Solids for the .404J

[Nevada Mike]

I am planning a 21 day hunt in Western Tanzania in fall of 2022. In preparing for ths trip I need advice on the subject of solid ammunition for my .404.

My PH / Outfitter advised me to bring about 20 rounds of solids (and 60 rounds of softs) for my .404 Jeffery. This will be a buffalo hunt mainly. I have 400 grain Woodleigh and Barnes Banded solids and I am looking at the Swift Breakaway (not currently available from Swift).

I am leaning towards the Woodleighs simply because I have chosen Woodleigh 400 grain softs and felt they might be ballistically similar as far as POI is concerned. I am also ordering some 400 grain Swift A Frames in .422 to experiment with.

I have zero experience with large bore solids so I am asking opinions and advise from you all.

 

[Proneshooter]

Mike,
I have used both of the North Fork offerings in my 404. I did not find the Cup Points to be all they were said to be, but I did use the Flat points with good success. Had lack of penetration with the Cup Points and my PH had seen and had personally, the same problem and was not happy about his clients using them. Very limited experience here so take it for what it is.

 

[Nevada Mike]

Proneshooter - - Thanks! That is the type of data I am looking for.

 

[ALbowhunter]

I use the 400 gr AFrames and 400 gr Cutting Edge solids in my 404. The Cutting Edge solids hit a little higher than the A frames with the same weight powder charge. Using 84 gr of H4350 for the A frames and 83.7 gr of H4350 for the Cutting Edge Solids gives same point of impact at 75yards. I also worked up loads for the Swift Break away solids. I had to increase the charge to 84.3 gr to get the Break away to hit with the AFrames. I have not used the Break away solids on any game, but have used the Cutting Edge on game with several different calibers.

 

[RockSlinger404]

I'm loading 400gr A-Frames with 86gr of VV N560 at ~2150fps for a buff and lion hunt later this year.

Does anyone have experience with Peregrine's 400gr VRG1 solid? They group relatively well in my rifle (0,5 MOA at 100m).

 

[Nhoro]

I have used 450 gr and 480 gr Peregrine solids in my 458 Lott, currently using 515 gr solids. My boys dug some of the solids out of a bank behind the target- a gravel/shale type bank. I posted the pictures on the forum somewhere- they were damaged but far less than I expected. They are tough !

 

[Professor Mawla]

I have recently grown quite partial to the Labor Fur Ballistik 400 grain flat nosed brass jacketed solid factory loads .

 

[Dirtdart]

In my CZ550 .404 the Woodleigh 400 grain FMJ and RNSN hit to the same poi with my loads.
This particular rifle occasionally hangs up with flat nosed bullets so they were not an option when developing a soft/solid combo.

I have another .404 that is zeroed with Swift A-Frames and it puts Factory Nosler solids on top of my 400 grain A-Frame handholds. I just happened to have a few boxes of the Factory Nosler 400 grain solids on hand is the reason I tried that pairing. I plan to try the 400 grain Barnes Banded flat nose to see what happens out of curiosity.

My .416 Remington shoots to the same poi with 400 grain Swift A-Frames and the Woodleigh 450 FMJ (That was a surprise) but I could not get the Barnes Banded flat nosed 350 grain solid to do the same. I use Norma 203B in both calibers with almost identical powder charges is the reason for mentioning the .416 cartridge. Having a solid or FMJ that hits to the same poi as your softs is always good plan.

 

[Bert the Turtle]

I’ve used the Barnes solids in 404 on buffalo. I have the flat-point version that isn’t currently offered. I can assure you they pass easily through a buffalo. With plenty of velocity left. I personally think that with the performance of modern expanding bullets (and modern solids for that matter) “solids for backup shots” is outdated advice but I am not a PH.

 

[Nevada Mike]

I’ve used the Barnes solids in 404 on buffalo. I have the flat-point version that isn’t currently offered. I can assure you they pass easily through a buffalo. With plenty of velocity left. I personally think that with the performance of modern expanding bullets (and modern solids for that matter) “solids for backup shots” is outdated advice but I am not a PH.

I have about 50 of the 400 grain flatnose, banded Barnes solids as well. They are LONG. Thanks for the data...

And I think there are number of PHs who would agree that today's prmium softs sorta obsolete the solids for buffalo.

 

[TOBY458]

I have read some good things about Cutting Edge brass solids. They are said to be excellent performers on anything including Elephant.