Making plans & preping to build on a Pre-64 Model 70 ...... a 404 Jeffery .
The barrel is now at 26" , the gunsmith doing the fitting recomended gutting her down to 20" .
I feel this is a bit short ....... most guns out there are , that I can see are about 24" - 25" .....
So I thought I'd pop the question here and go from there !!!!!
Thanks in advance !!!!
Allen

CUTTING , not gutting ...... me & my fat fingers

Here I am , already getting the knife out !!!

I had mine finished at 24" and like it fine. Can't say why your gunsmith would advise 20", but that's too short in my opinion.

Allen Martin

Start with 25-24 inches, if you feel it's to long it' can always be adjusted. Under 24 inches is to short in my world.

Cheers
/JOHAN

AM

I think your gunsmith has no concept in regards to larger than deer cal rifles and barrels. I believe that Ideeho cowboy (Atkinson) likes 26" barrels and his barrel contour is fairly thin and he says that it'll hang just right when shooting off-hand.

I'd say 20 inches is two short. I had Dewight Marshal do mine at 24", I did mine on a win 70 classic. I'd do it somewhere between 24-26, but that my take. But I sure wouldnt build a 404 with a 20" barrel.

20" , what is your gunsmith thinking? I had mine done to 23", it's a fairly heavy contour though.

The optimum barrel length depends on what you will use it for. If it is just a play thing and will not be used for serious dangerous game hunting then any length will do. If your going to be going into the jess after cow elephant I would have a 22" Barrel length. I don't think I need to detail the advantage of short barrels in the thick stuff. The 404 Jeffery has enough extra powder capacity to load to better than factory velocity even from a 22" barrel.

465H&H

I'm having mine built with a 25" Lothar Walther barrel. 20" is too short. How many 404 Jeffrey's has this guy built?

The 404J case is not the easiest to get to feed properly. Are you starting with a standard Pre-64 action or a Pre-64 Magnum (300HH & 375HH) action? I know they are the same outside dimensions, but the magnums have been worked over to handle the longer H&H case.

Tim

Thanks for all the input & ideas !!! My thoughts are in keeping with at least a 24" ..........

I'm using a pre-64 that was a Westerner .....264 Win mag . Oh the serial number is really cool !!!

#404416 -

Guess this has to be one or the other !!!!
Later ....

Hey Allen Martin,

Sounds like you're going to have a great cannon no matter how it is finished.

I had a custom .405 Winchester built on a P-14 action. The barrel is a #5 contour Shilen at 28". It handles and shoots like a dream. With that long barrel, the hold is a steady as you would ever want.

I'd stay with a longer barrel for other reasons also, but those reasons are accademic.

Good Luck,

Allen

I opted for 23 1/2"on my impending .404.

I did a 25 in on my 416 hangs nices shoots well.

I don't know how many .404 Jeffery-chambered rifles Cogswell & Harrison has made over the years, but it's a lot more than a few.

My C&H .404 has a 21" barrel (measured normally, from bolt face to muzzle), with an absolutely straight taper from receiver ring to muzzle, where it measures (if I remember rightly) about .800". As a result, it is reasonably heavy for such a short barrel, and handles very nicely indeed. Total rifle weight is on the order of 8.5 pounds.

I've had no difficulty getting various 400-grain bullets to run at well over 2400 fps, which means that I'm not paying any great velocity penalty for the short length....it's still a "real" .404.....

All my big bores have 26" barrels, they just handle better off hand and on running shots IMO..The old mountain men and the early African hunters liked long tubes and they knew a thing or two..Most 404 came with a 27 inch barrel in those days, with an option for 25 inches..I built a couple of big bores with short tubes, but I personally didn't like them at all, felt like the bullet was coming out of my nose, they are loud and don't handle well when one is out of breath from chasing buffalo...the bounce all over hell when your winded..

But to each his own IMO, so use whatever blows your skirt up!

Brad,
I suspect your Cogswell has been circumsized, they reportedly only came in 25 and a fraction inch barrels as I understand it..