I am hiring an excellent Gunsmith to make a 404 Jeffery (0.423" bore diameter).
The choice is between a #4 barrel at 26" with a .650" diameter, yielding wall thickness of 0.113"
The alternative is a #5 barrel at 26" with a .700" diameter, yielding wall thickness of 0.1385"

Is the lighter barrel going to be too "whippy"?
Is the heavier barrel going to be too sluggish?

The banded front sight will be soldered on, as will the sling swivel band. the rear sight will have enough barrel meat for a screw, and soldering.

With the big hole, the barrel weight will be modest in any case.

Anyone with experience in this area is asked to share experiences. I will lend you flak vests and helemts.

If that is your gunsmith I want her address!!!!!!! All the smiths I know are ugly, grouchy old men!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by JTEX:
If that is your gunsmith I want her address!!!!!!! All the smiths I know are ugly, grouchy old men!!!!

I was about to say the same thing!

Didn't know Rebecca Mornay was a gunsmith.

A Douglas #5 contour barrel in that caliber will not be heavy for caliber. That would be considered a varmint barrel if it was a .22 or .24 but a large bore will take a lot of the metal away. For a .40+ caliber it's about the right weight. A 24" Douglas #5 barrel in .243 caliber will weight 4.15 pounds but the same barrel in .423 caliber will only weigh 3.5 pounds.

When I was looking for a barrel have installed on my .405 caliber I chose a Douglas #5 contour (made by McGowen). It also happens to be the contour Winchester was using on some of their .375 Safari rifles.

#4 Kreiger is plenty heavy, ...the 5130 contour by Lother Walther makes a dandy 404, comes in a little lighter than Kreiger.

By the time you add sights/swivels, the weight starts climbing fast

When inquiring about barrel contours it is important to remember that a Douglas #4 is different than a Kreiger #4 and those are both different than a McGowen #4.

Lilja has a very handy list of factory barrel contours. You can use it to compare barrel specifications used for the large caliber pre-64 model 70, post 64 model 70, Ruger No.1, Remington, Whitworth Express, Montana, Kimber, etc. It is really interesting. Maybe it will be helpful.

It's here: http://riflebarrels.com/factory-contours/

I am basically looking at a .650 diameter muzzle versus a .700". I did some calculations (The Pac-Nor calculator is down). It drove home to me how much that big hole drives the weight down. I will take Duane's words about the frou-frou stuff on the barrel driving the weight up. Perhaps I will just use a mini electronic sight (RMR, J-Point, Docktor, etc.) as an "Iron" sight. It will all depend on how the gun swings with a naked barrel.

Thanks for all the help,
'dart

My gunsmith is named Becky.
She is not worth a shit on the mill, or lathe, but I could not care less...

LD also consider the diameter of the barrel at its midsection.
That will make a difference in the weight and "stiffness "

I will do that D. It was recently explained to me that modern barrel makers tend to overbuild the receiver end of their stocks before letting them taper into wands. I will look at that midpoint measurement to get a feel for the stiffness of a given barrrel.

The .660 muzzle diameter on the Zastava 458 Win Mag (wall thickness .101") felt like a buggy whip. I could never get comfortable shouldering it as it felt like the balance point was around the rear grip.

quote:

Originally posted by Duane Wiebe (CG&R):
#4 Kreiger is plenty heavy, ...the 5130 contour by Lother Walther makes a dandy 404, comes in a little lighter than Kreiger.

By the time you add sights/swivels, the weight starts climbing fast

Duane,
What is your preferred finish length using the 5130 contour for a 404 build?

I cannot answer for Duane, but I am using a 26" barrel (Finished length).

The 404J does not really have a large bore.

I would choose the lighter contour for an overall lighter rifle. Of course it should be well balanced. 23-24" would be my choice.

Look forward to photos whatever you choose.

Cheers, Chris

Lawndart,
You certainly have a handsome gunsmith. Does she work for you exclusively?
Dave

I'm not sure. I can say that she shows up often enough for work. Anything beyond that, well, I don't know, or care.
When I ask her, "Who's your daddy," she says, "Oh, you are." That answers all my needs, and desires.

When we are in the duck and goose blinds, she got a little confused the first time the guide said "TAKE EM." That actually worked out fine. About mid season, we straightened that out, and now it is all one well oiled machine.

So long as my first wife doesn't show up, it will all be skittles and kippers.