Starting my 98 build

[nztimb]

It was the GS who did mine Shawn as he had done a number of them before, but he said that all he did was to reshape the lower edge and sides of the ramp a little. In essence what he said was that the base of the ramp had a shallow hollow on each side to help guide the bullet nose in toward the center and up the ramp.

 

[Shawn.54]

I plan to just remove overhang on front of box with a radius to prevent a edge to catch on.
Shawn

 

[Shawn.54]

Worked on action today mag box tacked on back of box milled and feed ramp ground to front of feed box got some cases made a false bullet and seated it to pal 3.53 to make sure box was long enough. Also threaded a barrel stub with a hole drilled through to make a chamber to test feed. Will cut bolt face tomorrow or Monday.
So far so good
Shawn

 

[Shawn.54]

Bolt face open now to adjust the extracter claw tonight
Shawn
I did take .0025 off face it had a dip in it

 

[Shawn.54]

Well I got extracter claw finished and was working on feeding the left side gave me a little trouble but a little grinding fixed that then with my new found experience I decided to tweak the right side. My mistake now I'll have to replace some metal I removed no big deal just a little inconvenience and I need to rework the elongated hole in ejector to get it to come out further. This is a good learning experience so far.
Shawn

 

[Shawn.54]

Ran into two problems last night that have me stumped.
First is that when feeding the rounds out of the magazine they are feeding great now except the last one out will not push up in the rear all the time it stays down just enough that the bolt rides over it instead of catching it. I thought maybe I needed to grind a little off the follower on the angle that runs its length to allow for larger diameter cases but wanted another opinion.
Second issue is extracter claw seams to have a lot of ware and play on the guide that rides in the slot behind locking lug it can be pushed forward about .015-.02 letting it grip get loose on case rim the two other Mauser actions I have don't seem to have this play any ideas?
Shawn

 

[Shawn.54]

Give the action a little tweaking last night and got great results.
Shawn

 

[stug]

That should work!

 

[Shawn.54]

Now to save for barrel thinking 26"
Not sure on contour anyone tell me what diameter at the muzzle would be appropriate. I don't want it to thin but not a bull barrel either.

 

[Shawn.54]

Has anyone used PAC-Nor barrels
They are one of very few that make 404J bore and chamber?
Shawn

 

[CAustin]

Thanks for keeping us updated on the build Shawn.

 

[Shawn.54]

Next week I will start on making the bolt shroud on the action into a 3 position safety I know they can be bought but I have lots of time.

 

[PeteG]

Now to save for barrel thinking 26"
Not sure on contour anyone tell me what diameter at the muzzle would be appropriate. I don't want it to thin but not a bull barrel either.

26" is pretty long... i just spoke to a gunsmith in rsa about bringing my 416 barrel down to 22".
i would say 22-23" would be great.
Barrel profile and weight is something thats personal.
I prefer a lighter rifle. so i would go with a thinner profile and lighter stock.
best thing here is to head to a gunshop and feel what you prefer.

 

[Shawn.54]

I have always wanted a long barreled rifle and at 6'4" tall 3 " of barrel is not going to make it drag the ground. My favorite gun has a 42" barrel 15/16"wide with no taper it's a .54 caliber flintlock.
Shawn

 

[PeteG]

I have always wanted a long barreled rifle and at 6'4" tall 3 " of barrel is not going to make it drag the ground. My favorite gun has a 42" barrel 15/16"wide with no taper it's a .54 caliber flintlock.
Shawn

my comment on this is that the barrel length in my opinion is more related to balance and feel.
in my case a 416 is going to be carried often, not on a sling and therefore weight and point-ability takes preference.
if you feel comfortable with a 26" barrel, then that'll do you just fine.

 

[Shawn.54]

I tend to like front heavy for off hand shooting but if it turns out to front heavy I'll put a little weight in the rear.
A little extra weight may come in handy with recoil.
Shawn

 

[nztimb]

The recoil of the 404 Jeffery with 400gn bullet at 2300fps is not that great Shawn but the stock shape can make it mean if it is not right. I did mine with 25 in barrel but the balance was right so it held right for offhand shooting and with good loads was a easy rifle to shoot even though I am "somewhat" shorter than you.

 

[Shootist43]

At 6'-4" I imagine that you need a longer stock i.e. a l.o.p. over 14". A properly contoured 26" barrel should make the rifle balance nicely. The rifle I carried in Africa sports a 25" barrel and I'm 5'-10 & 1 /2".

 

[enysse]

Has anyone used PAC-Nor barrels

A lot of people on AH are using them!

 

[Shawn.54]

That's good I don't want to get a bumm barrel.
Now to scratch up the cash.
What to sale?
Shawn
Ps can't sale guns.