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Seriously beautiful rifle.

In honor of Cal Pappas - NKWE SAFARIS

270 w 130gn bullets seem a bit on the light side for moose and elk? 7×57 is probably "enough", if bullets are heavy enough (160-170-ish). But at 300yd? What would the trajectory/impact velocities be like? 30-06 should work fine. I think I would go with a softish lead-core bullet (accubond...

In honor of Cal Pappas - NKWE SAFARIS

I had mine built on a Sako AV (thats a mid-80's model) in 6.5x55 (about $700). Found a used Lothar Walther barrel which already had nice stuff like a rear sight, banded sling swivel and front sight, with very nice blueing (another $700?). A smith switched the barrel and did little bit of...

Beautiful stuff! IMHO the .333 Jeffery cartridge is probably THE sexiest looking there is. Would love to own a rifle in that calibre. But being a lefty, there probably aren't any rifles out there. And to have one custom built... are there even 333 barrels to be found? And I totally understand...

Fantastic looking rifle. Congratulations!

Congrats! Great looking lines. Nice piece of wood as well. As for scope options - any quality brand in the 1-4× or 1-6× region of magnification would be good. Having a "true 1×" at the lower end eliminates any need for a separate red dot sight. However, if you need the light gathering...

In honor of Cal Pappas - NKWE SAFARIS

In honor of Cal Pappas - NKWE SAFARIS

In honor of Cal Pappas - NKWE SAFARIS

In honor of Cal Pappas - NKWE SAFARIS

In my somewhat limited experience, the 404 can handle quite a few types of powder for the ordinary 400gr weight of bullet. Where I live, Norma is the local stuff, so that is what I use, so far I've tested N202, N203-B (very similar to RL-15), N204, MRP (very similar to RL-22) and MRP-2. The...

IIRC there is a 0.001" difference in diameter. But I'm not sure it would matter much. Don't know if you need to crimp at all. I don't crimp when reloading the 404.

HUNTROMANIA

HUNTROMANIA

HUNTROMANIA

HUNTROMANIA

Reloading ammunition from components (brass cases, bullets, powder, primers) that you purchase is a fairly straightforward process, if you are just a bit careful. For some calibres it will be more worthwile than others. Though I doubt that you could reload "bulk shooting" cartridges such as 223...

HUNTROMANIA

Not an elk, but its European relative, the red stag. /cmk

The animals would not know the difference. But.. I agree that 318 WR certainly sounds better than 338-06.

Yep, those cratered primers COULD be the sign of excessive pressure, but could also (at least partly) be contributed to soft primers and an overly large firing pin hole in the bolt face. FWIW: Norma (who don't have any load data for 250gr bullets) have their max velocities listed as 2400 for...

Questions: what distances do you plan shooting on? What size game/targets? What light conditions? An ordinary Leupold 3-9x or 2-7x could take you far - depending on the answers to the above questions. Just sayin.. While I have mostly German/Austrian scopes, I still keep that non-illuminated...

Interesting project indeed! What action is that? It sure looks like an M98 of some sort.

You can also find works of F.C. Selous, Chauncey Hugh Stigand, James Sutherland, Denis Lyell, Samuel Baker and others there.

Just checked again - and the Woodie FMJ 400 is indeed a little bit longer than the RNSN. Guess that the steel in the jacket might be the reason.

I think that you are right. They sure do look like the bullets I have. Could it be that the FMJ is 450gr? (didn't think about looking at the length when I went to check just now). The last one, with lots of lead showing, I'm not so sure about. But something in the back of my mind whispers...

THAT WILL CUT

Hi Gert, do you have an estimate of how many times you've reloaded the fire-formed 375 cases?

Laws/regulations are funny. In my neck of the woods big game requires minimum 9g (140gr) bullets producing 2700 joules (??? ft-lbs) @ 100m, or 10g (155gr) bullets producing 2000 joules @ 100m. This means that the 6.5×55 is juuust about legal for bears, boars and moose. (Moose are not "hard"...

