I am thinking of having a walnut stocked, blued steel .404 Jeffery bolt action built. I am curious as to what action you guys would use if you were doing this project. I am leaning towards a banner 98 Mauser or a 1909 Argentine, but am open to other suggestions. I am budgeting $1,500 fot the action including bottom metal, safety, and metal work.

CZ 550 action or a montana Rifle company long action would be the cheapest routes

I like my Montana Rifle Co. 404J barreled action rifle very much. Very accurate and functions flawlessly.

Actually a M70 or Dakota 76 will work. Ask Lon Paul.

Mark

A CZ or a MRC versus a Banner Mauser or 1909 Argentine? Not even close in my mind, I would go with with Banner Mauser or the 1909 Argentine. A classis cartridge like the .404 Jeffery deserves a great action and you have singled out two of the best. That would make an incredible custom. I have a couple of Oberndorf actions and someday one will hopefully grow up to be a .404 Jeffery.

The guy said he has bugeted 1500 a dakota action is 2700 Mark so that would be over budget an orginal mauser also very good but like I said with the work involved would run over that 1500 mark

A M70 in a RUM chambering. If I'm not mistaken, it's a fairly simple conversion because of the similarities of a RUM case and a 404 Jeffery case.

What about a 1917 Enfield?

quote:

Originally posted by Express_Rifles:
The guy said he has bugeted 1500 a dakota action is 2700 Mark so that would be over budget an orginal mauser also very good but like I said with the work involved would run over that 1500 mark

Ditto.
By "Banner Mauser" action, is meant a Prechtl?
Would that be a Magnum Mauser 98, or a standard length one like the Modelo Argentino?
Either would be well over $1500.

Two excellent options within $1500, and requiring minimal gunsmithing, are:

1. M70 Classic with 300 RUM box

2. CZ 550 Magnum, with the .375 H&H bolt face and box

Both will easily become perfect feeders.

A MRC Long Action makes a very nice 404 Jeffery!
I like mine!

I built mine on a M70RUM & very happy w/ it. I picked up a complete 1909 for $90 at auction that would work fine, but take a lot more work to build into a 404j. The MRC makes a lot of sense & I like the M70 safety system better than the CZ.

quote:

I built mine on a M70RUM & very happy w/ it. I picked up a complete 1909 for $90 at auction that would work fine, but take a lot more work to build into a 404j. The MRC makes a lot of sense & I like the M70 safety system better than the CZ.

Anytime you build a rifle using an action that was not originally meant for the particular cartridge, it's going to cost more than using an action made for the cartridge. A Mauser "Banner" action is a beutiful action and can be made to fit anything up to a .416 Rigby but it wasn't meant for it no matter how many have been made to work.
Probably, your best bet would be to have MRC barrel up one of their actions. No, opening the bolt face, cutting the magazine well longer or messing with it to make it feed. Put a stock on it shoot it. The Model 70 RUM is a good idea but a little too hard to come by for a reasonable price.

The Cz550 flat works why get yourself into problems you dont need?-Robn

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
A CZ or a MRC versus a Banner Mauser or 1909 Argentine? Not even close in my mind, I would go with with Banner Mauser or the 1909 Argentine. A classis cartridge like the .404 Jeffery deserves a great action and you have singled out two of the best. That would make an incredible custom. I have a couple of Oberndorf actions and someday one will hopefully grow up to be a .404 Jeffery.

Mike

You and I share the same tastes. If I were going to go the cheap and easy route in action(CZ or m70) I would go with an cheap and easy cartridge(416 Rem?).

In looking at the cost to modify a standard M98 action, it looks to be about $1700 plus the cost of the action. This includes opening up the action and bolt face, new bolt handle, polishing, a M70 style safety, new bottom metal, and checkered bolt release.

