Does anyone have any experience with the Barnes 400 grain TSX bullets in your .404 Jeffery? How do they work?

I have been shooting 400 grain Woodleighs but the Woodleighs are now over $70 a box and the Barnes bullets are about $17 dollars cheaper. I would like to find a little lower priced alternative so I shoot my .404 at the a bit more at the range.

I wish Hornady would just give us a plain old Interlock in for the .404 like they do for the .416.

Dave

i have used the 400 tsx in my 404 in africa and had perfect performance.very accurate. i load 80 grains of rl-15 and vel 2420fps hits hard

quote:

Originally posted by Dave Bush:

I wish Hornady would just give us a plain old Interlock in for the .404 like they do for the .416.

Dave

If , as rumour has it, that Hornady are going to bring out the 404 in the DG line of cartridges, then I 'pect we will see Hornady projectiles for it too. Its not a huge leap of imagination to see this happening when you look at what else they've released lately.
Steve

Couldn't remember where I'd seen this in my earlier post but having found this again,
Hornady 404
I'd say its a bit better than a rumour.
Steve.

OH, WOW! Hornady 404 Jeffery bullets?

Guys, the only problem I see with the Hornaday dangerous game bullets is that even the expanding version (DGX) is apparently made of copper clad STEEL. Wouldn't a steady diet of those be pretty hard on your barrel?

Dave

Hornady's ad for their "Dangerous Game Series" inside Sports Afield says coming soon for 404, 470NE, and 500NE.

quote:

Originally posted by cable68:
Hornady's ad for their "Dangerous Game Series" inside Sports Afield says coming soon for 404, 470NE, and 500NE.

I emailed Hornday a few weeks ago to see if they could tell us when the 404J ammo would be available. No response. I also inquired at Midway. They responded that they had no idea if and when Hornady would release it.

Hope they do...

Nobody popped up with an answer to my question.

I know that the Hornady bullets will be competitively priced. However, they are STEEL. Would that affect the life of your barrel if you feed it a steady diet of steel bullets?

quote:

Originally posted by Dave Bush:
Nobody popped up with an answer to my question.

I know that the Hornady bullets will be competitively priced. However, they are STEEL. Would that affect the life of your barrel if you feed it a steady diet of steel bullets?

I don't think that's true, where did you get the info? There would be no benefit to that construction. I'm all ears.

Dave,
I don't think you would ever know the difference..I have used steel jacketed solids in my guns for years and with no ill effects..Some are copper clad and some are a mixture but again I could never tell any difference...Lots of old doubles around that have shot steel before with no ill effects..Hornady tried a softer bullet and it failed them miserably so they returned to the old tried and true bullet that served them well for many years and was the darling of the African PHs...moral of the story is if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Dave,
Sorry haven't revisited this thread in a while. I would ask, "How many Steel Jacketed Solids are you planning on shooting a year?"

I don't think Hornady is going to manufacture a bullet that would be detrimental to your barrel. I know you can shoot a barrel out, but Geez Louise, how many rounds does that take in a modern bolt action rifle?

I'd shoot 'em and not worry. My son can replace my 404 Jeffery barrel after I'm gone!

Ouch, that sagging dollar is killing us! I have a few hundred of the exc. NFs & some Woodleighs. The Swift is another option, about $68 though. The Hawk is an ok practice bullet, $50 for the thin jackets. http://www.hawkbullets.com/Pricelist.htm You can also size down 300gr 44mag bullets for plinkers. They shoot pretty well @ 2200fps, POI is pretty close to 380gr-400gr @ 2200fps.

Dave,
I have not used the 400gr TSX, but I did use the 350gr Barnes X in my 425 Express. I only shot one animal with it, a very nice kudu. I shot it three times: first when it was turned, quartering towards us and I hit it just a little back. This round penetrate the kidneys and I want to say it exited.

The second was as it quartered away from us and I took it behind the ribs aiming just inside the off side foreleg. That bullet was recovered just inside the skin of the chest.

The third was a finishing shot when we walked up on him. It of course exited.

This is a photo of the recovered bullet:


I would think that the 400gr bullet would give very similar performance, and would have exited the animal. The 350gr bullets have a very good reputation and that weight would be consistent with the Barnes' recommendation to drop down one level of weight because of the bullet's characteristics. Hope this helps you. Kudude

Graf and Sons has had Hornady 404 bullets listed for some time...out of stock and price TBA.

