FN Post War Custom ‘98 .404 Jeffery

[DB404]

Hi guys, I wanted to update the sale terms for my Larry Brace/Dennis Olson custom FN actioned 404 Jeffery since the brass and dies have both been purchased.

The rifle, plus 36 rounds of factory Hornady 400gr DGX soft points, and a partial box of Woodleigh 400gr round nose softs along with a partial box of Barne’s 350gr X spitzers (the ungrooved ones) is now priced at $5,525.

In my original posting I had misidentified the peep sight and scope bases; they are by Talley and the rings are currently available from Talley for 1” or 30mm diameter. They are not NECG.

The barrel is a 23” cut rifled Krieger; the stock is exhibition grade “broken fiddleback” Bastogne walnut, turned from the blank by Shane Thompson; it was inlet, bedded and finished by Dennis Olson. The forend tip is African ebony from a chunk Dennis had; the stock has double cross bolts and the action is glass bedded. The recoil pad is a Pachmayr Decelerator. The stock is relatively straight to better control recoil, but with enough drop at heel and comb to come up fast with the front sight where it needs to be.

The action is a post war FN with solid left wall; it was opened to the rear by Larry Brace for a capacity of 3 down and one up. The extractor will snap over the rim of a cartridge dropped directly into the chamber. Extraction and ejection are very positive. This is a CRF actioned rifle - once the top round has moved forward about an inch, it pops up onto the bolt face, under the extractor. It won’t pop out of action like a push feed action can have happen, and double feeding is impossible. The finished rifle weighs 8lbs 4oz, empty. It was designed to carry easy and be fast to the shoulder.

Due to career and then health issues, it has been a safe queen.

Dave

 

[Basser2x]

What a shame. I’d buy it, but the wood isn’t pretty enough! ;-)

What a gorgeous rifle. Good luck with your sale. You’ll miss her when she’s gone.

 

[DB404]

What a shame. I’d buy it, but the wood isn’t pretty enough! ;-)

What a gorgeous rifle. Good luck with your sale. You’ll miss her when she’s gone.

Hell, I miss it already!

 

[Wildcatter]

From the bolt face picture, it doesn’t appear that it has been fired!!! What an absolute stunner!

 

[DB404]

Dennis function fired it a couple of rounds, and I fired 4 of the Hornady 400 grain loads. That’s all. It is basically brand new.

 

[Randy F]

What a beautif......(faints)

 

[DB404]

Thank you.

That .404 is a pleasure simply to hold and look at. It’s been fun to watch some folks pull it out of its soft case (which usually gets dropped at that point) and watch their eyes go wide. The usual comment is “my God it’s beautiful!” Then they just stare at it; maybe lightly slide their fingers along the stock.

I miss it already.

Dave

 

[Whit]

That rifle is an absolute beauty!

 

[CoElkHunter]

Absolutely stunning wood and beautiful rifle!

 

[WAB]

Are you absolutely certain you can’t make a trip across the pond with that rifle? It is a total travesty to commission a rifle of that quality and not have the opportunity to carry it into the bush!

 

[DB404]

I’d sure like to. I am going to push the docs about it at my next visit and see if they’ll give me a straighter answer. Apparently, the cancer has stopped growing but it is in my C spine, T spine and L spine. I need to find an oncologist who likes to hunt.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Beautiful rifle. Good luck with the sale. Dennis did a nice job mounting the Lidja barrel on my 404.

I just picked up another stock for it. The one I mounted was nice enough with a bit of that "broken fiddleback" but this one is stunning. I got it for a really great price. Looks to be almost new. I will probably refinish it and change the recoil pad.

Good to hear your tumor has stabilized. Hang in there. Prairie dogs should be getting active any day. A good varmint gun is essentially recoilless. And I know a couple of places in Montana that could use some help.

 

[DB404]

Nice find! You must be patient and have a good eye.

I do have a Sako/Rihimakii (Savage) .222 Rem, and a 26” heavy barrel 6mm that Dad had put together years ago on a Mexican 1910 Mauser action for pasture poodles. Haven’t had the opportunity to do that in years.

It looks like you might be in Montana and since you have a new to you wooden stock, I’ll share a quick story on a kiln dried maple blank I have. Dad picked it up in 1964 in Bellingham, Washington from the old Roberts Wood Products company. We were living in Portland, OR at the time, so it was moderately humid; 2 years later he got transferred to Washington, DC, high humidity. Then back to Oregon in ‘73. It sat on a shelf in the basement until ‘05, when it went to coastal Alaska and was there through 2011. High humidity. The blank was straight and flat all that time. Then I moved to Helena. The blank cupped lengthwise about 5/16”.

