Unknown 404 Caliber 1903a3

[hperk9.3]

Hello all,

This may be a long shot but I figured I’d ask. This rifle is supposedly a 404 Jeffery. Here are the facts:

- 404 Jeffery does not chamber, stops a good inch or more before the bolt closes
- 10.75 x 68 Mauser fits the chamber, but will not extract from the chamber.
- The bolt face fits the case head dimensions for the Jeffery
- both the Jeffery and the 10.75 Mauser fit in the mag box.

The only other “404” round I can think of is 404 Hoffman. I looked through my loading manuals but was unable to find it. Questions:

-could someone send me the case specs for the Hoffman?
- do you know of another 404 wildcat I should look into?

I plan to get a chamber cast, but in the mean time, I wanted to see what some of the options are.

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[Ontario Hunter]

Possibly 425 Express? Takes 404 bullet on a 300 Win Mag case. The 300 has rim that's 0.532" and 404 rim is 0.543". 425 Express would fit on a 404 bolt face with a little room to spare but a bit of slop would not be terribly unusual. 425 Express definitely would not close as it is blown out without 404 tapered shoulder. If you can find a ridge in the chamber for belted cartridge, that might indicate 425 Express.

See how a 300 Win cartridge fits on that bolt face.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

What's with the gash in the receiver!

 

[hperk9.3]

What's with the gash in the receiver!

I blacked out the serial number in the photo!

 

[hperk9.3]

Possibly 425 Express? Takes 404 bullet on a 300 Win Mag case. The 300 has rim that's 0.532" and 404 rim is 0.543". 425 Express would fit on a 404 bolt face with a little room to spare but a bit of slop would not be terribly unusual. 425 Express definitely would not close as it is blown out without 404 tapered shoulder. If you can find a ridge in the chamber for belted cartridge, that might indicate 425 Express.

See how a 300 Win cartridge fits on that bolt face.

375 h&h fits okay on the bolt face and the bolt goes into battery with it in the chamber

 

[Ontario Hunter]

I blacked out the serial number in the photo!

Heh, heh. I should have figured that out. I shoot an 03A3. Mine was made by Remington. Who made that one? The partial lettering doesn't make sense.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

375 h&h fits okay on the bolt face and the bolt goes into battery with it in the chamber

And how does the 375 bullet fit in bore at muzzle? Is the barrel stamped 404?

 

[hperk9.3]

Heh, heh. I should have figured that out. I shoot an 03A3. Mine was made by Remington. Who made that one? The partial lettering doesn't make sense.

Says national ordinance but all original markings have been removed then stamped back in
That’s why it looks so odd!

 

[hperk9.3]

And how does the 375 bullet fit in bore at muzzle? Is the barrel stamped 404?

So there is no rifling after the ports in the end of the barrel. The 404 is slightly smaller than the bore and 375 isn’t even close.