So maybe we can remain hopeful at least that they are coming.

quote:

Originally posted by Collins:

quote:

Originally posted by Dave Bush:
Nobody popped up with an answer to my question.

I know that the Hornady bullets will be competitively priced. However, they are STEEL. Would that affect the life of your barrel if you feed it a steady diet of steel bullets?

I don't think that's true, where did you get the info? There would be no benefit to that construction. I'm all ears.

Hornady's solids have returned to their old copper covered mild steel jacketed form, and are a fine solid. Their new DGX soft point for dangerous game is also a copper covered steel jacketed bullet. I saw both sectioned at SCI. Steel jacketed softs aren't new, as Kynoch was making them before WWII.

As far as wear to the bore, I wouldn't worry about it in a magazine rifle. They're really only suitable for dangerous game so, shooting enough to check zero and make sure the solids and softs are printing together, plus what you'll actually fire in the field, won't amount to much. If you're worried about excessive barrel wear and potential damage, I'd be much more concerned about Barnes X and other monos, soft or solid. I helped ruin the barrels of a fine double with Barnes X and it didn't take many. I've shot many steel jacketed Kynoch and Woodleigh solids in doubles and have never had a problem. Of course, it's less of an issue in magazine rifles like yours.

Hornady is retaining the standard Interlock in addition to the DGX in some large bore calibers as you mentioned, but I don't think that will include the .404. Bullet selection is one of the down sides of the .404.
------------------------------------------------
"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

I'm not sure what the point is to Hornady's DG soft. They claim that it hardly mushrooms, the photos of theirs are evidence to that. The point to a soft is to mushroom, cause as much damage as possible and preferably stay in the animal. That apparently won't happen with the DG soft.

I have never used the Interlock on any game but they are cheap enough to practice with. Maybe they will be available for the 404 at some point.

Got this response to my email about 404J from Hornady. Sounds promising..sort of:

"We will be making two rounds in the 404 Jeffrey, however, we do not have an estimated date for production yet. Thank you"

If you have a modern 404 Jeffery, the new Woodleigh 450g bullets at 2150 fps might be just the ticket.



Chuck

When I ordered my dies for my 450/400 from Hornady a few weeks back they said the bullets would be out 'shortly'. The brass was available from both Graf and Midway and looks like good brass. Have some Woodleighs but would rather wait for some less expensive ones to work up loads with. The dies look really good but are slightly different than any that I've used. At the price they were certainly the best in town and the finish looks perfect. I look forward to seeing how the No1 shoots.

Zim,

He is asking about the 404 Jeffery, not the 450/400. Everybody and their dog now has 450/400 .410" Hornady DGS solids and the Interlock softs. I haven't seen any Hornady DGX bullets for the 450/400 yet.

My apologies, thought the 404 Jefferies and the 450/400 used the same bullet and he was inquiring about Hornady bullets. Did not want to inteject anything else.

I've used the 350 Xs in my 425 Express for years with great results. Now that their no longer made the 350 Woodleighs are loaded up but not been tried on a bruin yet.

quote:

Originally posted by zimbabwe:
My apologies, thought the 404 Jefferies and the 450/400 used the same bullet and he was inquiring about Hornady bullets. Did not want to inteject anything else.

Zim,

If someday 404 and/or 450/400 Swift or Nosler Partition bullets are available I wouldn't even screw around with Hornady's softs, in any variation. The now available 450/400 solids should be as good as any other steel jacketed conventional solid.

But the bottom line is that Hornady's are cheap to shoot. Good for them for the bullets and bringing out the once hard to find cases. I can't imagine how hard a sell that was to the bean counters.

I'm with Will on the Noslers!

Man would that be a great .423 Partition. Even in an Accubond!
I'm starting to like the Accubond more and more!
I'd wouldn't mind resizing some .410 Noslers to .408

My feelings on Noslers are such that I just don't look for anything else if they are available. Just looking for less (can't say inexpensive cause they're not) expensive bullets to play with in my 450/400. Hornady's brass in 450/400 looks excellant and is reasonably priced. Can't see any reason their 404 would not be the same.

Dave

The Hawk bullets in the .035jkt would be a great practice and hunting bullet for NA sized game in your 404.

I might use a little stouter bullet for browm bear and rear raking follow up shots on elk and moose however.

www.hawkbullets.com

I have had great results with them in my 9,3x74R and my 450/400 3 1/4".

Thanks guys. I will give the Hawks a try.

Dave