 

[WAB]

I’d sure like to. I am going to push the docs about it at my next visit and see if they’ll give me a straighter answer. Apparently, the cancer has stopped growing but it is in my C spine, T spine and L spine. I need to find an oncologist who likes to hunt.

I truly hope you do!

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Nice find! You must be patient and have a good eye.

I do have a Sako/Rihimakii (Savage) .222 Rem, and a 26” heavy barrel 6mm that Dad had put together years ago on a Mexican 1910 Mauser action for pasture poodles. Haven’t had the opportunity to do that in years.

It looks like you might be in Montana and since you have a new to you wooden stock, I’ll share a quick story on a kiln dried maple blank I have. Dad picked it up in 1964 in Bellingham, Washington from the old Roberts Wood Products company. We were living in Portland, OR at the time, so it was moderately humid; 2 years later he got transferred to Washington, DC, high humidity. Then back to Oregon in ‘73. It sat on a shelf in the basement until ‘05, when it went to coastal Alaska and was there through 2011. High humidity. The blank was straight and flat all that time. Then I moved to Helena. The blank cupped lengthwise about 5/16”.

Originally I'm from Montana and still own the family home there with my brothers. Only return a couple months a year to hunt and fish. Humidity where I live in Ontario can be bad a few weeks during the summer but most of the time quite bearable. During our long cold (usually but not this year) winters, the furnace running all the time dries things out a lot. The double doors on my pine kitchen cupboards close tightly in summer but in winter there's an eighth inch gap between them! This stock came from NY but unclear where it was originally made. I will rebed it of course and have to open the channel for my 404's #5 profile barrel but I will keep the float fairly tight (doubled over paper dollar thickness between barrel and stock). I have ordered fancy Winchester crossbolts and will be adding a steel rod inside the pistol grip wrist. This is too pretty a piece of wood to risk cracking.

 

[DB404]

You’re dialed in on it! I always seal the barrel channel, the magazine box area and under the grip cap and butt pad. Recoil won’t split a stock if its good wood and it’s bedded correctly. I had to learn the hard way to allow a smidgen of tang clearance.

Which Ontario? Oregon or hoser country?

 

[Ontario Hunter]

You’re dialed in on it! I always seal the barrel channel, the magazine box area and under the grip cap and butt pad. Recoil won’t split a stock if its good wood and it’s bedded correctly. I had to learn the hard way to allow a smidgen of tang clearance.

Which Ontario? Oregon or hoser country?

Canada. Not Oregon or California (shudder). No tang clearance when I restocked my 30-06 back in 1981 after a horse accident and somehow managed to keep it from cracking over several decades of hard hunting. When I put a new barrel on it in 2021, I made sure to carve out a bit of space. And of course the 404 definitely had some tang clearance added when I put that gun together last year. Here's what it looks like now. I will keep this stock as backup. Put a lot of work into it including making the zebrawood fore end tip from scratch.

 

[TheRealMikeAllen]

Hi guys, I wanted to update the sale terms for my Larry Brace/Dennis Olson custom FN actioned 404 Jeffery since the brass and dies have both been purchased.

The rifle, plus 36 rounds of factory Hornady 400gr DGX soft points, and a partial box of Woodleigh 400gr round nose softs along with a partial box of Barne’s 350gr X spitzers (the ungrooved ones) is now priced at $5,525.

In my original posting I had misidentified the peep sight and scope bases; they are by Talley and the rings are currently available from Talley for 1” or 30mm diameter. They are not NECG.

The barrel is a 23” cut rifled Krieger; the stock is exhibition grade “broken fiddleback” Bastogne walnut, turned from the blank by Shane Thompson; it was inlet, bedded and finished by Dennis Olson. The forend tip is African ebony from a chunk Dennis had; the stock has double cross bolts and the action is glass bedded. The recoil pad is a Pachmayr Decelerator. The stock is relatively straight to better control recoil, but with enough drop at heel and comb to come up fast with the front sight where it needs to be.

The action is a post war FN with solid left wall; it was opened to the rear by Larry Brace for a capacity of 3 down and one up. The extractor will snap over the rim of a cartridge dropped directly into the chamber. Extraction and ejection are very positive. This is a CRF actioned rifle - once the top round has moved forward about an inch, it pops up onto the bolt face, under the extractor. It won’t pop out of action like a push feed action can have happen, and double feeding is impossible. The finished rifle weighs 8lbs 4oz, empty. It was designed to carry easy and be fast to the shoulder.

Due to career and then health issues, it has been a safe queen.

Dave


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What a beautiful rifle. And for a reasonable price. I would buy it if I was in the market.

 

[MontanaPat]

That is a beautiful rifle, someone is going to be very happy getting it

 

[Wooster]

Just sent DB404 a message. What a lovely rifle. Happy to purchase at listed price. Will give it the care (and use in Africa) it deserves. And prayers for good health to DB404.