I do not want to start a crap storm about twist rate but I noticed that Krieger and Lilja barrels have different twist rates on their .423 barrels, 1 in 14 and 1 in 16. Is there a concensus of what twist rate is best for the 404 Jeffery? Are there other barrels that I should look at for a 404 Jeffery project?

CIP standard for the .404 is 1:16.54".
--------------------------------------------------
"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

I am also having a 404 Jeffery built. At this stage, kind of settled on Krieger for the barrel with their standard twist of 1:16. Hard to reason why not given the CIP spec. 400 Nitro Express noted, as well as Krieger's reputation.

I am interested in knowing how are you detailing out your rifle ie gunsmith, action, sight, how many down, etc.

Thanks

I went w/ PacNor's 1-14 twist. It shoots beautifully w/ every bullet wt. I have fed it from 300gr-400gr. I don't think you can go too fast but you can go too slow.

also look at MRC barrels.....mine is fine even though I don't remember what twist I have!

Mine is a 1 in 10 McGowen barrel. It shoots fine with all the 400 grain bullets I have tried. It also did a nice job on a 9 foot brown bear with 400 grain Swift A-Frames. I think RIP has shot his 1 in 10 barrel and had good results also.

BigB

Mine wears a Kreiger with a 1-14 twist. Not listed on Kreiger's website but they can do it. Very accurate with NF 380 grain and Woodleigh 350 and 400 grain bullets. If I do another 404J I might have it done with a 1-12 or 1-10 twist just to try out.

Yep, 1:10" twist McGowen stainless barrels work great with North Fork and GSC bullets of .423 caliber.

I have two of them, one a .404 Jeffery M70, and the other a .423/.338 Lapua Magnum Dakota 76.
The only game I have killed with these is a Bison bull with one shot, .423/380gr North Fork soft at 2526 fps MV from the .404 Jeffery. About 0.75 MOA 3-shot accuracy for me.

I also have a McGowen 1:10" twist 4140 barrel on the CZ-USA factory rifle. It is good with Woodleigh softs, GSC HV, and North Fork SP's that I have tried in it so far, about 1 MOA with all of these for 3-shots. I have not tried the Barnes TSX or solids in it, but that is on the list of to-do's.
Lothar Walther favored twist is 1:14".

My gunsmith slugged one of the McGowens for me and said it was ".423" in the grooves.

Mike at North Fork said one of the Lothar Walther's was "miked" at ".4226" as Mike is very precision capable, just like with his bullets.

There is one recent report of a CZ-USA barrel by McGowen that measured ".424+".

I guess shite can happen, especially if CZ-USA is involved along the way.

McGowen rifle barrels are button rifled and cryo-stress-relieved. I trust them, even for the new .395's:

bore .3870"
groove .3950"
6 grooves
1:12" twist
4140: $180
stainless: $280
your pick of profile
1.2000" or 1.2500" shank
up to 28" long at no extra cost

Call Harry McGowen, McGowen Rifle Barrels:
815-937-9816


McGowen taught Krieger to button rifle the Weatherby factory barrels, though yes they are well known for cut rifling. In return, Kreiger taught Harry McGowen how to cryo-stress-relieve.

I called Harry McGowen.
He says his barrels are ".423" and always have been.

The CZ-USA gunsmith has found one barrel reportedly slugged at ".424+."

I have measured some Barnes bullets at ".421+"

He also says that no one has ordered any .395 barrels but me. Still waiting on tooling for this startup of a new rifle caliber.
I trust Harry McGowen.