But I still love it!

What's it been now, four years and two trips to Africa, and my "custom" 404 Jeffery is STILL not a "working" rifle. First it wouldn't fire half the time (not a desirable feature in a dangerous game rifle), then it wouldn't feed at all(another feature that is slightly less than ideal), then it wouldn't feed when cycled "hot" (Jammed on buffalo follow-up, jammed on elephant charge, probably not the best time to fail to chamber a round).

But I talked to Dennis Olson in Montana, who now has the gun, and he says that soon I will be able to eject four rounds and have three of them in the air at one time. I've heard similar claims by gunsmiths before, but Dennis has a good reputation in this area, so maybe this time....

At any rate, I've learned that rechambering a rifle from its original caliber can involve a lot more than screwing a new barrel onto it, especially when converted from .375 to 404. Ray warned me that I would always have feed problems if the magazine wasn't altered by someone familiar with the 404 round. I guess he was right!

Dennis is the right guy fo rthis job, and if he said it feeds that well, then it's probably better.

to get a rum to feed 404 is trivial.. but from an HH case, you have to rework the geometry and follower.

jeffe

Hope dennis get's it straight for you. In the interim, what action did you start with?

Dennis Olson did the feeding on my 404, feeds great. Jeffe and a few of the other guys has seen mine feed, its feeds slicker snot. Its on a Mdl 70

I've never hunted Africa, but if it would of jammed on me during an elephant charge the rifle would be gone.
It would probably of been like that thread where the PH got tired of hearing the client brag about his custom shop weatherby and threw it in the croc pond. Only difference would be I would of threw my on rifle in the croc pond.

New Guy, it's built on a Ruger RSM action and stock, orginally chambered for .375 H&H. Has a Krieger barrel, NEC sights and an after-market trigger. Shoots one-hole groups and the Kahles 1.1-4x22 scope holds zero perfectly no matter how many shots you fire or how many times you remove the Warne quick detatch rings.

Only problem with it (now) is it's basically a single shot!

quote:

Originally posted by GAHUNTER:
New Guy, it's built on a Ruger RSM action and stock, orginally chambered for .375 H&H. Has a Krieger barrel, NEC sights and an after-market trigger. Shoots one-hole groups
Only problem with it (now) is it's basically a single shot!

Pardon my wretched sense of humour, please, but if it (was) effectively a single-shot, one hole-groups would be what I would expect from ANY rifle....

Seriously, hope Dennis has it all ironed out for you.

Did the PH do the animal stopping for you in those feisty moments when your rifle jammed? What did HE (they) use?

GAHUNTER - Has it been 4 years already?!? I remember when you were having headspace problems with your brass. Man time flys.

Still, it is a hell of a cartridge! Good luck...

Turns out we didn't have to shoot the elephant and the PH didn't put an insurance shot into the buff because he thought I hit it good (so did I). It ran off stiff-legged and hunched up. About 30 seconds later, it bellowed, loud! Trackers and PH all gave me the high five. That high-five became became a "low blow" when the blood trail ran out -- Three Days Later!!!

Yes, Zero, it has been four years (almost). I bought the base rifle in March of '02 and sent it off to Hamilton Bowen of Bowen Classic Arms in Tennessee as soon as it arrived. Of course, I didn't get it back until September of '02. That's when the trouble began (and continues to this day).

Magazine feeding can be a problem when changing cartridge configurations. But it is a problem quickly resolved in the hands of a smith who understands these things. Good luck!

GAHUNTER!

I don't mean to embarass you but why would you take a rifle that is in affect a single shot after dangerous game in the first place?

465H&H

Because we thought we had it fixed! Turns out the feed problem does not raise its head until after a shot is fired and the bolt worked at lightning speed, or you try to jack a monosolid in super quick in an "emergency".

I only thought I was working my bolt fast in my basement before the hunt, where all 60 rounds I took with me were cycled no less than ten times each without incident. That speed, however, can not compare to the adraline-boosted speed of a round being jacked in the rifle in the middle of a pitch black night in a leopard blind when the PH suddenly yells "ELEPHNANT! RUN!"

Dennis Olson told me on the phone that at first he had a hard time making it jam because he was working it at "normal" speed. However, when he really put the heat to it, it would jam every time.

Dennis is the man for the job. He did mine (a 1917 Enfield) but don't hold your breath on that "soon" part!!

I was in to Dennis Olsen's the other day and saw your rifle on the shelf. Nice piece of wood on the rifle. Dennis doesn't talk much but what he said it seemed like you had a single shot rifle on your hunts. Good luck with getting the problem fixed.

If you need someone to fire your rifle a few dozen times while its still in Montana, I would be more than happy to help.

IMHO the only way to test a rifle is firing on the range with live ammo under stress. Running live or dummy ammo through the rifle is good but you still need to do it for real on the range to find 99% of the bugs. I figure the other 1% will only happen when Murphy intervenes.

465H&H

I'm loving the elephant story. I got a big laugh out "sitting in a leopard blind only to have the PH yell "elephant, run!" thanks for a great laugh.

Sierrabravo,

You come up with the ammo, then knock yourself out! Somebody has to test fire and cycle it; might as well be you (if it's ok with Dennis).

Texas,
Twarnt so durn funny when it happened! I'm not telling the whole story here, but it has a rather embarrassing ending that goes beyond me jamming my rifle.

GAHUNTER,

I would love to shoot the gun, but I am in Pocatello, ID right now and the drive wouldn't be fun. I was in NW Montana and Idaho over the holidays. I might be heading up that way on a depradation hunt, but I am not sure. What's the time table that you are working with Dennis to have the work done?? He does great work, but I know he gets busy.

quote:

Originally posted by GAHUNTER:
Sierrabravo,

You come up with the ammo, then knock yourself out! Somebody has to test fire and cycle it; might as well be you (if it's ok with Dennis).

Texas,
Twarnt so durn funny when it happened! I'm not telling the whole story here, but it has a rather embarrassing ending that goes beyond me jamming my rifle.

I got a good laugh out of it too.

Kinda begs asking for the rest of the story doesn't it?