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Post by bigbrowndog on Jan 16, 2023 17:18:45 GMT -5
It may have been stated earlier, but what contour did you go with?? Or are you going with??
Trapr
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Post by Lee Martin on Jan 17, 2023 8:18:26 GMT -5
It may have been stated earlier, but what contour did you go with?? Or are you going with?? Trapr I went with a Lilja #6 contour. It's 0.750" at the 27" mark on the muzzle end of the blank. By cutting it back to 24", I ended up with a muzzle diameter of 0.790" (which gives a nice medium weight in .404 Jeffery). -Lee www.singleactions.com"Chasing perfection five shots at a time"
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Post by Lee Martin on Feb 3, 2023 15:08:10 GMT -5
The gun is ready to test fire. Last weekend, I opened up the barrel channel of the stock. Now there are a couple of ways to do this. The quickest is on our Bridgeport mill. The risk there is if it slips in the vise, you're screwed. You can also use a circular wood rasp, but again, if you slip things get gouged. My preference is to do it by hand using 80 grit sandpaper. It's slow but reduces the risk of messing up (which is a real concern since my stock is finished). View of the channel being sanded out. And don't worry, the stuff of the exterior sides is just dust. I have a benchrest match tomorrow and plan to test fire the Jeffery afterwards. The load is 64.0 grs of AA4350 under a PC'd 330 gr cast bullet. I expect velocity to be somewhere around 1,800 to 1,900 fps. Eventually, these'll get gas-checked. Since no one makes 0.423 gas checks, I'll use .44-caliber. They squeeze down beautifully for the old .404. If things go well, the next steps include drilling the barrel for sights, bedding the action, polishing the metal, followed by bluing. -Lee www.singleactions.com"Chasing perfection five shots at a time"
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Post by bigbrowndog on Feb 3, 2023 16:09:11 GMT -5
You have several builds I’d like to borrow for some light pig duty, the 404 is one. Back in the 80’s when I started doing pig abatement I used my 416RM, that 404 would be a hoot.
Trapr
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Post by z1r on Feb 3, 2023 18:05:13 GMT -5
Hmm, I have a new, threaded and chambered .404 barrel for a 98 that I was thinking of selling. Seeing that round loaded with cast has me rethinking. Although, my 10,75x68 makes it kind of redundant.
Thanks for the update.
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jpw480
.30 Stingray
Posts: 140
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Post by jpw480 on Feb 3, 2023 21:19:45 GMT -5
Lee looking good and i'm sure that sanding took some time. I opened one of the barrel channels on an fajen laminated xp-100 thumbhole stock for my dad and that seem to take forever, yours is 10 times that size,.you use different size dowels or what do you use.
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pws
.240 Incinerator
Posts: 53
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Post by pws on Feb 3, 2023 22:01:50 GMT -5
,.you use different size dowels or what do you use. I can’t speak for Lee but deep sockets (wrenches) work well and come in a range of sizes.
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Post by bradshaw on Feb 4, 2023 7:15:47 GMT -5
Lee.... wonderful thread. A European or English stockmaker’s ears would perk at your decision to forsake power tools to inlet by Hand & Elbow. Be careful you don’t get a call from Beretta or other custom shop....
Your POWDER COAT .404 may turn out a great bullet for continental soft skin game up through the largest moose. Respect fully, hunting is not your interest, yet, the anneal of powder coating bridges in a most----read plastic----desirable way the no-man’s land between jacketed and hard cast.
Is that a trough in the forend? During a recess from shooting SRM .357 Maximum prototypes, Bill Ruger, Jr., brought up a Model 77 in .458 Winchester. The walnut stock, inletted butt & forend, and epoxied with lead shot for weight. Reckon you won’t do that, but I sure appreciated the extra pounds while firing a couple hundred factory Winchester 500 and 510 grain bullets. David Bradshaw
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Post by Lee Martin on Feb 6, 2023 8:36:17 GMT -5
I test fired the gun Saturday and it worked well. 64.0 grs of AA 4350 with the 330 gr cast had plenty of push for a light load. I've read on the internet how many folks don't recommend reduced loads with 4350. Instead they go with smaller charges of Trail Boss or AA5744. However, I've used 4350 in more than few cartridges with load densities around 70 - 80%. Never had a problem with erratic ignition or unburned powder. In fact, when I shot the .404 Saturday, the temperature was 26 degrees. Questions from above: jpw480 - I actually don't use a dowel in the wood portion of the barrel channel. Since the blank is already radiused out, I follow that curvature by hand. Now on the plastic forend tip, I did wrap the sandpaper around a piece of short shotgun barrel. David - Boyd's does mill a small channel in the forend of their stocks. It's a weight saving thing since laminate tends to be heavy. I won't fill it, but could you could add weight there if needed. -Lee www.singleactions.com"Chasing perfection five shots at a time"
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Post by bigbrowndog on Feb 6, 2023 10:34:20 GMT -5
Lee I would think that even if you were a little concerned about erratic ignition with 4350, you could point muzzle vertical and slowly bring down to level ensuring bulk of powder is resting in bottom of case prior to firing. When I was testing powders for suppression loads I did that until deciding to go with TB, and eventually giving up on suppressed loads all together.
Trapr
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tj3006
.375 Atomic
Posts: 2,058
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Post by tj3006 on Feb 7, 2023 21:51:52 GMT -5
That round looks like it would slide smooth into the Chamber, Not quite like the H&H case but smooth !...tj
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Post by Lee Martin on Feb 8, 2023 9:12:08 GMT -5
That round looks like it would slide smooth into the Chamber, Not quite like the H&H case but smooth !...tj It cycles beautifully. The .404 Jeffery was renowned for smooth feeding. Being a lower pressure round, even at 2,350 fps with a 410 gr bullet, hot temperatures were never a concern when it came to extraction. It may have been designed a century ago, but it still hangs with modern express cartridges. -Lee www.singleactions.com"Chasing perfection five shots at a time"
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Post by Lee Martin on Feb 9, 2023 17:54:07 GMT -5
Sight Installation The barreled action was leveled in a mounting vise: The NECG Masterpiece rear sight was positioned and the hole was spotted. It was then drilled and tapped: The action was then leveled in a Bridgeport mill to install the front ramp: I'll next bed the action this coming weekend. -Lee www.singleactions.com"Chasing perfection five shots at a time"
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Post by rickiesrevenge on Feb 10, 2023 21:29:54 GMT -5
I love watching your builds come together. That jig for drilling the sights is really cool. Never seen one like that.
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Post by Lee Martin on Feb 17, 2023 13:59:10 GMT -5
Bedding the Action I went with Acraglas Gel to bed the action. The non-gel version is good, but quite runny. The gel holds position better once painted into the stock. Step one was to drill the rear receiver hole and fit a steel pillar. This’ll be glued in top-to-bottom with Acraglas (no release agent). Next, I used SC Johnson Paste Wax to coat the main bolts, inside of the rear pillar, bottom metal, and the underside of the action. I've found it to be a fantastic release agent. Mauser 98’s also have an undercut on the front bolt boss. I applied modeling clay to this recess, so no compound flows into the area. That could bind the bottom metal from coming out. The stock was then taped off so no overflow sticks to the exposed surfaces. Acraglas is mixed 1:1 compound to hardener. I also added their brown dye to match the wood. This was generously swabbed into the recoil lug area, around the pillar before installed, and also around the tang region. The barreled action was then bolted into the stock. I’ll snap a photo of the bedding once pulled apart. -Lee www.singleactions.com"Chasing perfection five shots at a time"
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