Disappointed In My New 404 Jeffery

[Gert Odendaal]

Andrew, I am glad you sort his out..the 404 Jeffery is to me the greatest caliber ever designed , I have my own , build in 1931 as a Westey Richards and it shoots open sights extremely accurate ...with my eye going down hill I have to fit a scope ..with or without a scope it shoots comfortably...I am not a tall person as well but I would say the straight back rifle stock design is what makes my 404 Jeffery shoots comfortable and I do not shoot from a bench rest at all..I rather use shooting sticks...but the 404 Jeffery with a 400gn bullet at 2350f/s will give you a lot of felt recoil...when start shooting a new heavy caliber rifle I usually down load from the lowest grain of powder , shooting a lot of rounds to get use to the rifle and it`s behaviour..slowly increasing the grain loads while shooting more until you get to a point where you are comfortable shooting that specific rifle...it takes a lot of ammo/re-loaded ammo and a lot of re-loading , but you will get to know the rifle personally and be comfortable shooting it without developing a flinch...and being disappointed in the new rifle..

 

[spike.t]

@spike.t Just put my new optic and warne rings on, it recoils like a different rifle. Maybe the weight of rings, optics and 84 grains of h4350 at 2347 FPS was the difference?
Very happy with that set up!

Sounds like its already too heavy for me...scope and rings must be made out of tungsten.........but great you like it and found happiness together ....but I just really dont get why/how people who have 416 RIGBY..(capitals as there is only one)...or 404 want anything over 10lbs fully kitted and loaded....

 

[Andrew Short]

Andrew, I am glad you sort his out..the 404 Jeffery is to me the greatest caliber ever designed , I have my own , build in 1931 as a Westey Richards and it shoots open sights extremely accurate ...with my eye going down hill I have to fit a scope ..with or without a scope it shoots comfortably...I am not a tall person as well but I would say the straight back rifle stock design is what makes my 404 Jeffery shoots comfortable and I do not shoot from a bench rest at all..I rather use shooting sticks...but the 404 Jeffery with a 400gn bullet at 2350f/s will give you a lot of felt recoil...when start shooting a new heavy caliber rifle I usually down load from the lowest grain of powder , shooting a lot of rounds to get use to the rifle and it`s behaviour..slowly increasing the grain loads while shooting more until you get to a point where you are comfortable shooting that specific rifle...it takes a lot of ammo/re-loaded ammo and a lot of re-loading , but you will get to know the rifle personally and be comfortable shooting it without developing a flinch...and being disappointed in the new rifle..

I agree with you. This rifle has a completed different feel than my 416 and frankly I was very disappointed. Maybe it was the recoil with the factory hornady loads, the comb height with iron sights... either way it’s different now.

I really like how it feels with the 84 grains of h4350.

 

[Andrew Short]

Sounds like its already too heavy for me...scope and rings must be made out of tungsten.........but great you like it and found happiness together ....but I just really dont get why/how people who have 416 RIGBY..(capitals as there is only one)...or 404 want anything over 10lbs fully kitted and loaded....

Haha I’ll weigh it real quick just to see. I het It’s near 10 lbs.

I will say that the Rigby probably wouldn’t be fun to carry all day.

 

[TTundra]

Unless you control all the variables in a test, the test is almost moot. If I had the money I would love to have a an action chambered in 404, 416Rem, and 416 Rigby. Even then, with the Rigby requiring a magnum length, the added weight effects the test. I guess you could chamber all in a magnum action to solve that issue. Barrel weight variance could be easily dealt with as well. A few years back I saw a video in which a few guys made up a jig to hold rifles and measure recoil velocity, and with sensors, I could see also being able to measure force and pressure.

That said, I agree with you @TOBY458 . Im sure there is a slight difference, but how likely are you to notice it if potentially in the same fit stock and rifle? After you fire once, you've already made yourself a variable for the second shot. Though, splitting hairs gives us something to do I guess...

