M’Butha spread the sticks, cigarette inmouth to check the wind, andnodded toward the bull. Not twenty

yards away stood twelve feet of elephant inmusth, weeping gland clearly visible, and PH“Cowboy” Tim Schultz smiling slightly andnodding in affirmation. “In his heart” was allhe had to whisper. My hands, gripping slightlymore than normal around the gentle, slopingpistol gr ip and forend of the Heym .404,eased that delicate marriage of walnut andsteel onto the length of rubber-coatedbamboo. I could hear the song of the red-eyeddove in the still of the morning, knowing thatstillness was about to be shattered. I saw thegold bead settle into the rear sight, just at thetop of that little white line in the middle ofthe wide, shallow “V,” and it seemed to gravi-tate to the bull ’s shoulder. I rememberconcentrating on the hold, while it seemedlike some other force squeezed that sweettrigger, knowing that all I had to do was keepthat bead where it belonged. I don’t remember the recoil, or even cycling the

action, but I do remember the effect of a 400-grain Woodleigh Hydrostatically Stabilized solid:the bull went backward five paces, nearly droppedonto his haunches, yet recovered. The second shotsealed the deal, and he piled up within 15 yards.By that time, the rifle and I had become one unit,an inseparable machine. The congratulatory slapson the back and multiple handshakes made themoment all the more special.

My old friend Danie Wingard, a fine PH inhis own r ight, was along on this safar i inZimbabwe with me and, as he threw his armover my shoulder in celebration, told me, “That.404 is magic. Your first shot nearly put him offhis feet, do yourself a favor: hang onto thatrifle.” I couldn’t have agreed more.As a gun writer, I have the opportunity to

use many different rifles, and I own several(including by beloved Model 70 in .416Remington) that might have fit the bill for thissafar i. I booked the multi-country huntthrough deMoulpied & Son OutdoorAdventures, and Dave deMoulpied set me upwith a short plains game hunt with DanieWingard in South Africa, followed by a non-

HEYM’SFANTASTIC

BOLTGUNBY PHILIP P. MASSARO

continued on page 242

Phillip P. Massaro with his Heym Express.404 and his Zzimbabwean elephant.

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believe they take a course to learn how to beat uprifle cases. The Swarovski glass in Talley rings is acombination that can withstand the airline’spunishment, and the rifle was still in zero aftereach leg of the journey. PH Cornus du Plooy andI took both a heavy horned blue wildebeest and arather handsome impala ram in the Waterbergdistrict of South Africa at distances of 150 to 175yards. Both shots resulted in the same effect fromthe Woodleigh bullet: caliber-sized entrance and

exit holes, and a wide tunnel of damaged tissuethroughout the wound channel. Neither animalrequired a second shot, nor did they go far at all.So far, we had a winner of a bullet. Perhaps notthe greatest choice for a meat hunter, but therewas little or no damage to the hides, and the killwas quick and efficient. The 1-6x Swarovski madethe shots seem easy, offering great clarity andenough magnification for the work at hand.

trophy elephant hunt in the Dete Valley ofZimbabwe. I wanted to keep things simple andbring one rifle suitable for both scenarios, sowhen Chris Sells of Double Gun Importsoffered to lend me a Heym Express in the clas-sic .404 Jeffery, I didn’t really hesitate long.During the research for a book I’ve written

on bullet selection, I had the opportunity toplay with Woodleigh’s Hydro Solid, a radicallooking bullet with a funky little cup on thefront, designed to give all the penetrativequalities of a mono-metal solid, while thesmall cup creates a shockwave that does allsorts of tissue damage. Reports from the fieldindicate that the bullet g ives f antasticperformance on plains game of all sizes, aswell as any of the dangerous species. Therifle/bullet combination seemed like a logicalchoice for this adventure.When the rifle arrived, my eyes widened

before I even touched it. A beautiful walnutstock, shaped in the fashion of the classicBritish bolt guns of the early 20th century,cradled an action that was both simple andelegant at the same time. Barrel-band slingswivel, express sights, classic NECG red recoilpad, and the delicate forend that fits oh-so-nicely in the left hand were all present. Andthe first time I shouldered it, the balance ofthe rifle demonstrated itself right away. Theshadow line cheek piece brought the sightpicture properly into focus without any fidg-eting, and that combination of sweeping pistolgr ip and shorter fore-end makes the r iflecome to shoulder like a fine shotgun. When Iworked the action, my eyes opened evenwider; there is virtually no play whatsoever,and the action feels smoother than puppy fur.In the case was a Swarovski 1-6x24mm scopewith a lighted circle-dot reticle set in Talleydetachable rings. I mean, seriously, what morecould a guy ask for?I had some Nosler factory ammo hanging

around, and since I just couldn’t wait to try therifle, I headed to the backyard range to seewhat the gun could do. These were the“modern load” for the .404 Jeffery, pushing

400-grain solids at 2,350 fps, making the vener-able caliber very nearly the equal of the .416s,and making a serious case for reviving the clas-sic chambering. My Oehler 35P chrony spitout a piece of paper telling me those Noslerswere cruising along at 2,380 fps, and the targetshowed three shots in a one-inch circle at 100yards. Houston, we’ve got a winner. Sitting at the reloading bench, I gathered the