I've seen decent actions runing around $300, so say about $2,000 for the action complete on a M98 standard action. With Either a Model 70, CZ550, or the Montana action, I'd want to have the action detailed, plus the CZ550 needs a decent bolt, safety, and trigger. So, about $1,100 for the CZ, about $1,000 for the Model 70, and about $900 for the Montana.

I better start saving my pennies.

Unless you start with a VZ24 you had better re-heat treat that M98.-Rob

quote:

Originally posted by Robgunbuilder:
Unless you start with a VZ24 you had better re-heat treat that M98.-Rob

Sage advice.

John

quote:

Originally posted by JBrown:
If I were going to go the cheap and easy route in action(CZ or m70) I would go with an cheap and easy cartridge(416 Rem?).

Cheap and easy would be a Ruger opened in length for the longer cartridge. Its one of those projects I'd love to do one day when the cash was available.
Cheers...
Con

quote:

Originally posted by Masterifleman:
Anytime you build a rifle using an action that was not originally meant for the particular cartridge, it's going to cost more than using an action made for the cartridge. A Mauser "Banner" action is a beutiful action and can be made to fit anything up to a .416 Rigby but it wasn't meant for it no matter how many have been made to work.

The 404 Jeffery was designed to fit into a standard M98 action. With the right magazine box, a good gunsmith can turn a standard M98 into a great 404 Jeffery.

stand back.....take a deep breath.....and wait until you can get your hands on a good mauser98 action The other actions are good but there is nothing like having a jeff(404 or 500) made in a traditional action and you will love it even more than a modern 100%

I would look for an undrilled pre-war Oberndorf military "banner" Mauser action (1933 or 1934 "post office", 1935 Chilean or Brazilian, etc). Other standard length Mausers will work just as well and probably be less expensive but this is what I would choose.

quote:

Originally posted by zhaba:
stand back.....take a deep breath.....and wait until you can get your hands on a good mauser98 action The other actions are good but there is nothing like having a jeff(404 or 500) made in a traditional action and you will love it even more than a modern 100%

+1! You have a clear sense of what you want and if you compromise on that, you'll regret the moment of weakness every time you pick up your rifle.

Fla3006
I have seen this refference to "post office" Mausers several times, but I can't recall any identifiying markings. Were these stamped in some manner other than the year?

I have a whisle clean 1933 in good hands, I am thinking 404 real hard, just seems right for this action. With front base of claw on the qtr. rib.
Many Thanks
HBH

They may have started off squeezing the 404 Jeffery and 500 Jeffery into standard length M98 Mausers,
but as soon as they could they were building them using the M98 Magnum Mauser.

As a snide aside: Schuler and Krieghoff had been building a "500 Rimless" for several years
before Jeffery started doing their copycat "500 Jeffery," similar, not identical, in 1927,
according to page 230 of the below reference.

Check page 229 of Speed et al
{Mauser} Original Oberndorf Sporting Rifles
for ".404 Jeffery Magnum Mausers"
and a picture of specimen with serial numbers:
Mauser SN: 59926
Jeffery SN: 24425

Why cripple your rifle with the short action opened up, if you don't have to?

quote:

Why cripple your rifle with the short action opened up, if you don't have to?

So that all your rifles will have the same length action and bolt pull?

The man that is hardwired for a magnum action never short strokes a short action.
Undeniable truth.
Get used to it.
Shortstrokers do spaz out with magnum actions sometimes.
Boys are best started off with magnum actions as soon as they can lift them.

If you ever carried a Jeffery made .404 on a standard action, you know why. They handle like a fine shotgun. mine comes in at under 8.5lbs, pretty nice for a dangerous game gun.

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:
They may have started off squeezing the 404 Jeffery and 500 Jeffery into standard length M98 Mausers,
but as soon as they could they were building them using the M98 Magnum Mauser.

Why cripple your rifle with the short action opened up, if you don't have to?

