I Bought an unknown - I sure hope this is a 404 Jeffery

[buckstix]

Hello grandveneur,
Thanks for the reply.

I posted this a while back about reloading 11.2x72 Schuler cartridge.

Contacts from Woodleigh have told me that they will NOT be making bullets in 11.2 caliber in the future because there is too little demand for .440 caliber to justify the expense of re-tooling when the Factory gets back into production.

Fortunately for me, I have been swaging my own bullets in .440 diameter because I own and shoot several Werndl rifles that use this diameter bullet. By using my swage dies I'm able to re-form the 400g 11.2 Woodleigh bullet with less taper so there is good neck tension even when the bullet is seated very deep into the case. The resulting re-swaged bullets look slightly similar to the Brenneke TUG bullets. In addition, I'm also able to re-swage 404 Jeffery bullets to increase the diameter from .422 diameter up to .440 diameter. Woodleigh indicated that they will be making 404 Jeffery bullets again because this is one of the most popular calibers in use today.

 

[grand veneur]

Mr. Wim Degol recently made by order for me FMJ bullets and, as far as I know, also made bullets of this caliber for another customer.

 

[buckstix]

Fortunately I have plenty bullets because I was very fortunate to get 600 Woodleigh bullets and 150 Cutting Edge bullets with the 11.2x72 Schuler rifle that I bought a couple years ago. I sold 100 Woodleigh bullets to help a fellow forum member in need that was going to African and wanted to use his 11.2x72 Schuler rifle for Cape Buffalo and other game. I still have 650 bullets left,

 

[buckstix]

Hello All,

I got the rifle in hand today. Its an 11.2x72 Schuler caliber. The rifle weighs 9 pounds 15 ounces, with a 15" LOP. Here are the markings I found. I hope to know if this was an Oberndorf commercial action / barrel to start with. Thank goodness the auction house didn't list the stockmaker. I found his marking and I talked to the man that did the complete restoration in December 2005. He is James Tucker, and he is a member of the American Custom Gunmakers Guild. This gun is far more spectacular in hand than any pictures can show. Tucker stocks start at about $5,500 plus the cost of the blank. In this case the blank was over $3,000. Not sure what all the metalwork restoration would cost.

http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/IMMAN-markings-0.jpg

 

[buckstix]

Hello All,

Well, I'm back from the range today. My results are below. I loaded conservative between "normal" and "near maximum" from data was published in Rifle Magazine; Issue #144 - November, 1992.

I loaded using new Bertram Brass with Winchester Large Rifle Magnum Primers and an overall loaded length of 3.290 inches. Powder was slightly compressed when seating the bullets. All fired brass showed NO signs of excessive pressure with easy extraction. Fired primers had normal rounded edges and were NOT flattened. (velocities were measured using a Garman Xero C1 Doopler Radar Chronograph - muzzle velocity accurate to with 0.10 fps)

Recoil energy with this 9 lb 15 oz rifle was a pleasant 61 ft/lbs

Its important to note: this field test data proves velocities at or above 2400 fps are easily obtainable with the 11.2x72 Schuler cartridge - at least with this rifle. Based on my test, I would not hesitate to accept all the other published loading data from that source. Results in other rifles may vary, so reduce your starting loads and work your way up as required.

Wt. - Bullet - Powder Mfg - Powder - Charge - Velocity

401g - Woodleigh softpoint - Hodgdon - H-4895 - 83.0g - 2,401 fps

401g - Woodleigh solid - Hodgdon - H-4895 - 83.0g - 2,410 fps



http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/IMMAN-TARG.jpg

 

[buckstix]

Hello All,

Well, I went back to the range today. The reason being that I ran out of Hodgdon 4895 powder that I tested yesterday. I searched all the shops within the State and the also the internet. Every place was sold out - even the Hodgdon web site. I had several pounds of IMR 4895 which is a tad slower burning. I could not find any loading data for this powder, so I thought I'd establish some.

Once again I loaded using new Bertram Brass with Winchester Large Rifle Magnum Primers and an overall loaded length of 3.290 inches. Powder was slightly compressed when seating the bullets. All fired brass showed NO signs of excessive pressure with easy extraction. Fired primers had normal rounded edges and were NOT flattened. (velocities were measured using a Garman Xero C1 Doopler Radar Chronograph - muzzle velocity accurate to with 0.10 fps)

With this slower burning powder recoil energy was reduced to a pleasant 60 ft/lbs. (one ft/lb less)

This field test again proves velocities approaching 2400 fps are obtainable with the 11.2x72 Schuler cartridge in this rifle. Remember, results in other rifles may vary, so reduce your starting loads and work your way up as required.

Wt. - Bullet - Powder Mfg - Powder - Charge - Velocity

401g - Woodleigh softpoint - IMR - IMR-4895 - 83.0g - 2,373 fps


http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/IMMAN-TARG-1.jpg