Next bolt action project; .400 Whelen basic brass ... What to do?

F

FrankenMauser

New member
MidwayUSA had a bunch of Quality Cartridge .400 Whelen basic brass on clearance a little while back, and I obtained enough to justify a new project (far down the list, but that's another subject ;)).

My intentions:
.366 caliber, up to and including the possibility of a straight-taper cartridge -- .429"/.430" bullets (.444 Marlin plus 0.345" in length).
I already have a .35 Whelen and am not really interested in .338-06**; thus the .366" or larger bullet diameter.

The obvious choice is the original .400 Whelen (blown out to minimum taper with a sharp shoulder). But, I'm willing to play with other things, as well.
And the straight-taper cartridge isn't, necessarily, something that I want to mess with, since it would headspace on the case mouth and I'm not a fan of such things.

Common (or 'simple') options that fit the bill:
.338-06**
9.3-06
.375 Whelen
.400 Whelen
.411 Hawk
.444 Super Extra Mega Ultra, 17% more free!, Magnum
**There is a .338 WM that I've inherited, but not yet taken possession of, that will eventually be in my hands. So .338 caliber is definitely in my future. I'm just not sure that I can justify .338-06 with a .30-06 and .35 Whelen on hand.


So...

What might I not be thinking about that's within reason?
 
I think the original 30 Whelen is still the best option. But if I wanted something different the 9.3 appeals to me the most. I had 338-06 and 35 Whelen and didn't feel either offered me any advantages over a 30-06 loaded with heavy bullets. I eventually sold both.

I think the 35 Whelen could fill a niche if loaded with the heavier bullets, but almost no one does that. The 9.3 is typically loaded with 286 gr bullets and I think that is where it starts to show an advantage over 30 caliber.

I simply have never even looked at the 37 and 40 caliber options. So no opinion on those.
 
I feel the 338-06 is the best bore size for the 06 case. you can get 3000 fps with 185 gr,
2900 with 200 grain 2700 with 225 gr and 2600 with 250 grain. that is magnum like power
 
Why not the 375 Hawk/Scovill? Enough shoulder for good headspace, and lots of cast bullet molds available.

Although I am really intrigued by a "44 rimless super magnum" in a bolt action rifle :D

Jimro
 
I freely admit that .338-06 is a fine option.
But... I already have the .35 Whelen. Loaded to proper '06-class pressures, rather than the reduced pressure limits SAAMI adopted due to Remington's use of the cartridge in their autoloader, .35 Whelen is right there with .338-06. The only minor difference is that ballistic coefficients are lower for the .35 cal bullets, for any given weight.


.375 Hawk could be an option. I'm just not sure that it has enough of an edge over .35 Whelen to be justifiable.


Perhaps I should dig out some of my books and look for even more obscure/obsolete options for inspiration.
 
Oddly, I have a pre-WWI German 9.3x64 that is the exact metric equivalent of a 9.3-06. Some things come around 100 years later :)
 
.375 Hawk could be an option. I'm just not sure that it has enough of an edge over .35 Whelen to be justifiable.
Click to expand...

The only real advantage is that it meets the minimum caliber requirements for some countries in Africa. All of the medium bores between 33 and 40 cal based off the 06 case are essentially the same in terms of energy and terminal performance. Once you get to 40 cal you can start launching the 400 gr bullets, if that means anything to you, but you can't launch them fast enough to keep up with a 416 Taylor or Rigby.

The animals can't tell the difference, but the laws made back when the 375 H&H was the smallest reliable safari round for dangerous game (with some countries carving out an exception just for the 9.3x62), you get the "375 minimum" in those countries, even though the 318 Westley Richards (really a 33 caliber as the British used the land to land dimension...) did just fine, and the 338 Win Mag can launch a 300 gr pill every bit as fast as that old 375 H&H load that the law was written around...

Jimro
 
Since the first time I read about how "incredibly dangerous" the cartridge was, I've wanted a .400 Whelen (correct, original, blown-out version).

Perhaps it's finally time.

I think I've been avoiding the issue, by trying to find a way to talk myself out of it.

The .35 Whelen (RCBS/Remington version) only came first because it was the better compromise for performance and was substantially cheaper to build.
 
My good buddy has a .400 Whelen and he loves it, I've contemplated building one myself. He took it to Montana this last year to participate in a safari shoot, and it performed pretty well for him. Here is a rather lengthy thread on the .400 Whelen and my buddy who posts under Snellstrom has his rifle in there.
 
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I've made a decision:
.400 Whelen.

...I just need a rifle, now.


My .35 Whelen was built on an action that I'm not sure I trust. So... my in-work .270 Win build is going to get side-tracked and delayed by being converted to a new .35 Whelen build as a replacement (a new barrel must be ordered and worked over :rolleyes:).
 
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