When Ray told me he was putting this 404 together to keep I knew it would sooner or later be too much of a temptation for him to sell or trade. I swapped him a couple rifles I wasn’t using and so far really like it. It feeds very well.
















Here is what he told me about it:

The action is an imported by Butch Searcy full size magnum action (Vektor of So. Africa). It was blueprinted.

The wood is Russian Circassian Walnut imported by Bill Dowtin. It was selected for straight grain through the wrist and minimal marbeling.

The pattern is Ray’s combination of an early Holland and Holland rifle with a Jack Hogue design.

The cross bolts are engraved and antiqued gray.

It was braced up with glass after hand bedding it completely.

Ray inserted into the quarter rib a shallow v adjustable island sight taken out of Jim Wisners pre 64 .458 sights from the early years. It is adjustable for windage and elevation.

Lothar Walthar barrel

Custom magnum bottom metal built for this big action holds 5 down.

M-70 3 position safety

Custom trigger

Drilled and tapped for 8-40 screws.

Talley barrel band front sight,straight bolt and barrel band swivel.

Weighs 9lb 9 oz.

Nice gun. Ray does know how to build a rifle.

Dave

That is an excellent rifle in every way.
You did well as long as Ray did not take you to the cleaners!

Load'em up and let'er rip!
You can even use RIP loads of Varget and RL-15 with no worries in that Magnum Mauser:

400-grainer at anywhere from 2125 fps to 2400 fps, your choice.
380-grainer at +2500 fps.
340-grainer at +2700 fps.
(24" barrel MVs).

Of course Ray was famous for getting 400-grainers up to 2600 fps using IMR-4831 in his 404 Jeffery ... RWS brass and 26" or 27" barrel?

How long is the barrel on that one?

Beautiful rifle. Congratulations on your new "toy"

BTW,
That rear sight is a Wisner, as you say, a copy of the Winchester African sight that they used on the Pre-64 .458 WinMag "African" rifle.
One of my favorite sights.

Nice the way it has been set into a quarter rib.
It usually gets screwed and soldered directly to the barrel, as originally applied. Elevation adjustable only, and depending on drifting the front sight for windage.

Some good engineering on Ray's part with the quarter rib mounting of that sight.

I assume it is in a dovetail in the quarter rib and now drift adjustable for windage?

RIP, it is a 24" barrel and I dont know who got the best deal but I would rather have this rifle than the two I sent to Ray. He, on the other hand claims to have come out ahead of where he thought he would.

I guess we are like the two traders who went into the barn to see who could out trade the other. They both came out claiming to be $500 ahead.

PS the rear sight is dovetailed into the quarter rib as you perceived and can be locked into a position with a little allen wrench.

Nice

How about some pics and details on the jeep too?

that is a really nice looking and functional gun!

?

A great loking rifle! I especially like the rear sight and front brass bead combo.

What can I say, beautiful rifle. Once again Ray has proven himself to be a "Gun Whore"!

Everything has it's price!

The barrel looks like a Ruger barrel.

Looks great, but how does she shoot?

Very nice , a great combo of pinky finger and Skookum ....
.
.
meat load , 400 gr rn @ 2150 fps
.
Serious load , 340 gr @ 2600 fps

Fred, I am still researching loads and have not started to work up any on paper targets.

Also I still have not decided on a scope for it - and may not put one on. The rear sight is mounted far enough forward that I can keep the irons in focus even with my old eyes.

I have killed two small watermelon sized limestone rocks with Hornady ammo but they were pretty close and not running shots.

Gorgeous gun in a great caliber. What did you swap Ray for it? A pair of .25-35s?

I like your rifle very much. I hope that you funny with it very much.

Oscar.

No, Oscar, that was me that was "funny with it very much" on the other thread with MJines and the 500 Jeffery.

You write English a world better than I do Spanish.
I barely write English alone.
But allow me to rephrase that:

You wish for Palmer to have much fun with it.

I think he has a good start on that, and so have others.
Same for MJines and the 500J.

Ron

I am American

Bit a bit Rip. I am always making mistakes with English, but I am triying learn some English in this forum

Bye,

Oscar.

quote:

Originally posted by ALF:
Vektor action? To my knowledge but I could be wrong all built during the short time that they were actually produced were Double square bridge actions?

I agree, did someone machine off the bridges?

Dont know about that one,but my Vektor is a double square bridge.-Rob

?

Oh boy...........

I've got a "not what it was advertised to be" Ray rifle sitting downstairs. I hope this works out Ok for everybody.

Oh geez! Another question of honor among gunwhores, and Ray is involved in this one too!

I bought a 404 Jeffery a few years back from KurtC that Ray Atkinson was interested in. Turned out that it did not feed right. I had it fixed at G&H, and told KurtC about it. I put it up for sale here after I bought 90 acres of land in NY. Ray completely criticized the same rifle, and offered me an unfinished rifle action in 10.75x68 "in case I need to get out from under the rifle I (trade) (steal) from you quickly for something else."

I would not deal with either of them again. The 404 I bought was supposed to go on a buff hunt by the previous owner, but I cannot understand how that could happen if it only fed one round from the magazine without jamming, and I received 10 rounds of reloads that supposedly worked.

Where is Ray at any way ?? Havn,t seen him around lately ???

quote:

Originally posted by surestrike:
Oh boy...........

I've got a "not what it was advertised to be" Ray rifle sitting downstairs. I hope this works out Ok for everybody.

Surestrike

Would you mind providing some details?

JBrown,

Why are you interested?

quote:

Originally posted by gumboot458:
Where is Ray at any way ?? Havn,t seen him around lately ???

Ray got mixed up in a claimed misrepresentation of a deer hunt, he got called on it. Got pissed and left for the second time. The first time was after getting mixed up in a claimed misrepresentation on an African hunt where he also got pissed and left.

Are we seeing a trend here?

quote:

Originally posted by gumboot458:
Where is Ray at any way ?? Havn,t seen him around lately ???

He has posted on the Classifieds a couple of times recently.

Looks like an FN action to me.
And an Ed Lapour safety.
NOT a Vektor.

And why do people still deal with Dowtin?

quote:

Originally posted by Charles_Helm:

quote:

Originally posted by gumboot458:
Where is Ray at any way ?? Havn,t seen him around lately ???

He has posted on the Classifieds a couple of times recently.

Guess business is tough and he is trying to sell hunts anywhere he can, even back here. He is over at 24hourcampfire most of the time.

?

Allen,
Your action appears to be either an FN, or an Interarms MarkX,.
The bolt handle is a Talley.
The 3 postition safety is a Dakota.
That's about all I can tell from the pictures.
It is not a Satterlee.
Have a nice day.
Regards.
Stuart Satterlee

quote:

Originally posted by Gun toter:
Looks like an FN action to me.
And an Ed Lapour safety.
NOT a Vektor.

And why do people still deal with Dowtin?

The safety is not a Lapour. It is more likely a Dakota. The Lapour has "softer" lines.

?

If so, this is not an excellent rifle in every way. I was fooled too, by the verbal description. Palmer, did you get "took" by Ray A.?

quote:

Palmer, did you get "took" by Ray A.?

It seems a OAL measurement of the action would give us a clearer picture.

Palmer,

Whatever the action is, that is a beatiful rifle and I hope you enjoy it hunting with it

L

Hey Palmer,just call or PM Butch Searcy?
Maybe he can help I.D.the action .....since his name is being attached to it?
I think it looks very very nice!