Any of you fellows tried any of the 430 gr. NF's in your 404 Jeffery's?
Curious as to velocity potential; 2200 FPS ???? (in a modern gun) .343 SD according to their web site.
Should make a good close range thumper.

In a modern 404 you will be able to get an easy 2400 plus FPS with that bullet using IMR-4831. IMO IMR-4831 is the only powder for the 404 with RL-15 a distant second place.

I don't understand why so many misinformed people still think the 404 is a 2100 to 2200 FPS caliber..That was the 404 of yesteryear with Cordite powders and even then it was changed to 2300 FPS later on..

A modern 404 today with our good brass will shoot beside the 416 Rigby, they both have near the same case capacity..With a safe maximum handload in most rifles you can get an easy 2600 plus FPS in the 404 with 400 gr. bullets and 95 grs. of IMR-4831, and 2700 plus FPS in a Rigby with some powders, but most folks, self included, go for the magical 2400 FPS, because it works and recoil is much milder..

With all due respect to Ray, I have not had great luck with that load. I tried it with a 400 Barnes TSX and it created a compressed load. I couldnt even get it seated as there was no more case room! Maybe it will work with the Northfork. I am stuck with great accuracy and 2200 FPS in my 404 with 4064. I would love to get more velocity but that is what I found in my test.

I am going to try Rays load with 400 gr woodleigh bullets soon. After all I know he has been shooting the 404 much longer than me and has great knowledge of this cartridge.

quote:

Originally posted by eezridr:
Any of you fellows tried any of the 430 gr. NF's in your 404 Jeffery's?
Curious as to velocity potential; 2200 FPS ???? (in a modern gun) .343 SD according to their web site.
Should make a good close range thumper.

You may want to call or send an email to North Fork. If I remember correctly, North Fork was testing loads in the 2200 to 2400 fps range with the 430 grain bullets in 404 Jeffery...

I have been using Varget with the 380 grain .423 North Forks and stopped at a nominal 2400 fps in my 404 Jeffery...had room to go from there.

I hope North Fork is at the DSC show so I can take a look at the 430s...

Mike Brady, the original owner of North Fork tested all my 404 Loads and got about the same velocities I got..

He also sent me a boat load of bullets and I tested them on buffalo, both live and then some more on dead bulls, recovered a number of bullets and sent them to him with reports that he furnished..

I never loaded the 400 gr. Barnes X, mostly because I felt like it might be too long and tend to tip over, but the 350 gr. Barnes X in both the 404 and 416 is an outstanding bullet at about 2650 FPS. The faster you shoot a monolithic the better it performs IMO. Ross seyfreid liked the 350 gr. in his 416 Taylor.

The only powder that I have found to be efficient or rather that suits me is IMR-4831. To the best of my memory I got my education in the 404 with IMR-4831 from a couple of African Gun writers articles. One of them I believe was Cameron Hopkins and the was Joe ??..Not to mention the Godfather of the 404 and African hunting, Harold Wolfe of Hartari Times fame.

Its a wonderful caliber, my all time favorite. Its no better than the .416s or several other 40 calibers, not as efficient as some, but it has charisma, nostalgia, and bespeaks of the African bush..That may not mean much to many as I have seen on these threads, and I feel sorry for them, they are missing a chapter in the book.