404 Jeffery, my new sweetheart

[Mark458]

Just got back from the range and I found my new sweetheart. A custom 404 Jeffery I picked up off GunBroker a while back. I had some Hornady DGS solids since they are the only manufacturer making 404 Jeffery ammunition. I don't care for their DGX bullets so I had Aria Ballistics Engineering load me some 400 grain TSX running at 2350 fps. The gun loves those TSX loads. I think this gun is going with me in July for my buffalo hunt. I love my 458 Lott but I feel I need to try this one out. The Hornady shot pretty good as well. Groups weren't quite as good but I'm happy with the results. Pretty much the same point of impact so that's a plus.

I know it doesn't look like it, but I promise you that is a 3 shot group at 100 yards.

 

[Rare Breed]

Nice!!! The 404J is just an awesome classic Africa caliber!!! Great purchase!!!

 

[Flipper Dude]

Look, you’re still new around here. A perfect time to go ahead and change your handle to Mark404J. See that group? Never pick up that 458 again.

 

[Doug3006]

Eeegads man! It sure likes those Triple Shocks! Do great things with it!

 

[Mark458]

Look, you’re still new around here. A perfect time to go ahead and change your handle to Mark404J. See that group? Never pick up that 458 again.

I like how you think, but maybe I better wait until after the hunt. Don't want to jinx myself

 

[deewayne2003]

Congratulations, you did the right thing buying a completed rifle; I just called up a gunsmith and told his wife 3+ years is long enough to build a rifle and they should send me everything back.

 

[Mark458]

Congratulations, you did the right thing buying a completed rifle; I just called up a gunsmith and told his wife 3+ years is long enough to build a rifle and they should send me everything back.

Hate to hear that kind of news. I agree though, if you can't build one faster than that then you shouldn't take on the job to begin with. Hope you can get your gun built.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

I can put bullets on top of each other at 50 yards with my 404 but at 100 yards the group is about the same as your Hornady. I'm shooting up the last of an old box of Barnes X 400 gr.

400 gr bullets at 2350 fps and with that light profile barrel and synthetic stock you better be careful shooting it from the bench. You could get hurt. Not joking! Would not be nice to drop out of your safari due to shoulder surgery and/or retina detachment.

 

[Mark458]

The recoil is not bad at all. I'm used to my 458 Lott so this one is nothing. It has a 26 inch Lija stainless steel barrel and the rifle weighs in at 10.6 pounds with scope and no ammunition.

I haven't chronographed these rounds, but I'm probably getting a bit more speed out of that 26 inch barrel.

I do most of my range work from a lead sled when I'm running a bunch of rounds through my big bore guns. I did shoot the 404 off sticks quite a bit just to get ready for the real thing next month. Recoil was very manageable.

 

[ftothfadd]

Wow, that is a great shooting rifle!

 

[Ontario Hunter]

The recoil is not bad at all. I'm used to my 458 Lott so this one is nothing. It has a 26 inch Lija stainless steel barrel and the rifle weighs in at 10.6 pounds with scope and no ammunition.

I haven't chronographed these rounds, but I'm probably getting a bit more speed out of that 26 inch barrel.

I do most of my range work from a lead sled when I'm running a bunch of rounds through my big bore guns. I did shoot the 404 off sticks quite a bit just to get ready for the real thing next month. Recoil was very manageable.

Your barrel's extra length gave the false impression it was light profile. Obviously it is not. My barrel is also Lija but only 24".

Looking closely at yours I suspect it's also #5 profile. What twist? I knew nothing about twist and Dan suggested 1/14. Ten and a half pounds is certainly sufficient for softening recoil. Did they add weight to the stock? My rifle weighs just over ten pounds and shooting 2200 fps 400 gr loads is about my limit for recoil. But then I don't have any experience shooting 458 Lott ... thankfully!

 

[Mark458]

I'm not sure of the twist rate on the rifle. There are no markings indicating it and was no mention of it in the description when I bought it. It is built on a CZ Magnum action and has a custom Pendleton stock.

Your rifle is beautiful. I normally prefer the classic wood stocks, but I didn't let the composite stock bother me when I made the purchase. I see you like Talley quick detachable rings as well.

I just got lucky with how this one shoots. You play the lottery enough and you eventually get a winner.
A couple more pictures that is little better than the other ones.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

I'm not sure of the twist rate on the rifle. There are no markings indicating it and was no mention of it in the description when I bought it. It is built on a CZ Magnum action and has a custom Pendleton stock.

Your rifle is beautiful. I normally prefer the classic wood stocks, but I didn't let the composite stock bother me when I made the purchase. I see you like Talley quick detachable rings as well.

I just got lucky with how this one shoots. You play the lottery enough and you eventually get a winner.
A couple more pictures that is little better than the other ones.

