Sirs, and any others not yet seated at the Square Table, assuming permission and good grace from you all, I'll interject a few more thoughts on 400s from my most recent range experience.
Before that, however, let me also express my sincere gratitude for Sir Ron's ongoing work, especially now re the 400gr TSX from BB and his own 400gr creations from the 450gr and 500gr TSX's.
Yesterday, at the range, I tried two distinct bullets over the same powder charge. Due to my own appreciation for 400gr bullets from both .45-70s and the great .458 Win Mag, I tested a couple of 405gr Remingtons ( a proven accurate load from the #1 Ruger in .458, and my current bear load for September) for confirmation of sight-in at 50 yards, and two 400gr Barnes Busters.
The 405s were fired first and both went into the same hole at dead-center @ 50 yards. Next, the two 400gr Busters were shot at the center of the 50 yard target. The result of the four bullets produced a single hole that measured .458" x 1.08" outside measurements. The two Barnes Busters also landed in the same hole on the right side of the 405s, breaking the target paper between making a single elongated hole! The greatest enter to center spread of the 4 was .60" as best I could measure with calipers. A 400 Buster will be loaded first for relatively close shots, followed by 405s as the range opens.
Details: Temp @ +20C/ 69F; Sunny with some haze. Elevation 900 ft.
Rifle: Ruger Tropical .458 with Mag-na-ports/24" barrel Powder 75 grains of RL-15 WLRM primers Hornady cases 2x fired. Chrony was not used, but former tests gave an average of 2085 fps for the 405 Rem corrected to MV. From some evidence, I think the 400gr Busters may have been around 2100 fps (yet to be confirmed). The primers were a bit flatter than for the 405s, and there was dirty gas residue around mouth and body of cases for the Busters that were not crimped. No dirty gas residue for the 405s that were crimped into the bottom cannelure. COL for the 405s = 3.26", and for the 400 Busters at 3.3".
The Buster has a meplat of .28", and I believe it could kill anything- and I mean ANYTHING at an impact of around 1400 fps.
Just some bits of information on some other worthy 400s.
