.338 Imperial Magnum components in Canada bringing to South Africa

[Gert Odendaal]

Good day to members. Members, I am in need of items/components of .338 Imperial Magnum caliber I bought from the Originator Aubrey White in Canada,( Aubrey sadly passed away recently) Wayne ( member of our forum ) wanted to bring the components through on a planned hunt had to abandoned his plans due to unforeseen health issues .

A good member , Longwalker informed me he will be hunting SA and bring the items with ..unfortunately the documentation that needed to accompany the items was not received from the relevant Canadian department handling the permanent export permits for these items on time and Long Walker had to leave it in behind at his house in Canada.

Members, I really would like to hear from any Canadian hunter who will be visiting SA in the near future to be so kind as to bring these components to SA. I will be meeting you at OR Tambo airport to get these items from you and thank you in person.
I will forward you Longwalker`s contact details to discuss all relevant information in this regards

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

Good day to members. Members, I am in need of items/components of .338 Imperial Magnum caliber I bought from the Originator Aubrey White in Canada,( Aubrey sadly passed away recently) Wayne ( member of our forum ) wanted to bring the components through on a planned hunt had to abandoned his plans due to unforeseen health issues .

A good member , Longwalker informed me he will be hunting SA and bring the items with ..unfortunately the documentation that needed to accompany the items was not received from the relevant Canadian department handling the permanent export permits for these items on time and Long Walker had to leave it in behind at his house in Canada.

Members, I really would like to hear from any Canadian hunter who will be visiting SA in the near future to be so kind as to bring these components to SA. I will be meeting you at OR Tambo airport to get these items from you and thank you in person.
I will forward you Longwalker`s contact details to discuss all relevant information in this regards

Hopefully someone will be able to help

 

[Longwalker]

Fellow Canadian hunters, please help deliver these items if you can! I feel bad I was not able to deliver these some months ago, and Gert needs to build a nice new rifle!

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Fellow Canadian hunters, please help deliver these items if you can! I feel bad I was not able to deliver these some months ago, and Gert needs to build a nice new rifle!

Members, it really would be much appreciated if a visiting Canadian hunter will be willing to bring this package to OR Tambo airport, I will meet you there and thank you in person.

 

[Gert Odendaal]

To members who wants to know more about the .338 Imperial Magnum .

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Members, today was a joyful day..with great appreciation towards Guy Pulvermaker from Canada , who brought me the .338 Imperial Magnum components I bought from Aubrey White who unfortunately passed a few years back.
Guy went through a huge lot of difficulties to get a permanent export permit from Canadian departments to bring these components to South Africa, I met Guy and Evan who are on their way to Mozambique to hunt buffalo and plains game this morning at OR Tambo Airport..what a great member. We had a great breakfast before they left for Mozambique .

I now are sourcing the .338 Imperial Magnum reloading dies, I will access gun shops in Canada to see if I am able to source a set of dies..the alternative is to order prom CH4 company..they are currently on back order for these dies ..nothing in stock....

In the meantime if any Canadian member is able to send me links to Canadian gun shops I can contact to find reloading dies for the .338 Imperial Magnum caliber, since Aubrey White was living in Canada when he developed the Imperial Magnum calibers...
I really would appreciate it enormously if Canadian members will be able to assist. Here are the components Guy brought me this morning.

 

[Gert Odendaal]

I know of an extremely few, if any people/hunters who has these components in their possession

 

[Gert Odendaal]

A perfect 404 Jeffery brass case in a .338 Imperial Magnum form..

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Gert, safari is out this year but next year for sure I'll be back to Eastern Cape.

Permanent export of rifle actually requires minister's signature. I brought two guns to Africa for lodge owner my first two safaris. It is a hassle! Forms can be done on line but getting the signature takes time. Temporary export permits for hunting rifles is actually quite quick.

I had never heard of Imperial Magnum before. Sounds like you have a sentimental connection to the developer. Did he build your gun for you? Can we see it? Hope you get set up in time to hunt this year.

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Ontario hunter, I have permanently export rifle to the USA, there are steps and procedures you need to follow, but it is possible.
Here is a link to the History of the Canadian Imperial Magnum caliber range
https://www.africahunting.com/threads/the-338-imperial-magnum-caliber-history.76064/#post-1093156

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Thanks for providing White's writeup. I could sense the bitterness in his writing.

Two questions re the "advantages" of beltless vs belted magnums. 1) I'm not sure how beltless cases achieve more powder capacity and 2) I would think belted would have an advantage over beltless re potential head space issues, not vice versa as White claims. I do agree, beltless would be less likely to encounter cycling issues and manufacture more cheaply.

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Thanks for providing White's writeup. I could sense the bitterness in his writing.

Two questions re the "advantages" of beltless vs belted magnums. 1) I'm not sure how beltless cases achieve more powder capacity and 2) I would think belted would have an advantage over beltless re potential head space issues, not vice versa as White claims. I do agree, beltless would be less likely to encounter cycling issues and manufacture more cheaply.

No , I am not going to commence with the discussion : beltless vs belted cases.
The same discussions raging on about : 30-06 vs .308 and numerous other discussions that do not make any sense and have no conclusive answers only opinions..
This .338 Imperial Magnum only works for me since I have a 404 Jeffery hunting rifle, to me it is the best hunting rifle I ever possess .

