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Alf,

Interesting stuff.

Here is a little info I found on the web:

"The first introduction came with Jeffery�s launch of the .404 Rimless N.E., better known as the .404 Jeffery, according to a 1905 Jeffery catalog. The .404�s introduction is often mistakenly attributed to a later date, when the .404 was offered on Magnum Mauser actions, which took place only after Mauser�s exclusive arrangement with Rigby as its British agent had ended. In its initial development, Jeffery had merely opened-up the action and magazine box of standard Mauser 98 military actions to accommodate the large .404 cartridge. Duplicating the .450/.400 N.E. ballistics, the .404 (actually a 0.423"-diameter bullet) fires a 400-gr. bullet at 2125 f.p.s. to generate 4,020 ft.-lbs. of muzzle energy."

It came form here: Rifleman Mag

Regards,

Terry

[ 08-27-2003, 08:42: Message edited by: T.Carr ]

Gents;

After reading your posts, I went to my bench and dis-assembled one of the last factory cartridges I have from the time I bought my rifle, which was in 1970. I actually managed to get two types of cartridge at the time, one being the Berdan-primed steel-jacket solids, and some apparently much newer Boxer-primed softpoints.

The round I took apart is a Berdan solid. The casehead (rim) mikes .536" in diameter, the shoulder is 2.030" from the rear face of the casehead, and the bullet measures .4205" behind the cannelure and .417" immediately in front of the cannelure. I strongly suspect the shank diameter is a bit small to keep pressures down with the THICK steel used for the jacket. The charge is 59.5 grains of Cordite, topped with a .0015" thin waxed-card wad. These rounds chronographed at 2140 fps from my rifle's 21" barrel.

The Boxer-primed cases mike .539-.541" at the rim. These rounds came in Kynoch 5-round boxes marked "Made in England with Some Swedish Components".

As to the rebated-rim question, the Berdan case is .541" ahead of the extractor groove, which is only about .005" larger than the rim. The Boxer-type case is .540" ahead of the groove, which amounts to the same measurement as the rim. It seems that mere manufacturing variations may make it "rebated" or "non-rebated"!

As a matter of possible interest, I've had perfect success making .404 cases from Remington Ultramag brass....ZERO case loss in sixty rounds to date. These cases ARE rebated slightly, being .535" at the rim and .545" ahead of the groove. No matter....all these various cases work perfectly in my Cogswell and Harrison rifle. (The rifle is built on a STANDARD military '98 Mauser action, thumb-slot and all, but all markings have been removed including the serial numbers. The only number on the rifle is engraved on the trigger-guard bow.) Twelve bucks for 20 .404 cases formed from UM brass is a screaming bargain compared to the going rate for .404 Jeffery-marked brass. If you don't NEED the headstamp to match the rifle markings, I suggest this is something worth looking into.

I hope this information is of interest to you.

Regards from BruceB (aka Bren Mk1)

Excellent reading guys! Most enlightening.

Bruce, I strongly suggest you slug the bore to determine the groove diameter. Then select bullets as appropriate.

How old is the rifle?

Shooting bullets several thou under groove diameter affects performance, and the gas leaking by the bullet has an adverse effect on the rifling.

Who knows, you may have a .421 groove dia. And if it is .418, you may be in trouble with .420 thick jacket solids.

Howdy, John.

Thanks for the cautionary note. These steel solids are the smallest-diameter bullets I've found for the .404, and as stated, I do think it's likely the reduced diameter was to keep pressures down with such stiff material. Velocity was precisely where it should be.

The barrel slugs right at .423" groove diameter, and up until we left the big-game country of the far North I was using .423" Barnes Originals and, later on, Barnes X-bullets in the same diameter. Both worked just fine, as we might expect.

Now that we live in Nevada, the rifle lives on a diet of cast bullets sized at .424", and it does extremely well with such loads.

I don't know how old the rifle is. I strongly suspect it's post-WW II, but by 1970 it had apparently been re-blued at least once. It was a good reblue, but there were some tell-tales around the engraved lettering, etc. The stock definitely has a post-war "look" to it. It's not a fancy rifle by any stretch, and could be the sort of rifle issued to African game-department rangers. It still had the military safety and two-stage trigger, for example. Serial number is 700XX, if that helps. I've never tried to find a production date for it.

Anyway, I used it on Woods Bison in the NWT for quite a few years, and never had a complaint from anything I shot with it.....!

Regards from BruceB (aka Bren Mk1)