Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only Updating the 404 Ruger African project

Thanks for the information Ray. I assume you're referring to the Ruger 404 Jeffereys. My 404 Jefferey No. 1 has been shooting well so far. Although I'm very early in load development and have only shot the 450 Woodleigh solids, they clump together at 25 yds. Easy chambering and extraction. I'll work with the No. 1 some more this summer as I develop the 404 Ruger loads.

Picked up the 404 today after it was bedded into a Rimrock stock. Great balance and easy to carry without the scope. Really tempted to use it with open sights, as it points perfectly with the factory sights lining up naturally. Think I'll try it with and without the scope and then decide.

The African model in a Rimrock is about as close to perfect a rifle as I've seen in the pointing and handling department. Feels like a fancy custom.

Moe,

good thing should be those "customs" ruger rings of yours. Give you best of both worlds. Lokking forward to some pictures.

Carl

Carl, you're right. Here's the set up, it let's me get to the iron sights pretty quick if things don't go perfect. The 404 African is on top and the 375 Alaskan below it. I like the SS rings, esp. in AK when it's nasty and cold out.

Been following this one with real interest. As has been said the Ruger case is the best thing to come along in a long while and if I hadn't just built a Jeffery the Ruger would be the go. Testing is a bit academic as a 400gn Woodleigh at 2350fps to 2400fps is a well proven performer, and with the GS Custom 320gn HV bullet it would be as good as an all rounder as the Jeffery is but in a standard length action which seems to ring all the bells for most people now.
I did a similar thing with a set of Ruger rings and used a set of Warne levers to make them more easily QD although this was on a 7x57 wih bolt mounted aperture sight as primary. Just an aperture on the 404 though.

Von Gruff.

A few months ago, I sold my 416 Taylor and have been crying in my coffee because my 375 doesn't bust up stumps like my 416 did. Ruger does not seem to want to make the 416 in the African and I'm more inclined to the Mark I's than the Hawkeye, because of the tang safety. So the building bug is crawling around in my head.
A couple questions. What is the outside diameter of the barrel at the muzzle. Did you put another recoil lug under the barrel, or did you bed the piece of flat steel that Ruger put in? How much does this rifle weigh? I would suspect that as light as the African is, it might be a bit of a snot knocker?
Please keep the reports coming.
Thanks
Bflyu

The .416 Ruger or a 404 Ruger is an easy build on a Mauser or a Win. m-70..The .416 Ruger I built sometime back had all the bells and whistles and I used Talley QD with a slip on Talley peep..It worked like a charm with irons or scope. I got 2400 FPS with a 400 gr. bullet in a 20 inch tube with no problems at all.

It would be a snap to put a Ruger wood stock on the Hawkeye with a glass job, and you can pick up a Ruger factory wood stock used for next to nothing.

Would there be a demand for a drop magazine? Would Ruger be receptive to the idea?

As is, the Hawkeye now takes 3 in the mag in addition to the 1 in the chamber. Same arrangement in the 404-375 Ruger. I know there are some (many?) on this Forum who feel strongly about 'more is better for DG' but I can't say I've felt endangered so far carrying only 4 rounds in the Ruger. I prefer to keep the lines of the stock and the liveliness of the rifle as it is to having 1-2 more rounds in a shad-belly mag. YMMV.

Wildcatter,

Can you tell me more about your ring modification? I've been looking for somethign like that for Ruger rings. I bought Warnes, but they're just too high for my liking. I switched back to low Rugers on my 416 Rigby to get the cheek weld where I wanted it. Figured I could carry a stubby screwdriver if needed. I'd love to have some levers though. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

David Walker

David, the original levers were sold by Brownell's but I think they've been discontinued as I've not seen them listed in years. I had a GS friend modify a set of Ruger ring base nuts by welding a steel lever in the screwdriver notch and bluing them. It's actually pretty simple but as I can't weld I needed help. As you can see from the photos below, I reshaped the rear ring lever to clear the bolt release. Off setting it further out would do the same. These are on a Mk. II Magnum, seem OK.

Not a lot of differnce in 3 down and 4 down IMO...I like them both ways, but don't worry too much either way and I will reload a magazine every chance I get when hunting DG..I have never been out of ammo to the point of being endangered in a tight situation that I recall...

I'm liking those levers in a big way. May have to steal your pics to send to my smith to see if he'll help me out with something like that. Would you mind?

David

Feel free to use them.

Thanks, I may do that.

David

x2mosq,
It is a fast and easy job for any gunsmith to simple tig weld a lever into the Ruger slots, shape it and checker it...When taking it off and on just be sure the levers are in the same position each time if you want return to zero..Have the smith tig them on in the tightest position that is straight up..

Agree with Ray's observation about re-tightening the levers to the same position for repeatability of the zero. However, IME Ruger ring nuts infrequently, if ever, line up vertically when tightened. I use either small diameter SS or (preferably) brass shims as spacers between the nut and ring base to align the levers. The original levers from Brownell's included thin brass washers for this purpose and I've continued to use them in the new setup, with good success.

That is why I went with the Warne levers so that I could regulate the levers around the square head to suit my my set-up.

Von Gruff.

Same result, different method. The Warnes are probably easier but the modified Ruger rings look more original - certainly unique.

A few more small steps forward over the past week. Finally learned how to turn 375 Ruger Basic cases into 404 Rugers using the 375 Ruger & 404 Jeffery FS dies. Lost a couple of cases along the way. And now learning to stamp the correct marking on the case heads - still have a way to go there to get the right feel and alignment. Hope to have some shootable rounds next weekend, unless work keeps getting in the way.

First correctly (?) headstamped case