (but no .404 to be honest), it's a good quality for a fair price.

But I don't know if shipping in the US is an option. Maybe just ask them, they are very friendly

Do they have a U.S.-based distributor to order through?

 

[FlowHamed18]

No, that's a small company in Germany...

 

[Tucketed]

My 404 I use Hendershot custom ammo. Velocity is 2150 using Swift AFrames 400 grains. Accurate and the two buffalo didn’t need more.

 

[Nevada Mike]

I had very good results with my 404J and Swift 400 gr. A Frames at 2250. Killed buff with no problems. See my avatar.

Mike

 

[Ontario Hunter]

So long as you follow Paul Mauser’s guiding principles for Mauser 98

If you don’t follow (or know them) then a rubbish action you do make

Learned the hard way - like most good lessons of life

Actually, that's not entirely true. I used 416 Rem bottom metal on my 404 anticipating that I would need to open up the box at the shoulder per Paul Mauser's cosine 30 degrees formula. Turned out it worked fine as is. In fact, it may work better than the formula dimensions. The rounds are squeezed a bit at the bullet end. Consequently, pointed up and towards the center of the feeding ramp. My build on standard Mauser cycles slick as glass. Modifying the feeding rails, extractor, and follower (in that order) was the tricky part. I was pleased that I didn't have to mess with carving out the mag box.

Did the OP ever pick someone to make his 404?

 

[Stuart Satterlee]

This is a 404 Jeffery I finished about a year ago. I started with an 08 Brazilian DWM receiver and bolt. The barrel is a Krieger that I made a banded style rear sight for with an integral auxiliary recoil lug. The banded front sight and banded sling attachment are NECG masterpiece components, all are precisely bored to the barrel dimensions and soldered in place. I made square bridge style bases for Talley rings with 1mm deep saddle pockets that the rings sit down into for recoil protection. The 3 position safety is one I make, they fit M98 surplus and I also use them on my Satterlee action. The bolt handle conversion is the one Talley sells, cut the military handle off, tig weld the new one on and finish out. The magazine box on this one started as a Swift/Blackburn 14x that I CNC machined the inside dimensions to accommodate the 404 at the shoulders of the case, the side walls of the box as provided by Swift are thick enough for this re-machining, essentially I made the box wider at the shoulders of the case for perfect 4 down stacking of cartridges and perfect feeding. Going in the receiver was only 20 on the C scale with only a .007 deep case to it, its been re-case hardened to .015 thick case and 45 C hardness on the case, didn't want it setting back due to increased bolt face thrust of the 404 vs 7x57. The stock, Turkish blank from Luxus back when they where selling wood, I made the stock, It features custom dimensions 14-1/2 LOP, 1/4" cast off at the heel and 1/2" cast off at the toe, with these dimensions shouldering puts the eye in perfect alignment with no effort both open sight and scope. As far as administration goes please do not consider this as an advertisement because I'm not looking for more rifles to build, just wanted to share this rifle to those that are interested in rifles, and provide one more interesting rifle to look at if that makes any sense.

 

[Tucketed]

@Stuart Satterlee very beautiful build. I like the Swift/Blackburn machined box and the Luxus wood and finish is perfect. Very nice, thanks for sharing.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

This is a 404 Jeffery I finished about a year ago. I started with an 08 Brazilian DWM receiver and bolt. The barrel is a Krieger that I made a banded style rear sight for with an integral auxiliary recoil lug. The banded front sight and banded sling attachment are NECG masterpiece components, all are precisely bored to the barrel dimensions and soldered in place. I made square bridge style bases for Talley rings with 1mm deep saddle pockets that the rings sit down into for recoil protection. The 3 position safety is one I make, they fit M98 surplus and I also use them on my Satterlee action. The bolt handle conversion is the one Talley sells, cut the military handle off, tig weld the new one on and finish out. The magazine box on this one started as a Swift/Blackburn 14x that I CNC machined the inside dimensions to accommodate the 404 at the shoulders of the case, the side walls of the box as provided by Swift are thick enough for this re-machining, essentially I made the box wider at the shoulders of the case for perfect 4 down stacking of cartridges and perfect feeding. Going in the receiver was only 20 on the C scale with only a .007 deep case to it, its been re-case hardened to .015 thick case and 45 C hardness on the case, didn't want it setting back due to increased bolt face thrust of the 404 vs 7x57. The stock, Turkish blank from Luxus back when they where selling wood, I made the stock, It features custom dimensions 14-1/2 LOP, 1/4" cast off at the heel and 1/2" cast off at the toe, with these dimensions shouldering puts the eye in perfect alignment with no effort both open sight and scope. As far as administration goes please do not consider this as an advertisement because I'm not looking for more rifles to build, just wanted to share this rifle to those that are interested in rifles, and provide one more interesting rifle to look at if that makes any sense.

Thanks. Very interesting. I also used Swift-Blackburn bottom metal. I went with their 416 Rem Mag, calculating that there would just barely be enough metal at the top of the box to open it for Paul Mauser's formula (bottom of box has plenty of metal). But before starting to work on it I tried it as is. It worked fine. Almost no work had to be done to left rail and right rail easily brought into alignment. I did not order extended four down bottom metal. The fourth round can be pushed under the claw with a full magazine or dropped in and snapped over. I think Mauser may have over compensated a bit in his 30 degree formula. Clearly it's not carved in stone. Rounds on both sides stay secure when loaded and I can't shake them loose with an open bolt no matter how hard I try. Cycles slick as glass. Somewhere on here I posted a YouTube of me working the action (posting videos is a pain in the butt, I discovered!).

 

[IvW]

Will be building my daughters 404 Jeff this year on a Brno ZKK602 action. I will do thread on it. She will be using it as a guide gun and as a PH rifle.....

 

[Ontario Hunter]

@Stuart Satterlee very beautiful build. I like the Swift/Blackburn machined box and the Luxus wood and finish is perfect. Very nice, thanks for sharing.

Just so you know, Swift bottom metal comes in the white and rather rough. Machining marks remain and must be polished off. Also, my floorplate required some minor tuning to lock properly. Sunny Hill bottom metal probably comes polished (it better!) but for almost twice the price.

 

[Nevada Mike]

Stuart

That is a elegant and functional rifle! Congratulations on a job well done. My 404J was built by Reto B. on a LH stretched small ring GM M98 with Pacnor barrel. Performed perfectly on my last buff hunt.
Ted Blackburn's bottom metal is the best looking of any I have seen. I used the Swift/Blackburn bottom metal on my M70 .375 H&H to get four down.
Thanks for posting the photos.

 

[8x68]

Built mine on a M70 375H&H Classic in Stainless. Turned out pretty nice. Not much work required. Rebarrel, bolt face/feed ramp needed at bit of machining, add different sights, ready to go.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Built mine on a M70 375H&H Classic in Stainless. Turned out pretty nice. Not much work required. Rebarrel, bolt face/feed ramp needed at bit of machining, add different sights, ready to go.

The box was wide enough?

 

[8x68]

The box was wide enough?

Yes. No mod done. I can fit 4+1. Corlanes, in BC did the work

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Yes. No mod done. I can fit 4+1. Corlanes, in BC did the work

He must have done some modification. The Winchester Model 70 Classic stainless comes from the factory three down in the box and 404J is a thicker cartridge than 375, especially at the shoulder.