404 jeffery

medvedqc

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i know it is early in the cabin fever mood but was wondering if any here used it or still use and for what?

and if you do not mind which kind of rifle are you using for it too?

thanks a lot.
 
I dont have one but ive wanted one for a while now. Its a neat old round for sure. if i was building one to play around with for the fun of it on the cheap, id used a p14/m17 action or surplus 98 mauser action

I have a 500 jeffery being built on a p14 action now.
 
I have one in a Rem 700 rebarrelled to 404 Jeff. Used it on a moose in 404, installed a used 338 RUM barrel and got a Bison. Yearning to put it back to 404. However the 416 Rigby gets to look for Bison for the next few days.
 
I had one built on a 300rum in stainless rem 700. It was very light weight for what it was. Recoil was heavy but tolerable. Between myself and a couple gunsmiths, we could not get it to feed properly. Tried everything....
The rifle shot very accurate for what it was, but it still was just a Remington in the end that didnt feed well...
The rifle is now stripped down and all bits sold except the barrel.... I just happen to have a Winchester Model 70 CRF rifle coming my way so I will try this again. I believe a 404j would be happier in this action! I will decide on some crazy nice walnut once rifle is done and I know it feeds and functions perfectly!!!
 
I used a 404 Jeffrey over the course of a month hunting in South Africa and Zimbabwe several years ago.

Using 400 grain A-Frames and Barnes Banded Solids in a Heym Express rifle, it accounted for more than twenty animals, ranging from a 2 lb Genet to a very upset charging Elephant. In between there was an eland, zebras, giraffe, cape buffalo, lioness, bush pig, black-backed jackals, baboons, vervet monkey, kudu, hyena... well, you get the picture.

The A-Frames struck very hard and killed everything very effectively. Chrono'd velocity was 2,350 fps. The 404 Jeffrey started getting referred to as "the hammer of Thor" - that pretty well sums up how it performed.
Backup rifle was a Ruger RSM in 416 Rigby, using 400 grain A-Frames as well. Velocity was 2,400 on the nose. It took a zebra, eland and an impala as well as a baboon.

On a previous safari (in RSA and Zim) I used a 375 H&H in a Ruger RSM (with a Verney Carron double rifle in 450-400 3" NE as the "primary" rifle that stopped working shortly after taking a black wildebeest in RSA).

The Ruger RSM worked like a charm. Most game was taken with .375" 300 grain A-Frames, but three giraffe and a zebra were taken with heavy-for-caliber .375" 380 grain South African "Rhino" bonded heavy partition bullets. These performed "almost like a .40 calibre" in the words of my PH. Later on I saw first-hand what he meant. The .40's, both the Jeffrey and a Rigby, hit hard, putting game down quickly - no messing around. My personal preference would be the 404 Jeffrey.

I would endorse the 404 Jeffrey as a perfectly capable cartridge for any sort of larger game, including stuff that might want to turn you into goo.
Easy to shoot well. Just a nice cartridge. It would be fabulous in a Winchester model 70 with CRF or a CZ 550/Brno 602.
 
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I had one built using a stainless Win M70 Classic 375H&H as a donor rifle. Not much to it other than rebarrel and a bit of bolt face/feed ramp work.
I plan on an Africa hunt one day which will include the 404 and 8x68s.
 
If I was to buy or build a bolt action dangerous game rifle, it would be a .404. I use the very similar .450-400 3" to shoot same weight bullets at the same velocity. No complaints, and i find the recoil tolerable. Kicks like a .375 but with more big bone penetration power for the heaviest game.
 
Not to derail the the thread, but a 425 express would be worth considering ,5000 ft lbs.,unlimiter source brass available (300 win mag) .Bullet weght from 350 to 400 gr. range.
 
Always wanted a nice 404 in Mauser action.
My stable is limited to a 416 Rigby (Ruger RSM) and a Win. 70 CRF in 375H&H (the true King). Although I admit to having a Ruger in 375 Ruger (the Tranny Queen - she packs a wallup). ;-)
 
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