That one is a tack driver. If you know the name of the person who ordered the gun (previous owner?), Dan or his wife at Lija may have records that would indicate the twist. It would be good for us to know. I suggest trying lighter bullets to see if you can get that gun to shoot longer range for plains game. Hammer and Cutting Edge both make .423 bullets from 267 to 350 gr. Seem to recall one of them makes a ~330 gr bullet which I think would be ideal.

My rifle has low Warne quick detach rings. I believe yours does as well? I didn't think Talley screw together on top? I also went with a very low discontinued Weaver one-piece base (before I acquired the action it had already been tapped for one-piece base). I have a 30mm scope tube so needed to get it as low as possible. Almost too low. If you look closely you can see where the bolt handle just brushed the forward edge of scope's ocular bell (tiny white dot). Fortunately, I had opted for bolt in the white so it was an easy fix. Just polished the spot that was rubbing on the bolt handle enough to get clearance.

My rifle is a Czech military Mauser that I built in three months 2023. It has Winchester 3-position safety, crossbolts, and Safari Express iron sights.

 

[Mark458]

Just had a description from GunBroker. Not much to go on but I'll dig back in my files and see what I find. I did also have some 257 grain cutting edge raptors loaded for plains game. They seem to shoot great as well, but I didn't put that many rounds through the gun as the point of impact was much farther apart than I hoped it might be. Once I saw how the TSX was shooting I didn't want to think about switching between cartridges and having to try to make big scope adjustments. I've found that just leads to trouble. The TSX will be just fine for any plains game I might encounter while hunting buffalo. I'll probably take my 338 win mag along as well for plains game when the buffalo is in the salt. It's a Tikka that I absolutely love to shoot. It is my true lottery gun. I won it in a raffle for $20 many years ago and it has put a lot of animals in the salt. Best $20 I ever spent. Haha

 

[Flipper Dude]

You can check the twist with a cleaning rod

 

[Witold Krzyżanowski]

Nice rifle in my favorite caliber for dangerous game. I use Mauser m98 in 404Jeffery.

 

[Mark458]

That one is a tack driver. If you know the name of the person who ordered the gun (previous owner?), Dan or his wife at Lija may have records that would indicate the twist. It would be good for us to know. I suggest trying lighter bullets to see if you can get that gun to shoot longer range for plains game. Hammer and Cutting Edge both make .423 bullets from 267 to 350 gr. Seem to recall one of them makes a ~330 gr bullet which I think would be ideal.

My rifle has low Warne quick detach rings. I believe yours does as well? I didn't think Talley screw together on top? I also went with a very low discontinued Weaver one-piece base (before I acquired the action it had already been tapped for one-piece base). I have a 30mm scope tube so needed to get it as low as possible. Almost too low. If you look closely you can see where the bolt handle just brushed the forward edge of scope's ocular bell (tiny white dot). Fortunately, I had opted for bolt in the white so it was an easy fix. Just polished the spot that was rubbing on the bolt handle enough to get clearance.

My rifle is a Czech military Mauser that I built in three months 2023. It has Winchester 3-position safety, crossbolts, and Safari Express iron sights.

My rings are Talley. I use them almost exclusively on my big bore guns. The rifle came with a picatinny rail but I removed it and mounted directly. I prefer this on the CZ action.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Just had a description from GunBroker. Not much to go on but I'll dig back in my files and see what I find. I did also have some 257 grain cutting edge raptors loaded for plains game. They seem to shoot great as well, but I didn't put that many rounds through the gun as the point of impact was much farther apart than I hoped it might be. Once I saw how the TSX was shooting I didn't want to think about switching between cartridges and having to try to make big scope adjustments. I've found that just leads to trouble. The TSX will be just fine for any plains game I might encounter while hunting buffalo. I'll probably take my 338 win mag along as well for plains game when the buffalo is in the salt. It's a Tikka that I absolutely love to shoot. It is my true lottery gun. I won it in a raffle for $20 many years ago and it has put a lot of animals in the salt. Best $20 I ever spent. Haha

Or you could take an extra scope if you can get lighter bullets to work. I have a few Hammer 307 gr that I'm still trying to make work. The 300 gr load data I found was way too hot and recoil much worse than my 400 gr loads. Flattened a primer and enough of that! I usually take my 30-06 Springfield 03A3 for plains game but I'd like to shoot something with this gun (both my buffalo were taken with rental 375). I built the 404J mostly for something to do and the challenge. Did try to cull a cow buffalo with it last time but they didn't cooperate.

 

[Mark458]

I thought about the extra scope idea, but I think I'm going with the extra gun. I'm having additional TSX rounds made since I found those work so well. When I get those back I'll have enough time before I leave to get some more practice in at different yardages before I go and I may just hunt plains game with those. I didn't want to shoot up all I had until I know I can have additional ones before my trip.

Sounds like you need to put your 404 to work on a buffalo as well. When are you going back to get that done?

 

[Shootist43]

Both of my 404(s) shoot three shot groups well under an inch with 400 Gr. SAF at 2300 FPS. I know you will enjoy hunting with your new toy.