I have spent the last few days scratching around on the net, specifically reading up on bore diameter in relation to vintage English-made .404 Jeffery rifles.

What struck me was that so many of the comments about undersize/non-standard bores seemed to relate to Cogswell & Harrison rifles. I have no idea why this is so, and I was wondering if someone out there has ever had the opportunity to slug the barrels of various old rifles, and what the results were. Also, any comments about the whole undersize bore issue in this calibre would be appreciated.

JVW375

The most informative articles I have read about the .404J cartridge are published in the Big Bore Journal No.21 & 22. These articles contain everything you need to know about when and how the .404J was developed, barrel dimensions and bullets dimensions. I have both these articles on file as well as a copy of a 1905 advertisement for the .404 Jeffery rifle so can email if you want.
I have collected quite a bit of info on the .404 over time so have a good reference for this cartridge.

The bigger issue in regards to 404J is the chambers, not so much the bores.

Different chambers in guns.

I haven't heard much about different bores sizes.

Most being .423 and all the guns I've measured (which isn't that many) have been .423.

.423 The .416 bore is the european diameter.

quote:

Originally posted by D Humbarger:
.423 The .416 bore is the european diameter.

Can you explain further.

Since when has 404J been prodcuded with .416 diameter bore ?

Doug

I to am not sure where you are coming from with a bore of .416" for the .404J rifle. The European designation for a .404J barrel is 10.45mm across the lands measurement (bore diameter), and 10.75mm across grooves (bullet diameter. In imperial measurement these are .411" and .423".

John Taylor, in his African Rifles and Cartridges book mistakenly refers to the .404 as having a bullet diameter of .411" and yet the 10.75mm (10.75x68 Mauser) he correctly gives a bullet diameter of .423". Both the .404 (10.75x73) and the Mauser cartridge have the same "bore" diameters and bullet diameters.

Some British made .404s had undersized bores with some recording groove diameters down to .418". I knew of one here in NZ whose elderly owner had problems with bullets being too deeply engraved and the jackets starting to come apart.
Since first reading Taylor's book where he mentions a hunter in Africa having problems with both German and British FMJ bullets deforming badly and breaking up in his .404J I have often wondered if a small bore diameter was to blame. After all, just as Taylor himself admitted, the .404J would never have become so popular if it always had problems with it's bullets.

Eagle

I agree that the odd gun had smaller bores (some down to .418)
including some German guns.

But .416, ??? Never heard of any Authoritative mention of this.