Hornady 450/400NE in vintage WJ Jeffery rifle?

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dhughes66

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I have decided that my first double rifle will be a 450/400NE. Probably a Chapius if I get a new one. The vintage WJ Jefferys really tempt me as well. My biggest hold up on getting an old double is ammunition to shoot in it. What are the opinions on running Hornady in old double rifles? Obviously it may or may not regulate well, but will it damage the barrels? Thoughts
 
Is the Jefferys a 450/400 3 in or the 450/400 3 1/4 in. They are different rounds.
 
It’s almost certainly the 400 Jeffery 3”, but needs to be checked. I’ve had two vintage Jeffery 450 400, but a regular and tropical proofed one. Neither liked the Hornady factory ammo in terms of regulation. I think the component bullets could work, but recommend Woodleigh. Most any vintage double likely requires hand loading to find a load that regulates well.
 
My Chapuis 450/400 shoots my handloads much better than the Hornady factory ammo. It shoots factory well enough to be "regulated" but not as well as I would like.

I think factory ammo can change a bit over time as they improve bullets or use slightly different powders. My view is if you are going to have a double of any type you need to be willing to handload or pay for custom loads in order to get the most from it.
 
I
dhughes66 said:
It's the 3in.
Click to expand...
think that one is a little friendlier to reload - it doesn’t have the super thin case walls, and needs less filler….
 
You should be able to shoot the Hornady DGX ("soft") loads in a vintage Jeffery, but I would advise against the DGS ("solid") loads due to the steel jacket. As mentioned above, how well they regulate in any specific rifle is an entirely different matter.
 
I think some of the Woodleighs, and for that matter the old Kynochs were steel jacketed (under a copper guild deeper than the rifling of course). I’ve always been leery to use modern monolithic bullets in vintage doubles, as I think that material exposed to the rifling may be harder and don’t want either a longer or lighter bullet.
 
318AE said:
I think some of the Woodleighs, and for that matter the old Kynochs were steel jacketed (under a copper guild deeper than the rifling of course).
Click to expand...

The FMJ Woodleighs are indeed magnetic, although I believe they are cleared to use in vintage rifles by slightly reducing the powder charge. I do not have any vintage Kynoch solids so am unable to comment there.

I did check the Woodleigh and some 1952-vintage Kynoch "softs" and neither are magnetic.
 
Troubleshooter said:
The FMJ Woodleighs are indeed magnetic, although I believe they are cleared to use in vintage rifles by slightly reducing the powder charge. I do not have any vintage Kynoch solids so am unable to comment there.

I did check the Woodleigh and some 1952-vintage Kynoch "softs" and neither are magnetic.
Click to expand...
That’s good. I’ve never heard of a steel jacketed soft point.
 
The DGX is just about as hard as the DGS. Have a look at the Hornady website. They are indeed steel-jacketed "softs". I would not shoot them in any vintage rifle.
 
Both Hornady bullets are steel jacketed. Woodleigh solids also have steel jackets. The original Kynoch ammunition was also steel jacketed. Most traditional NE cartridges used steel jacketed solids as far as I know. I would not be concerned about steel jackets in a NE gun.

With that said, you will likely have to hand load to get any antique double to regulate.
 
They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, so here's 3000 words worth.

From Left to Right: Woodleigh soft, Woodleigh FMJ, and 1950s-vintage Kynoch soft. Note which one sticks to the magnet. I do not have a Kynoch solid and thus am unable to comment on that.

Woodleigh Kynoch.jpg



Next, the Hornady. Again, from Left to Right: Older (non-bonded) Hornady DGX cartridge, a more recent production DGX bullet, and 2025-production DGX (bonded) cartridge. All three of these are "softs" -- I do not have any DGS "solids" to test. Only the non-bonded is non-magnetic. I don't know when those were manufactured but the box is marked $80 if that gives an indication.

Hornady.jpg



Lastly and just for the sake of completeness, here are bullets from Swift, older Northfork, and some Hawks that I use for less-expensive practice rounds. As to be expected, none of those are magnetic.

Swift Northfork Hawk.jpg


Draw your own conclusions.
 
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