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

A buck, a doe and a bambi.
You did proper culling.

I tried to post the latest gunner500 loads at ammoguide and had connectivity issues.
I will try again later and post the entire table here when possible.

Will also add my favorite fire forming load too,
reversed 210-grain Hornady XTP.
Same bullet loaded in usual direction makes a grood varmint plinker: 210-gr XTP near 2800 fps.
That is a tougher bullet than the 300-gr/.458 Sierra Pro Hunter which vaporizes at 2800 fps.

I used your load with the backwards XTP and H4198. Worked great.

You know how to break in a new rifle my friend. Outstanding!!

Here is the updated AmmoGuide load list:



Here is a sample of the details from the "view" button on each load:





View more at www.ammoguide.com

Thought you guys might like to see a few necropsy pics…

This is from the large doe that was basically full broadside. High shoulder shot. 360 NorthFork at 150 yards. Impact velocity around 1900 fps with energy at 2900 ft/lbs.

Entrance



Inside (hit spine)



Exit



Obvious signs of expansion despite a relatively low resistance target (will cut up the very small button buck tomorrow). Very distinct “whoomph” sound on impact and obviously the deer went straight down…same as if hit with a .223 in the same place.

Total meat loss was not significant for that type of placement. I didn’t weigh it but would be shocked if it was much over a couple pounds…three at the extreme end.

My main concern with the NF was that it might be too tough for smaller game at the outer edges of its velocity window.

So far I think it is a winner on the small stuff.

Has anyone had JES rebore a rifle to 400 Whelen and how did it work out for you?

Man that's great stuff MR, congrats on the deer and maiden voyage with your 400 Whelen, yours has done exactly as mine has, puts game down right now, congrats Sir.

Sir Ron, thanks for the load data posting, it could come in handy saving some headaches and expense.

Speaking of headaches, that long 400gr BBW#13 solid load i put up at 3.350" has been kinda bugging me, so today, i took 5 sticks of new brass trimmed to 2.489 inch, drop tubed in 68gr CFE-223, set COL at 3.370 inch, loads ran like greased glass rods in and out of the rifle, i'll chrono and shoot for groups when the weather clears.

68gr's CFE-223 from a drop tube is just up to the bottom of the neck, that long solid seated for 3.370 inch is just barely compressing the powder, no bulges or any problems, if these bullets will run 2250 or better they'll shoot through any heavy game animal, would be kinda cool to go bust a bull Ele with the solids and a lion with a big Woodleigh round nose Weldcore soft, matter of fact, those two animals are all i have left for the Big V completion, hmmmmm ; ]

Well, just hit the bullet stability calculator, seems a 14 twist barrel with a bullet length of 1.508 long at 2250 fps gives a stability number of 2.66, PERFECT!!!!!, that's spun up tight enough to drill through anything.

Very cool Jerry! Doubt I will ever tackle the Big 5 but someday a buffalo might make the hit list. Sounds like plenty of gun for that!

Better take a camera guy to video when you tackle the last two on your list. Would love to see that footage.

Thanks and you bet, i'll have it videoed, speaking of drilling a buffalo, Cutting Edge Bullets is running a Black Friday sale, i just got 15% off and free shipping on several boxes of 400gr .411" BBW#13 solids, as well as 350gr .416" and 450gr .458" cal. solids for a couple PH buddies, if you have a good stash of 360gr NF's, that 350gr BBW#13 solid in .411" would be a perfect pairing, i'd tackle anything with those two.

Took some shop pics of today's experiment, Sir Ron says he'll get 'em posted up for us in a bit.

Cut up the lil’ fella today. No major bones were hit…just ribs. Very little mass to initiate expansion and the 360 NF still opened up very well and took him strait down. He did get to his feet and struggled for a few yards but it was all over in seconds.

At 125 yards or so impact velocity would be about 1950 fps and over 3k ft lbs of energy. Actually really happy to see this kind of expansion with very little resistance.

Entrance


Inside entrance


Exit side interior


I did find some trauma away from the exit in the offside ribs. No idea if it was part of the jacket or maybe rib from the impact side?


The bigger buck was taken at 185 which would be just over 1830 fps. I didn’t hang that one as my dad had never seen the gutless method in person so I took it home to show him and process the quarters without taking pics. That was a face on shot with a slight quartering angle and the bullet exited behind the offside shoulder. That bullet also opened very well.

I am thinking if these bullets are opening this well with minimal resistance at 1950 and decent resistance at 1830 they have a very good chance of opening well on much larger game somewhere below the magic 1800 fps mark.

Here gunner500 gives us a tutorial on turning a .400 Whelen into an elephant rifle, and as usual he does not disappoint:

MedRiver said:
"I am thinking if these bullets are opening this well with minimal resistance at 1950 and decent resistance at 1830 they have a very good chance of opening well on much larger game somewhere below the magic 1800 fps mark."

Yes, those North Forks are great.
And now there are four different Shock Hammers from Hammer Bullets in .411-caliber:

250-gr:



293-gr:



326-gr:



377-gr:



That last one (377-gr) has a G1 BC = 0.425 !

Oh shucks, it is 1.61" long with a nose projection of 0.7599" and there are 9 PDR troughs along the shank.
It is the only one not suitable for most .405 WCF rifles.
Recommended twist for Dangerous Game is 1:14" or faster.
For Big Game 1:16" twist or faster recommended.
For DG you gotta spin the bullet faster when the bullet is that long.
For mere BG, not so much.

Heh-heh-heh.
Can't help but think of a slightly longer-throated ".400 Whelen+" to fit into a +3.6" mag box on an M70.
Forgive me.
As penance I am ordering the NECG barrel hardware for my Ruger M77 Hawkeye .400 Whelen right now!

Those CEB’s look like some penetrating SOBs. Chances of them feeding in my rifle at the moment…I would put right at 0% but you never know. Thanks for putting the pics together Gunner and RC!

Those hammers may be the cat’s meow. An all-copper 326 grainer might be the do-all for a North American guy, particularly when availability is such an issue.

How do the hammers compare to Barns triple shock?

I guess that's a no, but at least you guys can take pretty pictures.

They tend to blow the front end off of them and leave behind a Wide, flat shank that penetrates like crazy.


I haven’t myself, but IF JES can do it, I’d expect less than 0 issues. He’s done quite a few of them for me at this point without a problem and they’ve all shot real well.

He did my .35 but I don’t know if he does .400s or not. I don’t know of anyone with a JES .400 but he is good about calling back if you leave a message.

Yes he does 40 calibers. Close as a phone call. HINT1

That might cost me. With Hammers out there it’s nice to know you can get some hunting bullets pretty easily. I have a SS Classic 06 with a grey laminate on it. Might make a dandy 400.