Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only Question for the .400 Whelen Crowd

The 400 looks like a fun cartridge.

Is the cylindrical brass the way to go? I know Mainer on here has had luck with his similar chamber simply necking up 9.3x62 brass. It is a bit smaller in the shoulder and not full 2.5 length but obviously very available.

Qual-cart offers 400 Whelen stamped cylinder brass, very easy way to go about it

I am going with the qual-cart for my project. Grafs has it in stock and with a dealer discount it is about $1.86/piece. Not cheap but not going to be banging at prairie dogs all day with it either.

Just had my 20 year anniversary and my wife wants me to build a rifle as her gift to me. Looks like I have some orders to place next week to get the barrel and dies in process

Makes sense. 100 pieces would likely last quite a while. What barrel are you ordering? Shilen #5 seems a good fit. .7ish at around 22-23”.


Anybody have issues shooting .410 bullets like the AFrame in .411 barrels? Sounds like folks are getting good accuracy with them?

Ron- what mag box mods did you do to get a 3.6” mag box? Do you just throat long for extra chamber capacity?

I picked up an old Mauser for some kind of “big bore” project. Originally thinking 9.3, then was cogitating on a 416 like the Ruger, but keep coming back to something like the 400.

A handy package with iron sights and maybe a reflex mounted to toss .4+ caliber bullets at a decent clip.
400’s at 2200, 350’s at 2300’ or 300’s at 2400 seems like a good spot.

Just put 400 Whelen in the Googler and this popped up:



I think I’ve seen that feller around here before…..😀

I am going to order a pac-nor #4 with a target finished length of 20-21”

I had some fitment issues with the Qual Cart Basic brass (they should obviously be checked).

The cartridge diameter just in front of the extractor ring exceeded the diameter of the cartridge numbers (and that of every other '06 case drawing). They had to be turned just in that one area, some cases, not all, but a pain.

My barrel was done by Pac-Nor, pre fire, when they had a reamer. Yes, the reamer was specc'd correctly. Without this issue, basic brass should be trim to length, a trip through the FL (CH4D dies wont mess up the shoulder, ever) load and go.

I use 35 Whelen cases, most recently some Noslers. I use a 416 tapered expander in a Redding '06 class die. This is just to expand and the 416 expander brings the 35 case at the shoulder past .459, and then sized in the FL die.
Runout on the 35 Whelen Noslers are also quite a bit better than the Qual Carts as well and theres no trimming out of the gate either.

No issues getting accuracy here. I've even used some .409 Lion Loads without a hitch.

I've ran 300 TSXs just under 2500 for the entire time I've used the Whelen in the field, the chronograph reading 2485.

You bet Gentlemen, cylindrical brass slowly necked down to leave a nice firm crush on bolt closing fit then trimmed to max length, load and fire, makes beautiful fully functional 400 Whelen brass, my fire form loads were so accurate i didnt bother to waste them, in fact, i took those fire form loads to Africa.

Damn, LOL Mooner, i would like to apologize for the open shirt, it was a million degrees that day, had been tracking buffalo for 7 dang miles when we came upon this nice Antelope buck, speaking of accurate 400 Whelen fire form loads, i hit my knee and shot this buck in the chest at 198 yards with a 400gr Woodleigh round nose Weldcore, the bullet exited left of his nut sack out back, i think i would have laid down too ; ]

A were i contemplating a build or on the fence about a purchase, i'd be trying like hell to send Sir Ron a check for this 400 Whelen, what a beautiful clean rifle, just look at that thing lying there, Damn!

Hah! Fear not, Gunner. My sensibilities took no affront. At least they wouldn’t if I had any.

Nice shooting.

I’m ordering a .411 Shilen #5 on Tuesday unless somebody talks me into something better before then.

Would like a mould to cast some bullets for it. Something with a big flat meplat.
Any suggestions?

I use a .417 375 gr. LFN LBT.

I just run it through a .413 sizer.

Yep, i found the cylindrical brass price to be rediculous. A simple neck up of cheap 9.3 prvi brass to take .410 swift a-frames rather than the .411 of the whelen. The shoulder was plenty to head space off of. I didnt even fireform.......just hunted with them.

Every rifle loony should run 41 cal bullets on a standard case. Not at targets and forums, but really BIG fkn animals.




https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/13233780/3

I had Accurate Molds cut me one with 320 and 400 grain cavities. Their 41-320C and 41-400C bullets. My rifle likes both. If I were doing it again I’d have bought two molds instead of one mold with different bullets.

Dang, skip a day here and things get interesting.

MadMooner,

No problems at all with accuracy of .410-cal JACKETED BULLETS
in the Shilen barrels with .404" bore, .411" groove, and 1:14 twist.
In the .400 Whelen-B with skinny No. 4 stainless, 25"-long barrel and longer throat,
the 210-gr/.410 XTP shot a tiny cloverleaf group at 100 yards, 3 shots into 0.309" on centers,
2731 fps with 58.0 grains of H4198 at 69 degrees F.



That is 5-yard uncorrected chrono velocity, average of 20 shots fired from offhand and bench.
That was my fireforming load after necking down and trimming the QualCart brass.
That made a good sharp shoulder, and a good plinking and varmint load.
No bullets vaporized on the way to the target.
That load should also work well for fireforming in the "standard" .400 Whelen as by Petrov/JGS/G&H.

I prefer to use the backward-loaded 210-grainer to fire-form .35 Whelen to .400 Whelen.
COL = 2.777" in standard .400 Whelen jams the bullet base into rifling.

On initial fire forming of Qual Cart brass the meplat forward, usual loading direction of the bullet is reliable,
in either standard .400 Whelen or .400 Whelen-B.
COL is 2.950" for normally loaded bullet in both standard .400 Whelen and .400 Whelen-B.



The proof load was tested only in the longer-throated, 3.6" COL .400 Whelen-B.
400-gr Woodleigh at +2400 fps.
Primer fell out when the action was opened.
The .400 Whelen-B survived proof.
I did not "proof" the standard .400 Whelen.
I will not recommend that load for service in any .400 Whelen. LOL.

As for magazine, 3.4" versus 3.6" in my M70, same can be done with Ruger M77 MkII and Hawkeye by
substituting an M77 RSM .375 H&H box in the shorter action, and then shorten the bolt-stop/ejector to .375 H&H timing.
Dave Scovill did that and Phil Shoemaker has that .375 H&H Ruger M77 MkII now.
I used a Duane Wiebe XRM box in my M70 and got one extra round down
versus what can be done by unblocking the standard box.

Great shot on the impala Sir Jerry, as usual.


Since I now have such a .458 WM habit to feed
I will consider parting with the Ruger M77 Hawkeye "standard" .400 Whelen
(23.6" No. 5 Shilen chromoly, matte black Cerakote, no barrel sights, 1:14" twist)
and a set of CH4D dies, and a starter quantity of QualCart brass, negotiable.
It is all pristine.





I'll be holding onto the .400 Whelen-B "Classic" and the .35 Whelen Pre-'64:



Too bad Winchester never factory chambered the .35 Whelen Pre'-64 M70.
I fixed up one of my own.

I started down this road in 2012 when THE GUNSMITH got a bee in his bonnet for building his own .400 Whelen on an M98,
so we shared reamer and brass costs, and he got to work out the bugs and teach me how to load the .400 Whelen,
and build my .400 Whelens.