Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only .400 Whelen

Handled a 75-year old .400 Whelen last week.
How neat! It was octagon barrel on a 1903 action by G&H.

Was it for sale? Some rifles just ooze coolness. My guess is that is one.

Yes, they wanted over $4,800 for it, but I know a little history on the piece. PM me.

I just saw the new Gun Digest, which has a long article on the .400 Whelen with handloads tested.

Warning! Reading this could make some people begin dream of building one for themselves.

I think youll find building a 35 whelen or a 375 whelen gives you some advantages, especially in finding less expensive bullets. and reloading dies, plus brass is easier to form, plus the 400 has almost no shoulder to headspace on, its almost a strait case on the basic 30/06 where the others have at least some shoulder
another factor is down range energy, the 35 whelen or 375 whelen loaded with 225,250 grainin the case of the 35 whelen or 270 or 300 grain bullets in the 375 whelen, will easilly exceed the retained energy the 400 whelen give once the range starts to get out there some.

COOL.

I thought about one for sometime, but ended up building a 416 Taylor.

As originally designed there is ample shoulder. It is not, however, a simple matter of just necking-up an '06 case as for the .35 Whelen.

GV

Petrov article on 400 Whelen

Good points! If I was going to have a Whelen, it might as well be in a vintage action and stock design, with something cool like an octagon barrel.

Steelhead - do you still have your .416 Taylor? I purchased a custom rifle in this caliber within the last year. It is built on a tang safety Ruger M77 action. Haven't gotten around to working up any loads for it yet. I was going to get to it this summer - and it's not over yet <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Yep, I had it built about a year ago. I like the 400's at 2150-2200 and the 350's at 2400. When you start going past those the recoil kinda JUMPS right up there.

It still ain't bad at all, even max loads of 400's at about 2350, but they are a lot more fun at the 2150 level.

Haven't shot it much in the past few months, about out of RL15, and I can't find any right now.

Thanks for that Petrov link, GrandView.

Steelhead, my old .450/.400 Watson Bros double is regulated for a 400 at 2150, and at ten pounds, 2 oz empty she's comfortable at that speed. Anything a 400 grain woodleigh won't kill at that speed gets a pass from me. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Amen. If that doesn't do it I should have picked a different fight.

The question, gentlemen, is not about whether this or that caliber will or will not 'kill' the animal in question. Very clearly the .400 whelen will kill most anything you point it at. The question is under what circumstances, shot angles etc. and how quickly will the intended quarry be put down. How long will it remain 'down' or stunned from a near miss of the brain or spinal column. This post is not intended to be a negative on the very good .400 whelen, simply a reply to what seemd to be an insinuation as to why anything bigger.

The Gun Digest article is about the .400 Brown Whelen, not the original .400. It has a sharper shoulder and was invented on the incorrect assumption that a properly chambered standard .400 did not headspace correctly. There is no need for the BW version and it has the aesthetic disadvantage of not being a classical design.