Now that I've got the bugs worked out of my 404 Jeffery (I hope!), I'll be taking it to Namibia this June for use on Eland and Zebra. Since I've discovered that my 400-grain Woodleigh loads have close to an 8-inch drop at 200 yards, I was wondering if maybe the 350-grain Woodleighs might be a better bullet for use on these animals.

Anybody ever use the 350-grain bullets in 404? If so, what loads did you use and what velocities did you achieve?

My 400-grain loads consist of 91 grains of IMR 4831 pushing the bullet right at 2400 fps. I would think that with the 350-grain bullet, I could get well over 2500, maybe closer to 2600 fps, which would mean only about 5 inches low at 200.

The 350 Barnes X shot well in my 404's..I loaded them with a max load of IMR-4831 at 2650 FPS in my 27" barrel, OR you could just hold 3 inches higher with the 400 gr. load, not a big deal...

These 40 cal. and up guns were never ment for long range use, but since the are virtually uneffected by wind, the do work well up to about 300 yards which is about as far as one should shoot at game IMO....

Holding over is a snap as long as you know your drop figures, wind is tough to deal with, but the 404 just about eliminates that equasion.