A 404 (and 500) Jeffery are shorter than a 300 or 375 H&H. Insisting they are best built on a magnum action is like saying 308 Winchesters should be built on a standard action - it's just not necessary. The cartridges were designed to fit in a standard M98 action.

All the huff about the standard action being too small or requiring additional heat treating is just so much huff. Show me the action that has blown up because it was chambered in a 404 Jeffery. There are plenty of hack gunsmiths who shouldn't be trusted to turn a standard M98 into a 30-06...just because they are inept doesn't counter the fact that thousands upon thousands of standard M98s have been successfully chambered for Jeffery and H&H magnum rounds. The amount of uninformed tripe you hear on these forums is astounding.

ForrestB,
Not all tripe, Alf has a tale of woe.

skb,
My M70 Winchester 404 Jeffery does that too.
I know the feeling, and I do not have to extend my pinky finger to "get it on."
Perfectly balanced, synthetic and stainless, 8.5 pounds, and no handicap on velocity and pressure.

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:
My M70 Winchester 404 Jeffery does too.
I know the feeling, and I do not have to extend my pinky finger to "get it on."
Perfectly balanced, synthetic and stainless, and no handicap on velocity and pressure.

A synthetic/stainless/M70 404 Jeffery???? Your only handicap is taste and style.

Any tale of woe has everything to do with poor gunsmithing and nothing to do with an inherent mismatch between cartridge and action.

ForrestB,
I quite resemble that remark, and proudly accept it.
Synthetic and stainless: SCHWING!
My pinky finger only schwings in the safe for walnut and blue.

And you still better not run your standard M98's in 404 and 500 at redneck pressures and velocities, even if perfectly smithed.

Lots of closeted schwingers favor stainless and plastic...



A 404 Jeffery at redneck pressures and velocities is no longer a 404 Jeffery. CIP standards have a purpose after all.

ForrestB,
You suffer from GPPD? (Gay Photograph Preoccupation Disorder)

The 404 Jeffery of today does not squeeze .422" bullets through .418" grooves either.
Of course the 404 Jeffery of today is not that of 1905 to 1912.
And current CIP specs still footnote the confusion of the past.

Those boys are the type that enjoy squeezing things into places where they should not go.
Probably lawyers too.
Probably live in Washington, DC.
Probably were militantly pro-Obama.

quote:

ForrestB,
You suffer from GPPD? (Gay Photograph Preoccupation Disorder)

That's what got me kicked-off of AR for two weeks.

We all know the inherent dangers of stuffing a long action gerbil into a short action chamber.

This thread is getting obscene ...

Magnum Action required for sure!
The redhead if I gotta, but it will require more than one beer!

Group rate on Blobectomies at the CCC ( Cetacean Cosmetic Clinic ) ??

Boomer,
I'd go 98 if I where you.
Use a Weibe box. It will save you or the smith a ton of time. The 404 box Duane had at the show looked real good to me. The stack was perfect, he had dummies with him. I'd say a Weibe box and 4 hours machine time would do it,
bolt face too.

Spend the money where it counts, getting to a full functioning 404 98 action first.

Then worry about refinements, polishing etc.
You will go over 1500.
No sense in spending any amount of money on the others if what you really want is a mauser, even if it takes 4 years at least in the end its a Mauser.
Timan

quote:

HBH: I have seen this refference to "post office" Mausers several times, but I can't recall any identifiying markings. Were these stamped in some manner other than the year?

See pages 181-186 of Ludwig Olson's Mauser book. "Banner" Mausers dated 1933 & 1934 on the receiver rings were ostensibly for the Deutsche Reichspost but in fact Germany was re-arming in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. Stocks may be marked "D.R.P." enclosed by concentric circles.

quote:

RIP: Those boys are the type that enjoy squeezing things into places where they should not go.
Probably lawyers too.
Probably live in Washington, DC.
Probably were militantly pro-Obama.

Or are employees of the state-controlled news & entertainment media. And post often on the AR Political Forum.