Does anyone have the ballistics of the old 360 NE 2 1/4" load (bullet wt/velocity)??? Thanks...Biebs

Which load? BPE, NfB, two loadings of NE?
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"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

Nitro, it was built in the 1920s, so smokeless. I can't seem to find the info anywhere, and didn't want to bother Dave Powell again!

Kynoch's 1926 catalog shows:

30 cordite 300 gr bullet

1650 fps and 1820 ME at the muzzle.

470 Evans, Thanks...now applying the 119% Cordite to smokeless, give or take, would dictate about 36 gr of Rel 15 or 19. Maybe drop to 32 gr to start. Thanks!

Biebs,

In my 400/360 Evans 2 3/4", which was a 40 cordite 300 gr bullet at 1950, I use 57.5 grs of IMR 4350 or 49.0 grs of IMR 4064 with a 286 gr bullet for 2050 which regulates great.

What rifle do you have and what bullet weight and charge was the gun prooved for?

470, I don't own the gun yet...just researching to see if I can make a useful hunting double out of this great old rifle. I'm waiting for an email on the proof load. Sounds like you've made a good hunter out of your 400/360. I love the idea of getting the classic old rifles back "out there"....Biebs

Beibs

Several of the DRSS guys have 400/360 double rifles.

While not quite the "powerhouse of the 9,3x74R....

I have seen a few of the DRSS guys shoot wild pigs with excellent results.

It IS one of the best under 40 calibre cartridges avialable in an original British double.

It KILLS WAY BEYOND what its paper ballistics would suggest.

I would not hesitate to hunt such game as, BIG wild pigs, black bear, elk or even moose at distances under 150 yards.

Tony, thanks. My concern is that this one is based on the 2 1/4 load, not the 2 3/4 load of the 400/360, so it may be too weak to be of any use but for maybe Whitetails at close range. I'd be ecstatic if it got the ballistics that 470 Evans is getting with his 400/360, but I don't think that's "to be" with this rifle. Think I'll pass.

:-(

Biebs,

There are two nice 400/360s available today. One is at Cabelas and one is at Mike Schwandt's.

I used to own the one at Cabelas and it's the most accurate double I ever owned.

Eley Brothers listed a 40 Cordite load with a 300 grain bullet for the 2 1/4" case. I've never seen pressure or velocity data for it, but it must have been stout. I've never seen a rifle for it either.

Unless one wants a medium that "bridges" into dangerous game, the 9.3X74R really offers no advantage over the .400/.350 and .400/.360 in a double rifle. Even then, though I'd not choose it for such, ivory hunter Frank Melland used a pair of .350s after having started with a .450 and a .350. He traded off the .450 saying that he had found the .350 did everything that the .450 did, and supplying two different calibers wasn't worth the trouble. The .400/.350 and the .400/.360 Purdey are identical save 10 grains bullet weight and .008" diameter. The cases ARE identical. Both are wonderful cartridges, cheap and easy to load for.

I bought mine with the intent of rechambering to 9.3, but went ahead and bought dies and worked up a load. It turned out to shoot like a sniper rifle, and a bear hunt soon came up. After that hunt with it, I dismissed the rechambering idea entirely, and am glad that I did. These rifles are addicting. 470Evans shot mine, and then bought one for himself two months later...and then bought another. Another poster here, CFA, used it on the same hunt and also bought one at the same time Evans did. I don't think I've ever had anyone handle and shoot it that didn't love it.
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"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

Guys, thanks. I'll check out a few sources. Sounds like a cool caliber. I need to get some rifles whose caliber doesn't start with a 5, 6, or 7 !!!!!!

Biebs:

My small collection of catalog reprints includes 4 British: Kynoch 1902-3, Eley 1910-11, Nobel (Kynoch) 1925, and ICI (Kynoch) 1955. The smokeless version of the .360-2¼" was originally listed as the .360 Express Cordite, subsequently as the .360 Nitro-Express. All 4 catalogs list loads comprising a 300 gr metal jacketed bullet over 30 gr of Cordite, for 1650 fps at 60°F. The 1902 Kynoch data was based on a 30" barrel, and claimed a pressure of 12 tons/sq.in. The other catalogs list the pressure as 14.0 tons/sq.in. The Eley data was based on a 28" barrel, the ICI on a 29" barrel. No barrel length was indicated in the Nobel data.

The 1902 Kynoch catalog also listed a 250 gr bullet over 25 gr Cordite for 1700 fps, with a pressure of 9 tons/sq.in.

Hope this helps.

Cheers, Al

Al, Having those old references is pretty cool! I think I'll just move one of my 375 doubles and replace it with a 450/400 for a light double.