I was looking at a drawing of the 400 H&H and the neck appears to be about .7" long. If so that would be good for cast and paper patch bullets.

I think it uses 41 or 411 bullets so some nice loads could be made with 41 pistol bullets.

It would appear to be a better big bore for playing around than the 416 Remington.

Mike

Mike,

The neck is quite long. John Ricks has made some dies and is forming cases: he says the neck is over 5/8".

A-Square's .400 Pondoro was also a pistol bullet shooter, here 10 mm bullets vice the .41 Mag bullets you could shoot in the H&H.

You can always have moulds made for casting bullets, but it is really nice when standard stock items work. Besides, forty is enough gun in rifles and pistols.

jim dodd

Facinating, I thought I was the only one who thought about those things.

HunterJim, are there any heavy bullets out there for the .400 Pondoro? One could afford special stuff if most of the shooting was done with pistol bullets loaded to match trajectory at given ranges.

I've been pondering the same thing in .452.

Jim,

The drawing in your article puts the neck at .68"

I have often thought of having a die made that would force the shoulder of a 375 H&H back for use with cast or paper patch in the field. Being belted headspacde would be not be an issue but alas, H&H has done the job and with a chamber to match.

The problem with the Jeffery is that rimless cases increase headspace each time a very reduced load is fired and then of course there is the bullet diamter.

Having said that I find it hard to buy H&H's claims on pressure for 400 H&H Vs 416 Remington. H&H I think is claiming 2350 with 400 grains and that is only 50 f/s less than the 416 Remington which gains a few feet per second from the bigger bore and of course is a bigger case.

Mike

Mike may have found the 1 reason a 400 H&H is different from a 416 Rem. I think all the writers are afraid to say that the Kings not wearing any clothes! The 400 H&H SOLE REASON FOR EXISTENCE is so Holland does not have to stamp Remington on their rifles. It's just a matter of having a proprietary 40 cal. Am I not the only one who see's this?

No Kevin your not the only one, I agree, but by the same token I ALWAYS welcome a new cartridge on the block.....gives me something to play with, other than that I see little use for it...

I use my big bores for big bore animals and shooting lead bullets made for pistols isn't my thing, but I respect others opinnions on such things and a point has been made thats valid to some and not to others...I hope H&H isn't relying on cast bullet shooters for sales.....

It is a super neat cartridge for its intended use, but the sad thing is it will go nowhere in the end...

Holland would have sold bucoo more rifles in standard big bore calibers, but Holland and Holland could never be so mundane as to put sales over their entrenched British cockamamy arrogance...I have been in their shop.

Mike,

I'd thought the 400 H&H was rather silly, though I can understand Holland and Hollands desire to have a cartridge with their own name on it, as it will appeal to their clientel.

Having shot cast bullet reduced loads in my 350 Rigby, I understand the appeal of such loads. I also know of the shoulder setback problem, which isn't an issue with the 45 deg Rigby shoulder.

Hmm, I just might have to build a 400 if the dies become available at reasonable prices. I would like a 40 cal cast bullet shooter, and the 416 doesn't have any advantage over the 400 in those regards.

Brent,

I think have seen your web page. Is that one with the 45/100 as the calibre?

I was thinking mainly of cast and not having gas check and grooves below the neck but would have though also that paper patch would have been better with the longer neck.

Mike

Paul and Ray,

I think the 400 H&H will go quite well and for two reasons.

Obviously it is a natural for anyone getting a bigger bore rifle from H&H, especially in the smaller bore is a 300 H&H

It is also a natural for anyone wanting a 40 who has a custom or semi custom 375 H&H.

Where it beats the 350 Rigby and 404 Jeffery hands down is in the brass

Mike

Mike,

Yeah, I've been forming 350 Rigby brass from 375 H&H, and it is an time consuming, unpleasant task, especially when I don't get the necks set back enough, or the necks seperate at the shoulder. It is way too much work to form the brass to loose cases, but it beats paying $3 a case for Bertram brass. If I could just get Hornbear brass, I wouldn't mind paying $1-1.50 a case.

The 400 H&H is looking like a mighty fine round!

Bon voyage to the new Titanic, the 400 H&H ship of fools. It's pulling away from the dock without me. No such jovial and luxurious companionship for me as these bons vivants on board. Ditto the 465 H&H.
Cheers!

PS: The French is for fools from H&H. I figured they would understand that.

[ 05-28-2003, 04:56: Message edited by: DagaRon ]

Hmmm! When all is said and done, I'll probably acquire one just for the collection. Think I may go with a CZ bolt action to start with and go from there. Might be fun to play with for big animals in the Western Hemisphere, too. RKBA!

[ 05-28-2003, 05:34: Message edited by: JOE MACK ]

I am still amazed by the vituperation that the .400 H&H has generated when it is not even widely available. Now that is power!

jim

Mike, the .45-100 paper patch webpage is indeed mine. I think a paper patch would really work well in a 400 and it would leave you with no leading, while shooting pure lead if you wish. There are some advantages to pure lead over hard lead. Namely, that it does not shatter.

If you get a copy of Paul Matthews' book "The Paper Jacket" you will have the best source of information for shooting paper patches and smokeless.

You would definitely want to plan on bullets that are the same size, when patched, as a metal jacketed bullet however. No bore sized bullets such as I use. The smokeless I presume you will be using won't bump the lead up sufficiently, so start at groove diameter +0.001 or 0.002".

I imagine your .400 H&H will shoot bp just fine, though getting it to regulate would be pretty difficult I suppose.

I don't suppose anyone around this board actually shoots and hunts the old bp doubles with bp anymore do they?

Brent