Not there yet - but I have high hopes for this one. Got a picture from the stockmaker earlier today. Just a bit of water on it to show the potential. Won't know for sure for a few months, though. Still early days. It's for a Sako AV in good old 30-06. Gloss blued action and barrel. And an orange...

44 cal gas checks work fine, and if you order a custom mold, make sure to say that you plan to use them so you get the correct shank diameter. I use a Lee push-through sizer die in .425 (custom order). Took forever to get it, and may now be harder still. But a sizer die is not complicated, so...

That reticle is far too detailed for my personal taste. Way too many things going on. But that is of course subjective. What I'm wondering about (more objectively) is the eye box, field of view and the exit pupil. If you say that buffalo may be on the menu, it would probably be advisable to...

IIRC, I've read that the Sako HH is bonded, but the Sako SHH is even more so. :-) It could be that the HH has a "mechanical" bond like Hornady Interlock, i.e. some internal crimping that keeps the cup and core together. The SHH should be 'fully bonded' like other more modern bullets like...

@Jack Stevens No I have the K variant. I don't recall exactly how it came about, but it was something like "I like the 43-400J, but I want to have a wider meplat, and thicker nose". I slugged my barrel and measured it to .424, so I wanted the bullet to drop out of the mould at no less than...

I might be "that member" . Accurate Molds are quick and provide a great service. I basically went through their catalogue of existing shapes and specified the basic model I wanted, and the exact measurements. After some emailing back and forth these turned up in the catalogue as the 43-350K...

Is there any good explanation as to why this happens? I mean that I guess it is known by "all" that every election year there will be an increased demand for ammo and reloading components. Or at least that is how I've perceived it from across the water. So why aren't the manufacturers prepared...

You can get into casting and get your own custom made mould for approx $100 if you want to down that rabbit hole. I can very much recommend Accurate Molds, from whom I bought a 4-cavity mold of my own design. (2×350gr + 2×400gr). Unless there is an existing market for cheap cast bullets for 404J...

That sounds like a bad thing indeed. However, I do not see a lot of complaints about the triggers on Sako, rather the opposite. @Sarg What model is the rifle? I believe that "Fiberclass" is more of a designation of the stock (and other extras) it came with. (like 'Hunter' 'DeLux' or...

Thanks for the excellent story, Nathan. Are you marrried, have kids, started to settle in with careers, houses, cars, mortgages etc? If not, then consider doing something out of the ordinary and off the beaten track. In a way I wish I had - even if it 'hadn't worked' so to speak, one could...

Thankfully I have a stash of linotype and wheelweights to last me the rest of my life for casting practice bullets for the 404. As for hunting, well, I think it has been shown in some reports that families consuming a lot of game meat have (in general) an increased level of lead in their bodies...

Beretta acquired Sako 20 years ago. Not many people feel that quality improved. Thankfully, all my Sakos are older than that.

Alec Baldwin in Glengarry Glen Ross: "Put that coffee down. Coffee is for closers." "You heard about this weeks sales contest? First prize is a Cadillac Eldorado, second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize? Third prize is "you're fired!" And a few others from him in that 10 minute...

Gotcha. Then I have been lucky so far. Or chosen a product that works. Neither of those have happened to me - yet. Haven't been reloading that long, but I suspect a few thousand rounds at least. Well, at least in the RCBS hand tool you can inspect that the primer is in the correct orientation...

I do the same, got two RCBS hand priming tools (not Universal) with different shell holders - one for 308 size case heads (using the shell holder for 6.5x55SE), and one for 404J. Priming cases is one of the fastest sub-tasks involved with creating a loaded cartridge. Changing the shell holders...

I'd like to think that I have accumulated a rather nice set of calibres myself that would cover most hunting, almost anywhere in the world. Given the (mostly low-powered) optics they have, and that I've hitherto subscribed to the 'heavy for calibre' philosophy, I would say that 150-200 meters...

Welcome!