I like the history/design /cases of the 404 Jeffery , focusing on building all / most of the calibers based on the 404 Jeffery case like the .333 Jeffery, 9.3x70 Mauser and other such calibers.

The .338 Imperial Magnum being the single most important design since it was the first used of a 404 Jeffery case necked up/down in the new era ...the clones like the RUM, Edge ,and other brands like the Dakota designs came much later all had altered cases..

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Yes. I knew WSM and RUM allegedly were built on 404J ... but not really. Found that out the hard way. When I bought my reloading setup for my 404, it didn't come with shell holder for dies. Thought I could buy locally available WSM or RUM shell holder instead. Nope! Don't fit.

I also learned how finicky 404 cases are to load. The RWS brass that came in my kit are shorter than spec and shoulder is set back slightly. They do not snap over consistently. Because 404 has gently sloping shoulder, they are easily pushed just a bit too far into the chamber if not sized perfectly. And a bit too far is enough to defeat snap over. Of course it doesn't help that RWS brass has rims of inconsistent thickness. With 404, everything must be just right for snap over. If this rifle was anything but a DGR stopper, I wouldn't bother with snap over. But it's a 3+1 standard 98. Obviously, if I need to put a fifth round in an empty rifle while dodging horns and hooves, I don't want to be bothered with correctly stuffing a round in the magazine under my scope. Drop a shell in the receiver port, close the bolt, and kill the SOB before it kills me. Belted brass negates this but at a price. The cartridges don't cycle as smoothly or, so I've heard, as reliably. However, I don't own a belted magnum. In fact, this 404 I built last year is the only magnum I've owned ... or indeed any caliber except 30-06.

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Ontario hunter I was fortunate to buy a Westley Richards build 404 Jeffery fifteen years ago. It was build in 1931 for a Game Ranger in the Natal Game Department. This rifle shot the last buffalo and elephant in the Thembe region /Kosi-bay /South Mozambique reserve when the tsetse flies caused "ngana illness/sleeping sickness to humans and cattle .
In 1976 the old Game Ranger gave the 404 Jeffery to his apprentice , at that time the barrel was shot out. So the rifle was hand in at a Gunsmith in Natal who replace the original barrel. Many years later I bought this 404 Jeffery from the second owner Mike White , retired Game Ranger.
I did not change anything on this rifle...I am shooting it with open sights , had a Leupold Vari 3 1,5-5x20mm but it was not a good choice when hunting in dense bushveld regions since the scope does not receive enough light..

I then decided to use it without a scope since it is extremely accurate shooting off-hand.
The 404 Kynoch rounds I received was Berdan primed so it was not possible to reload these cases, so I had to make another plan since at that stage there were not 404 Jeffery brass to reload..

Johan Greyling my mentor assisted me to convert the .375 H&H Brass cases in the photo to 404 Jeffery brass, I still shoot those 375/404 brass today ..although I now have ample brass to shoot for many years ...

 

[Gert Odendaal]

So I can reverse the process to use a .375 H&H brass and neck it up to shoot a .423" bullet , a .375 H&H Magnum/404 caliber...

 

[Ontario Hunter]

You're lucky to have a rifle with an interesting history.

So you turned down both belt and rim of 375 to make 404 brass?

What is your Imperial Magnum built on?

 

[Gert Odendaal]

You're lucky to have a rifle with an interesting history.

So you turned down both belt and rim of 375 to make 404 brass?

What is your Imperial Magnum built on?

No, I did not turn the belt down, I blow it out , the belt is still on the .375H&H Magnum case. The only change is the headspacing of the .375 H&H Magnum case moves to the shoulder of the blown out case..
I am still planning the build, I will build it on a chassis, 30" barrel , still needs to find a suitable action, hope to find a Remmington 700 action.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

No, I did not turn the belt down, I blow it out , the belt is still on the .375H&H Magnum case. The only change is the headspacing of the .375 H&H Magnum case moves to the shoulder of the blown out case..
I am still planning the build, I will build it on a chassis, 30" barrel , still needs to find a suitable action, hope to find a Remmington 700 action.

30" barrel? A long range culling rifle? What, a Remington 700? Not going to build CRF? You heretic! These guys will tie you to a stake with a load of firewood.

 

[PerH]

First it was the DWM with their great series of 7,65 ,8mm and 9,3 on the case which RJM had his 9,3 so chambered ( Reich Jaeger Meister )

Then Sort of Dakota and Guns&Ammo series , but the Canadian
Ones took the best of DWM into the new era , and then an American copycat took the popularity and sponsorship to get forward . 50 years after DWM did btw . And they didn’t get much further in velocity or
Energy .

 

[Gert Odendaal]

30" barrel? A long range culling rifle? What, a Remington 700? Not going to build CRF? You heretic! These guys will tie you to a stake with a load of firewood.

Ontario I would take what I can get. Actions are not freely available in South Africa at all. The old Mauser 98 actions is still available, I need to use a new era /technology steel that is in today`s new rifles like the Weatherby, the HOWA or TIKKA action,

it needs to be a Long action to enable me to open it up so it can feed reliable and have a few rounds in the magazine at least.
It will be a long range hunting /gong shooting rifle , it will be build on a chassis , so you will certainly not use it to walk and stalk hunt with it ...
Buying local high tech actions in South Africa that is made locally is extremely expensive ...
I am thinking of buying a used rifle in a .375 cal that I can use as a donor action in the new rifle brands .