Disappointed In My New 404 Jeffery

[CoElkHunter]

You sound like one of those hotrod usa persons..... ...just get a 416 rigby....simple

I love my .416 Rigby.

 

[Don416]

Just for the record I didn’t get a muzzle break on my 416WSM even though the smith did recommend it. Don’t regret it.

 

[Nevada Mike]

The Germans loaded the 404 at 2300 fps to mimic the .416 Rigby , but one could load it much higher also with 400 grains of one wished for . And it’s a very versatile cartridge to load for . And the 2300ish make it quite a hammer with the 200 fps above the old British data .

Recoil tolerance is very personal. I loaded for my 404 shooting 400 swifts and Barnes from 2150 fps up the ladder to 2400 + fps. I settled on 2250 for my buff hunt. IMy rifle weighs 10lbs., 3 oz. loaded to hunt and I find the recoil quite tolerable, though a bit violent shooting from a bench with max loads. I am not a large or heavy person, but I shoot more than most hunters. The 404J recoil is s bit more than a 375 H&H, which I find comfortable. YMMV.

 

[PerH]

Recoil tolerance is very personal. I loaded for my 404 shooting 400 swifts and Barnes from 2150 fps up the ladder to 2400 + fps. I settled on 2250 for my buff hunt. IMy rifle weighs 10lbs., 3 oz. loaded to hunt and I find the recoil quite tolerable, though a bit violent shooting from a bench with max loads. I am not a large or heavy person, but I shoot more than most hunters. The 404J recoil is s bit more than a 375 H&H, which I find comfortable. YMMV.

Loaded it with 300 grain mono copper HP . The firm is closed down years ago , but I think NF could be asked to make one , or Rhino . That was into 165 .30-06 ballistics .

350 Woodleigh / 10,75 Mauser bullets were Exellent also.

 

[Nevada Mike]

Just for the record I didn’t get a muzzle break on my 416WSM even though the smith did recommend it. Don’t regret it.

I hate muzzle brakes. Not condemning those that like them, I just won't have them on my rifles. I'm too old school to be cool.

 

[Yukontom]

I hate muzzle brakes. Not condemning those that like them, I just won't have them on my rifles. I'm too old school to be cool.

I am in complete agreement on this. Making a big caliber rifle even more uncomfortably loud to the shooter and those in close proximity is I think not necessary, and maybe even a bit rude. I have been known to even make them unwelcome on my home range.
Suppressors are quite welcome and encouraged. I do most of my hunting these days with suppressed rifles and the outfitters I work with love them.

 

[Odinsraven]

I am in complete agreement on this. Making a big caliber rifle even more uncomfortably loud to the shooter and those in close proximity is I think not necessary, and maybe even a bit rude. I have been known to even make them unwelcome on my home range.
Suppressors are quite welcome and encouraged. I do most of my hunting these days with suppressed rifles and the outfitters I work with love them.

Yes they are otc here in Europe..so have them on my hunting rifles

 

[colorado]

Recoil tolerance is very personal. I loaded for my 404 shooting 400 swifts and Barnes from 2150 fps up the ladder to 2400 + fps. I settled on 2250 for my buff hunt. IMy rifle weighs 10lbs., 3 oz. loaded to hunt and I find the recoil quite tolerable, though a bit violent shooting from a bench with max loads. I am not a large or heavy person, but I shoot more than most hunters. The 404J recoil is s bit more than a 375 H&H, which I find comfortable. YMMV.

Agree i just ran some number through the online recoil calculator. In my 12 lb (with scope) unloaded CZ 550 in 500 Jeffery shooting a 570g TSX at 2300 fps with 103g of powder recoil is 88 ft lbs

To equal that in a 404 Jeffery shooting a 400g bullet at 2150 fps with 80g of powder the rifle would have to weigh 6 lbs.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Agree i just ran some number through the online recoil calculator. In my 12 lb (with scope) unloaded CZ 550 in 500 Jeffery shooting a 570g TSX at 2300 fps with 103g of powder recoil is 88 ft lbs

To equal that in a 404 Jeffery shooting a 400g bullet at 2150 fps with 80g of powder the rifle would have to weigh 6 lbs.

I presume you're shooting 4350 powder? That is an excellent comparison. Now I know if someone tries to hand me a 500 Jeffery of any ilk, I'll take off running in the other direction.

 

[Nevada Mike]

Agree i just ran some number through the online recoil calculator. In my 12 lb (with scope) unloaded CZ 550 in 500 Jeffery shooting a 570g TSX at 2300 fps with 103g of powder recoil is 88 ft lbs

To equal that in a 404 Jeffery shooting a 400g bullet at 2150 fps with 80g of powder the rifle would have to weigh 6 lbs.

As I said, I've pushed 400 gr SAFs from my 10lb., 3oz. 404J up to a little over 2400 fps. The recoild starts to add up and at top levels is tough. It is also not needed. 2200 to 2300 works just fine on buff.

 

[colorado]

I agree while recoil in my 500 Jeffery with 570g at 2300 fps is "sporty" at 2510 fps it's flat out punishing

 

[Rare Breed]

Well after waiting months and months, I finally picked up the 404 Jeffrey today. I came home, and I immediately went out back and put some rounds down range. Much to my surprise, the recoil was very significant. “Much more than my 416.” After just three rounds, I was ready to put the rifle down. I went to the safe and got the 416 Rigby and shot it a few times. After shooting the Rigby and realizing the recoil was much less, I installed the muzzle brake that came with the new 404. I then shot 3 more rounds and the recoil was significantly less, I would say around 40% less.

“Both ammo was factory Hornady”

The 416 weighs 11 lbs and the 404 weighed in at 9.2.

I found the felt recoil of the 404 very surprising. What are all of you guys think?

Andrew I bought a beautiful MRC Safari Express 404J and found while it loads easily and its accuracy at 100 yards is within 1 MOA I found the bolt is a bit hard to open after my shot. I just sent it off to get this corrected at Weaver in CO. I absolutely love the caliber. It does recoil quite a bit with factory ammo in this case Hornady but I have not had a chance to reload yet though I have all the components

 

[Rule 303]

Andrew I bought a beautiful MRC Safari Express 404J and found while it loads easily and its accuracy at 100 yards is within 1 MOA I found the bolt is a bit hard to open after my shot. I just sent it off to get this corrected at Weaver in CO. I absolutely love the caliber. It does recoil quite a bit with factory ammo in this case Hornady but I have not had a chance to reload yet though I have all the components

I have found the Hornady Factory amm o for the 416 Rigby to be somewhat more punishing then my home loads. I use AR2209 powder, if I use AR2213SC it feels about the same as the Hornady ammo but with both, I get velocities about 100 fps faster than Hornady ammo. So, I think when you start reloading it won't recoil quite as hard.