I just got off the phone this morning with Hornady's engineer in charge the the 450-400 project. He will let me know when there is any ammo available to test. As might have seen on the advert. the 400 gr. bullet is set at 2050 fps. But both of use agree that with the 26" barrels I put on the 450-400 that 2100 fps is more the reality. Their figues were shot with 24" barrels. The reason for the 2050 fps was to keep the presure under the CIP presures. As I learn more I will keep all in the loop.

Butch,
thanks for the update. man i am really having a blast with my rifle!!!

As I posted on the string on the Big Bore Forum, I've been talking to them for months. The target market for this ammo is the existing guns , almost all of which were regulated with Cordite Kynoch, and they wanted it to regulate in as many guns as possible. Kynoch's standard velocity was 2,125 fps in a 30" barrel, roughly 2,050 fps in a 24", and Hornady's pressure guns are 24"...so 2,050 fps.

Coincidentally, yeah, back when I first spoke to them, they were making heavy weather finding a load that reached standard velocity in a 24" barrel at a comfortable margin below the CIP 40,610 PSI max average. They've ultimately been able to do so.

I was told that the solid will be a copper sheathed steel jacketed bullet, rather than the current design.
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"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

Can you tell me the bullet diameter of the Hornady load? My bores are 408. Thanks


Dutch

They did essentially the same thing Kynoch did after WWII. They're .410". After the war Kynoch seems to have felt the need to compromise, and loaded both .400s with .410" bullets. Hornady tested .410s in both .410" and .408" barrels. IIRC, they said the difference was around 600 PSI. The softs won't be a problem. For my .408 gun, I'll probably run the steel solids through a reducing die before loading.
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"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

Thanks 400,
I have original loaded Kynoch SP's and I would like to shoot these if deemed safe. I have two unopened boxes of Kynoch sp's projectiles that I would like to utilize with 71.5 grains of Reloader 15 and Federal 215 magnum primers. I opened one box and they mike out to be .4105 and 400 grains weight. I have a couple of hundred new Kynoch brass and appropriate Berdan primers I will load. I seem to remember that someone spoke of case separation with Kynoch brass after approximately 2-3 loadings.


Dutch

New DRSS member