I've got a BRNO ZKK 602 heavily worked over by Tom Burgess and put in a synthetic stock by earl milliron (sp?).

Its a .375 H&H and its very heavy but I like the rifle very much.

I'm going to get a new .375 made on an M70 action, thinking about doing a rebore and chambering the rifle for a .404J.

Thinking the heavier weight of the rifle will be a better fit for the .404 vs the .375 and I've always wanted a .404.

Would it require a lot of feeding and action work in addition to the rebore/rechamber?

Hoping to get an informed opinion and maybe some ideas on good folks to do the work.

Thanks

The Brno ZKKs are not the smoothest feeders to start with but to go to a 404J you will need to open up the bolt face and most likely the rails etc, to get the fatter cartridge to feed satisfactory.

I have the BRNO 602 in .375 H&H and have been talking to different smiths for about 3 months for a rebore/rechamber to 404J. I have spoke to 7 smiths that do this type work and of these only 2 have the tooling for the 404. Dan Pederson and Randy Selby can do the work. Dan is not taking any new work presently so that leaves Randy. I have concluded that it is more cost effective to rebarrel. Hope you have better luck than I have had.

Thanks 375, that is really helpful!

JES Reboring in Oregon does an excellent job in rechambering and reboring, granted there is enough meat on the barrel. His turn around time is around two weeks. Very few can meet his turn around time period.
just a thought, You can flute the barrel or rebarrel to a lighter contour barrel in .375H&H.

Changing the action to fit the .404 Jeffery will cost you money and time and that is if you can find a good gunsmith that is willing to take it on.
For me, by altering all the excellent work that Mr. Burgess put in the rifle, especially the action, will be totally erased. Never mind devaluing any providance you have.

As a right hander, If you surf the net on regular bases, you'll find a .404 to your likings. Already built, cheaper and be miles ahead.

if you are going to do a 404, make DARN certain that the chamber, dies, and brass are all EXACTLY the print -- this will save you heartache

i would suggest either a 416 rem or a 458 lott -- the 416 rem will have the least issues, feeding, bullets, brass, dies, loads, all the way around

Spoke w/ JES & he does not have the tooling for the .423 groove of the 404J.

What about a 375/404 or a 404/375?

.423 bullet and .375 feeding?

The chamber is not the issue. The problem is finding a smith w/ the tooling to rebore to .423 groove.
The 375/404 would be just a rechamber & possible set back & would work. The 404/375 is an entirely different animal & will require rebore or rebarrel/chamber.

Also as Jeff. & eagle have stated the bolt face & rails/ ramp will require work if you want any round based 0n the 404J.

crap.

appreciate the help.

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
if you are going to do a 404, make DARN certain that the chamber, dies, and brass are all EXACTLY the print -- this will save you heartache

i would suggest either a 416 rem or a 458 lott -- the 416 rem will have the least issues, feeding, bullets, brass, dies, loads, all the way around

I have a 602 that began life as a .375H&H, and a previous owner had done that conversion; .375H&H to .416RemMag.

I had the barrel cut down to 23", Talley barrel band installed, and bedded in a McMillan stock.

Scope is a Leupold Vari-XIII 1.75-6X.

very nice!

I had my ZKK602 rebarreled and restocked.
It was originally a .458 Win mag, then converted to 460 Guns&Ammo.
Now its in 404 Jeffery. Very pleasant to shoot, and very effective on game


M

Who did the work on your 404 - looks great!

A Norwegian Gunsmith named Per Arne Vaagsland.
Well known for building classic hunting Guns in English Rigby/Jeffery style







M

That's a real nice 404 you have metric. Amazing how almost without exception everyone finds the 404J such a joy to use and very effective on game big or small. I don't think anyone ever has trouble loading for the 404 either, it's just a nicely balanced cartridge.
Your Brno will last forever.

Why not just rebarrel your 602 to a 404, its about $150 to $200 more depending on barrel make? I built a 404 on a Brno 602 with a Lothar Walthar barrel..It was a nice gun.

10generation, I have a Montana 1999 rifle in .330 Dakota which is the .404 case and with a nice Turkish stock. It has the ultra mag magazine which would handle the .404. I would sell for a lot less than invested and you would have a nice rifle.