404 JEFFERY

BUFFALO BORE 404 JEFFERY AMMUNITION

375 gr. CUTTING EDGE BULLETS Raptor Soft
2,425 fps/ME 4,896 ft-lbs

5 Round Box

ITEM 404J - 375 SOFT

12-27-23

Friends,                   

Buffalo Bore is releasing two new 404 Jeffery loads using modern powders and bullets which increase the effectiveness of the 404 to equal any 416 Remington or original 416 Rigby ballistics, but again with modern, much more terminally effective bullets.

We are featuring two bullets, one soft and one solid.

1)     The 400 gr. CEB (Cutting Edge Bullet) flat nose all brass solid is a thing of beauty as it keeps pressures low and velocities high. In my experience with this bullet on African game, the big flat nose smashes a hole at least double the bullet diameter in living tissues (that’s .84 caliber) and penetrates several feet in a straight line. This bullet is suitable for brain and body shots on elephants, so any smaller animal is a gimme.

2)     The 375 gr. CEB Raptor is also made of brass but is designed to shed its mushrooming petals after an inch or two of penetration, those petals then continue to penetrate another 12-20 inches making four more paths of destruction, while the solid shank continues to penetrate like a solid. This is a wonderful load on Cape Buffalo or soft-skinned lion, but also on all sorts of plains game and including American moose, elk, or big bear.

The 404 Jeffery was released in 1905 featuring a 400 gr. bullet @ 2,150 FPS, which is an unnecessarily low velocity, as the very strong 1898 Mauser actions were available, but still, it killed dangerous game quite well at the low velocity, even with those ancient and poor bullet designs. We are releasing our 400 gr. solid, depending on your individual barrel, at 2,350 – 2,400 fps. Our 375 gr. Raptor load will reach 2,400-2,450 fps. Again, these velocities equal the 416 Remington and the original 416 Rigby specs. At these velocities, these bullets, because of their design, combined with proper propellant choices, keep pressures low and reliable, yet velocities are high. We live in the heyday of incredible advances in bullet and propellant designs.

Below, find my real-world velocities from a real-world rifle, not a laboratory test barrel. As I acquire more 404 Jeffery chambered rifles, I will post more data.

> 2,395 FPS - Classic Arms Corporation, 1980, 24-inch barrel, 400 gr. CEB Solid
> 2,431 FPS - Same rifle, 375 gr. CEB Raptor (soft)

For those of you who desire to use this classic old cartridge at modern velocities with modern bullets, giving up nothing to modern 416s’, here it is. Case capacity for the 404 Jeffery is slightly larger than the 416 Remington, depending on the make of brass, so loading 404 ammunition to the performance level of the 416 Remington, can be done at slightly lower pressures than the 416 Remington. We could have loaded our versions of the 404 at even faster velocities as there is plenty of case capacity to do so, but this is a dangerous game cartridge to be used in the potentially extreme heat of Africa where you deal with torrential downpours, dust, bugs and/or vegetation in your barrel, so I do NOT like the possible problems of high operating pressures for cartridges to be used in remote and unknown field conditions on dangerous game where lives can very easily be at stake. Folks forget that a little rainwater, dust, or other debris in your barrel can raise pressures to the point of freezing your action. Wouldn’t that be great during a Cape Buffalo charge? This actually happened to an old friend of mine who spent 50 years guiding AK Brown Bear hunters around Hoonah, AK. He is no longer with us. He was involved in many bear charges over those decades. A sow charged him at very close range in the tropical brush on Chichagof Island while he was deer hunting with a 6MM. He hit the bear in the snout at a couple feet distance which seriously disoriented and enraged the bear, buying him time to finish the bear, but he could not open his action as it had been raining and his barrel had water in it when he fired, raising pressures enough to freeze his bolt. He started beating his bolt handle on a tree to free the bolt, but his rifle was a Remington model 700 and those bolt handles are soldered onto the bolt body, so the bolt handle broke off, leaving my friend to likely die at the paws and jaws of this bear. His hunting buddy heard the commotion and came to the rescue with his 30-06, just as the bear had regained its focus on my friend. Ammo made for use in dangerous conditions must be right. So must the guns. I’ve personally witnessed some of the most unimaginable occurrences in my lifetime of hunting, hence my anal tendencies to get things right.

Please have fun, be safe and God bless,

Tim Sundles

Attention!
You must be 18 or older to order ammunition. Ammunition must ship UPS ground. Due to Department of Transportation regulations, we cannot accept returns on Ammunition. Make sure to use the correct ammunition in your gun. Check local laws before ordering.