RIP, I asked Mike @ NF if he has thought of a lighter bullet for plainsgame, something in 320-340gr range. He doesn't think there would be much demand. Drop him a note & see what he thinks. Maybe if enough of us bother him he'll relent! I think the Hawk 300grx.50 is too soft to be driven much above 2300fps impact vel. but if it's for smaller game farther away, maybe. Hawk will make you just about any nose profile/wt. w/ a min. (I think 200) order. If you go this way I'll try 100.

Ray,
Still no response to Alf's inquiry of Ray A.?

How does Ray do it, get 95 grains of IMR 4831 under what bullet, in what brass, to what OCL (overall cartridge length)? Plenty of room for waffling here, so Ray needs to "bite" on this one too.

Fred,
My Varget 77 grain load is sub MOA. This will be my 400 grain bullet general utility load, 2275 fps, with Woodleigh soft and solid/FMJ. I do want to find an accurate 2400 fps load, however, so higher doses of Varget are next for me. My 1 in 10" twist barrel might prefer Varget to other powders. It has so far, better than RL-15 and H4350.

My real interest in the 404 Jeffery is finding a 320 grain HV load that will give an accurate 2700 fps for sheep hunting.

Any custom bullet makers taking orders in case HV Concepts doesn't come through for me?

Wanted: 320 grains, aerodynamic, expanding/soft point bullet in caliber .423, suitable for 2700 fps MV.

Do I have to make my own?

I guess it's time for me to jump into this one.

I have shot Ray's hunting load in my 404 (93 grains of IMR 4831) with both 400-grain Woodleigh and A-frame bullets. My Chrony (which I suspect of reading bullets about 50-75 fps too fast), reads the A-Frames at 2440 fps, and the Woodleighs right at 2400. That said, I feel like I am really crushing the powder to seat my bullets down to the cannelure (I always crimp the big stuff).

So now I have backed off to 92 grains of 4831, which still compresses, but not as bad. This load gives me dead even 2400 fps with the A-frames and 2370 with the Woodleighs (on my chrony, which, like I said, I suspect of consistantly reading velocities too high. I base this on the fact that no matter what rifle or load I shoot through it, it always reads higher than what it says the load should achieve on paper. The other day, I shot a string of 300-grain, .375 factory loads through it that the box said were 2530 fps. My slowest velocity showed 2600, and my highest 2613.).

It was this 92-grain load with Woodleighs that I took to Africa last Summer(Swift had not come out with the A-frames yet). With it I took two Mountain Zebra at over 300 yards and an Eland at 150. Not bad for a point-blank DG rifle!

Now, that said, I have started looking for a load that shoots 400-grain mono-solids to the same POI as the softs for Buffalo hunting. When I put an A-Square mono on top of the 92 grains of 4831, the press went down to a point where it was not going to go any more without crushing the case -- and I was still 3/16-inch short of the canelure!

So, I break out the Re. 15. I started with 76 grains. My Chrony said they were booking along at 2350 fps. I have now worked my way up to 78 grains and my Chrony says they are moving at 2410 (which really means they are around 2340). As for POI, at 50 yards it is the same with all bullets close to touching. But at 100 yards, the solids are 2-3 inches higher than the softs. This should be acceptable, since the solids are really there to sort out things at close range, should things need to be sorted out. My next endeavor is to try my softs with Re. 15 to see if it affects POI with the solids.

One thing I have noticed is the recoil between the 4831 loads and the Re. 15 loads is a lot different. The Re. 15 loads seem milder, could be because it is a faster burning powder.

At any rate, I like both loads, since they both shoot so well in my gun. However, I will continue shooting the 4831 with softs and the Re. 15 with solids until someone gives me a reason to change.

kristian67,
Thanks very much for your help. We appreciate it.
JCN

Fred,

I have heard of pressure spikes with the too soft Hawk bullets. The bullet I desire does exist, it is cataloged by GSC, their 320 grain .423 caliber HV. they also have a 387 grain FN in .423 caliber. These are my dream bullets.



I am waiting for HV concepts to send me notice that they have the HV's I want.



I might even be foolish enough to try to deal directly with RepubliK of Suid AfriKa again, if HV Concepts doesn't come through for me.