Well took the 400PDK to the range yesterday to check velocities for the 400gr Hornady .410. For those that have not read the early posts on the 400PDK it is 2.65" 06 Cylinder brass with a .46 shoulder set about the same point as a Gibbs. Gross capacity is 86gr of water. The barrel is a 24" Douglas. My previous testing of 400s were unknown 416 bullets I had resized to .410 using a lee sizer.
I'll call the first bullet Bullet "A". The length of it was 1.29" the cannelure was such that I couldn't use it and fit in my 3.4" magazine. So I simply set the OAL to 3.38" with no crimp. I'll call the Hornady Bullet "B" it was 1.37" long and set in the cannelure it was 3.34" long with a firm crimp. Here are the results using IMR4895, Varget and RL15.
Powder "A" "B"
Grs
4895
60 **** 2188
61 **** 2210
62 **** 2238
63 2144 2292
64 2165 2315
65 2178 2351
66 2197 2371
67 2202 ****
68 2226 ****
69 2239 ****
**** **** ****
Varget **** ****
60 **** 1990
61 **** 2023
62 **** 2064
63 2201 2092
64 2229 2113
65 2251 2158
66 2265 2189
67 2278 ****
68 2295 ****
69 2316 ****
70 2321 ****
**** **** ****
RL15 **** ****
63 2165 2195
64 2194 2229
65 2210 2256
66 2229 2284
67 2253 2316
68 2268
69 2301
70 2312

Being shorter and with a longer OAL Bullet "A" max compression was around 105% The longer Bullet "B" and shorter OAL my max was 108%. I did do a trial and 68.5grs would have been 110% and the bullet stayed in place with no crimp. All case heads were mic'd before and after and there were no expansions measured or pressures signs on any load.

What I found interesting was with "A" Varget and RL15 gave the higher velocity. With Varget being just slightly higher gr for gr. Makes sense faster powder. Then looking at "B" Varget fell to the back of the pack. Since it is only a couple steps faster than 4895 that surprised me.

I was pleasently surprised that seating the longer bullet in the cannelure not pushing the OAL allowed smoother chambering and 2250-2300 with a 400gr using only 66-67grs of powder. Heck of a deal. Comparing to the 411Hawk they show only one post on their site for the 400gr at 2159 from a 26" barrel. Not a bad gain for a 14% greater case capacity.

Any thoughts on why Varget dropped out?

Other REAL interesting find was with some 210gr pistol bullets. For plinking I had loaded some pistol bullets in front of 4320. I know not the best but Loadtech said around 2400fps and I had several lbs I would have never used. The darn pistol bullets was only .713" and set in the cannelure the OAL was 2.96". So I had set some that way and some I left at 3.13" seeing if they would feed any different.
A total of 6 bullets in the cannelure ranged from 2247 to 2265FPS. I call that REAL darn close. However the ones with no crimp (a .410 pistol bullet in a neck set for .411) ranged from 1800 to 2180 with most being under 2000. I gather that there wasn't enough pressure generated by the small bullet and no crimp to get a consistant burn. Probably lucky I didn't have other issues.

Thoughts.

400@ 2,371
Holy $#!7
That is 416 Taylor/rem mag/ruger performance!

quote:

400@ 2,371
Holy $#!7

I'd say not bad for an 280 case but since it is 2.65" long I cheated a little. While I could measure no expansion and had no visual signs I'm going to monitor a couple cases for life.

"That is 416 Taylor/rem mag/ruger performance" Yep the velocity just seems to good to be true without excess pressure or I have one heck of a fast barrel.