400-grain Woodleigh Hydros, some FederalGM215M primers, Norma cases (elegantly head-stamped “.404 Rimless Nitro-Express”) andAlliant’s Reloder-15 powder. Looking at theWoodleigh Reloading Manual, I chose a ‘middle-of-the-road’ charge weight, and set the RCBSdies to seat the bullets just behind the first band.Sometimes in life you get lucky, and this was oneof those times; the handload printed three-shotgroups just under an inch, and cruised along at2,280 fps. I also used the 325-grain Cutting EdgeBullets Safari Raptor as a bullet for bush pigs.These ran at 2,550 fps, and printed to the samepoint of impact as the Woodleigh Hydros, makingfor a very versatile combination. There were nohigh pressure-signs whatsoever, so the range workwas done. It was now time to move on to practic-ing in field positions. As this rifle was going to be asked to perform

with both scope and iron sights for his safari, I wasglad that the Talley rings worked as advertised, andI could confidently remove the scope for ironsight practice and reinstall it without losing zero. Izeroed this rig to be 1.5 inches high at 100 yards,giving me a dead hold out to 200, which I’vefound to be perfectly adequate for most shots inAfrica. The express sights hit dead on the bullseyeat 40 yards, and by practicing with the rifle, I couldkeep the bullets in a 2.5-inch circle off-hand, eventighter when using sticks. That well-designedHeym stock made the felt recoil more thanmanageable, and sending 15 rounds downrangeper practice session was no problem at all. I loaded40 rounds for the hunt, and was ready for Africa. Reliability is a word that hunters like when it

comes to gear that travels around the world; weare all familiar with the torturous techniques thatthe baggage handlers employ. I’m starting to

continued on page 244

Heym’s great big bolt.

The action of the Heym Express.

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The Heym fore-end makes a sweet handling rifle.The integral rear sight has a wide V for 50 yard shots, and afiner groove sight for the 100 yard sight.

In Zimbabwe, I removed the scope fromthe rifle. There, the quality iron sights thatHeym uses worked very well. When theentire safari crew is watching you sight therifle on the first day, it can be rather nerve-racking, but I did my part and put the bulletat 9 o’clock, one inch out of the bull at 40yards off sticks. Each and every PH that sawthe Heym rifle cocked an eyebrow and askedif they could try it; to the man they werevery impressed. They were even more pleasedwith the performance on elephant.So, what makes a Heym Express better, or at

least different, than other bolt guns? I mean, I’veused my Winchester 70 on numerous safaris in thepast, with more than satisfactory results. Why lookat a high-end bolt gun? There are several reasons.Heym was founded in Suhl, Germany, 150

years ago, and they know what makes a rifle. Theattention to detail that Heym puts into theproduction model Express rivals that of customrifle makers. The wood-to-metal fit is impecca-ble, and the appointments such as the bolt angle,iron sights, fantastic stock design and balancepoint just in front of the floorplate hinge are allvery well thought out. With the scope attached,the rifle is heavy enough to quickly settle downfor a longer shot, yet light enough to quicklypoint at an animal at close quarters with thescope turned down to 1x. Unscoped, it carriesand points like an extension of your arm, with adimension around the action that fits comfort-ably in my right hand, even though the maga-zine holds four rounds of .404 Jeff.

Oh, that magazine--that’s another feature thatHeym designed properly. Each magazine wellthat Heym uses is caliber-specific, in that thelength and width, as well as the magazinefollower, is designed to function using thecartridge that the rifle is chambered for, and noother. The .404 Jeffery cartridges slide into themagazine as if they were greased, and are heldthere snugly with no rattles or other issues.Heym’s feed ramp is excellent as well. Manyrifles show their flaws when it comes to feedinga flat-nosed solid; some just won’t do it well, andthat is a serious issue when dangerous game ison the menu. The Woodleigh Hydro Solid isone of those bullets that brings out the worst ina feed ramp, but there was no issue with theHeym r ifle. As a matter of interest, theWoodleigh Hydro usually comes with a hemi-spherical blue cap over the meplat to assist thefeeding process, but the .423-inch diameterJeffery bullets I received didn’t have them,making me even more nervous when I first sawthem. The Heym Express fed them like a dream.Heym’s proprietary action is probably the

biggest key ingredient in the mix. It is a largeraction than most others, yet that fact is veryimportant. The size of the action (while it stillfeels good in the carrying hand) keeps theweight properly balanced in the grand schemeof things. The old British saying “keep theweight between the hands” totally applies here,and shows itself in the way the gun shoulders.

continued on page 280

PH Cornus duPlooy (left) and author with wildebeest.

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The Heym action, like the magazine,is caliber specific, and the geometry ofthe action is designed to best handlethe cartridge you may choose; nocookie-cutter actions here. This alsoallows for a slimmer barrel profile andsleek stock design, as the bulk of theweight is contained in the receiver. The bolt diameter of the Express is

another great feature. The famous 98Mauser uses a bolt with a diameter of.700-inch, which works well with mostcalibers, and the Brevex Magnumaction uses a bolt of .750-inch. Heymhas designed a bolt of .780-inch diam-eter, which is fully capable of handlingany cartridge you’d conceivably putthrough a bolt gun. The Express can be made with a

custom length of pull, assuring thatyour Heym will fit you like a glove.The rifle that I obtained has a lengthof pull at an even 14.5 inches, which(miraculously) fits me like it wasmade for me. Good stock fit trans-lates into less felt recoil, which isalways a good thing. Even with themodern, high-velocity loads, therecoil of the .404 Jeffery in theExpress was the classic “push,” ratherthan the violent slap associated withfaster loadings in a rifle that fits lesswell. The Heym receiver can bemade as a single square bridge, blanksquare bridge or, like my example,with machined 19mm Talley dovetailreceiver blanks. Other options are onthe menu as well, like traditionalGerman claw mounts and more.The Heym Express is one serious

hunting rifle. This safari was my firstexperience hunting with the .404Jeffery, and I’ve grown to be a fan ofthe cartridge, as well as the Expressrifle. As a matter of fact, when it cametime to return the rifle, I sent a checkinstead. Yup, this one’s mine, so you’llhave to get your own. .

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Heym’s Bolt Guncontinued from page 244

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