It's taken a long time, but I have finally found the secret to getting my .404 brass headspaced correctly to fire every time.

What I have to do is run new brass through a neck/shoulder expander, and then size it down to the point where it just barely closes when I turn down the bolt. This is not unusual -- there are a lot of guns you have to do this to.

What is unusual is that in order to resize fire-formed brass, I have to repeat the neck/shoulder expansion and resizing process. It took a long time for me to realize that, for some reason, my fire-formed brass was shrinking. I discovered that even if I took brass straight from the chamber and reloaded it without any resizing, it would not fire because it was too short at the shoulder.

Mobogo375 looked at my fired brass at the range one time and said that the rear of my chamber was cut too large. Could this cause my fired brass to shrink at the shoulder? Anybody else ever had this problem?

Regardless, I now know the secret for consistant performance. It only costs me a little more time at the loading bench. As for brass life, I get about three of four loadings before retirement, which is enough for a big bore.

glad you got it "figured" out.. .I would NOT be happy with the situation.

I expect that setting the barrel back 1 or 2 threads, and having a GUNSMITH reduex the chamber, rather than the gumschiff that did the original job would repair the gun...

i get 20+ loadings in my 500 jeffe, and your neck up and down MIGHT be better if you annealed EVERY time...

jeffe

I am glad that you have found a method that works. I am concerned however that you are having to do this, as the brass is being overworked (sure wouldn't want to have a case separation with the front part sticking in the chamber after your first shot on a buffalo). When you get the opportunity if you will bring the rifle and dies down we will try to find a better solution (I have a couple of ideas that should will work). The offer is good anytime, and I will even buy lunch .

Jim

If mbogo375 can look at the fired brass and see that the chamber has been hog-wallowed out too large or assymetrically at the rear, that is a bad situation, as Jeffe said too. That would also explain the incredible shrinking brass at the shoulder, as the case head balloons out each time fired. Shiver me timbers! Case head separations on the way!

Not even Ruger would let something like that out of the shop. Utterly intolerable.

I would say that it needs to be rebarreled and chambered properly in 404 Jeffery.

Otherwise it is time for a wildcat, so how about a .423/.505 Gibbs? That ought to clean up the chamber, and then some.

[ 11-18-2003, 09:03: Message edited by: RIP ]

Mbogo,

I'll try to roll south sometime before Christmas. I'm not terribly worried about shooting a buffalo and having a case head separation, since all my hunting loads are with properly sized NEW brass.

When I come, I'll bring my new Browning FN .375 H&H. I need to work up some of your "magic" buffalo loads for it.

See ya.

Hey, guys-- if you're getting together to shoot big bores, I'd love an invitation. I live in Gwinnett.

All I have to offer to bring is a .458 Lott, and a .375 H&H.

Pertinax

come on down to texas... i always have a new rifle that could use a crash test drummy... er, would love to share shooting with

jeffe

Bad chamber.

GAHunter,

I have been following your saga with interest as it has been a particular instance of a general problem I have been researching with the .404 Jeff in the USA. (I have been following your reports since you first conceived your project rifle.)

However, upon further review, I would now class your problems with feeding your Jeff with the particular rifle. In other words there is something badly wrong with the chambering of your rifle.

Your efforts to make the rifle shoot are way more pain than I would put up with, especially since the .404J is such a normally nice performer.

jim dodd

My gunsmith was, was, was..... ah sh--, I can't say it. He is still convinced that the whole problem is in my loading. Until I'm 100 percent sure that he's wrong, I'm not going to say who he is.

This is my first ever attempt at loading anything other that run-of-the-mill calibers. Maybe I am doing something wrong. I for damn sure know that I WAS doing something wrong when I first started by setting he shoulder back to far on new brass. I'm going to the range this weekend and fire form a bunch of brass. I'll let you know if I find a way to reload it without expanding the shoulder.

What happens when you try factory ammunition?