 

[Andrew Short]

For sure both rifles should be about the same. Having said that, the 404 was much worse than 416.

@spike.t the rifle currently weighs 10.4 lbs wearing warne QD rings and Zeiss 1-4 30mm tube optic.

 

[spike.t]

For sure both rifles should be about the same. Having said that, the 404 was much worse than 416.

@spike.t the rifle currently weighs 10.4 lbs wearing warne QD rings and Zeiss 1-4 30mm tube optic.

Ok....but 0.6 too heavy at min then... ...as I said good you sorted it...

 

[Andrew Short]

Ok....but 0.6 too heavy at min then... ...as I said good you sorted it...
Hahaha maybe just a tad heavy!

thank you sir!

 

[krish]

That is not heavy for that caliber. My 505 weighs about 12lb. With recoil Reducers (2).

 

[Andrew Short]

I’m sure the recoil is still stout with that 505!

 

[krish]

No way. It is in it's own class. You have to shoot it believe it.

 

[krish]

I am used to shooting why's. Have learned to tolerate heavy recoil or may be got used to it.

 

[Andrew Short]

I am used to shooting why's. Have learned to tolerate heavy recoil or may be got used to it.

I’d like to pull the trigger on something that big!

 

[krish]

I shoot them in the sleds for sighting in.
Only shoot a few free hand in standing position.

 

[cpr0312]

Glad you've made progress, sounds like it will stay in the collection!

 

[Andrew Short]

Glad you've made progress, sounds like it will stay in the collection!

Maybe so! I’m lookin hard at a Heym and Big game... just can’t get over the gun lust so it may come up for sale.

 

[colorado]

Traditional load for the 404 Jeffery was a 400g bullet at 2150 fps. Seemed to do the job. Woodleigh softs and solids will perform well at those speeds. No reason to load it up to 416 Rigby velocities unless you want to.

 

[Rule 303]

I have not read all the thread yet. I have said this before and I'll say it again. Weight of rifle has stuff all to do with felt recoil compared to stock design, fit and material, as others have said as well.

Example. My Rem 700 in 375H&H is 2 pound lighter than my CZ550 and felt recoil is way lower in the Rem. Rem 700 is a simple SPS so has the shitty plastic stock. It flexes and absorbs recoil yet is just as accurate as the CZ.

My 416 Rigby with an after market stock that has a better length of pull and fit has slightly less felt recoil then the CZ wood stock with a recoil reducer in it.

So my advice if you want to reduce felt recoil is get a better fitting -for you- stock.

 

[RayAtkinson]

Time to put on your big boy pants, go practice and practice, recoil can be conquered with practice, Id use the muzzle brake, then at the end of each practice take it off and fire a few rounds off hand..Keep that up for awhile and soon you will be leaving the brake off more an more..Can't hunt DG in Africa with a gun that doesn't kick the snot out of you, but you can fix the problem its really not that hard to do..

 

[Tokoloshe Safaris]

Andrew, I am glad you sort his out..the 404 Jeffery is to me the greatest caliber ever designed , I have my own , build in 1931 as a Westey Richards and it shoots open sights extremely accurate ...with my eye going down hill I have to fit a scope ..with or without a scope it shoots comfortably...I am not a tall person as well but I would say the straight back rifle stock design is what makes my 404 Jeffery shoots comfortable and I do not shoot from a bench rest at all..I rather use shooting sticks...but the 404 Jeffery with a 400gn bullet at 2350f/s will give you a lot of felt recoil...when start shooting a new heavy caliber rifle I usually down load from the lowest grain of powder , shooting a lot of rounds to get use to the rifle and it`s behaviour..slowly increasing the grain loads while shooting more until you get to a point where you are comfortable shooting that specific rifle...it takes a lot of ammo/re-loaded ammo and a lot of re-loading , but you will get to know the rifle personally and be comfortable shooting it without developing a flinch...and being disappointed in the new rifle..

Gert, I believe you are spot on!