.400 Corbon at the range

[gun toting monkeyboy]

Hee hee hee. I finally had a chance to take my RIA 1911 out to the range again. I had converted it to .400 about a year ago, and played with it a few times, but I haven't had time to reload much for it, so it sat in the safe. Last night I was reloading for my .44 Special, and figured while I was sitting there, I would look and see what charge of Unique I needed for the .400. Lo and behold, the load data for the 165 grain bullets is about the same as I was throwing for the .44. The primed brass was sitting there, and so were the bullets. And since the wife had said I could do some reloading, but when I was done, I would have to come in and clean...

I got it out to the range, and loaded it up. Danged if it wasn't shooting point of aim at 15 yards. And the recoil, while a bit snappy, was still less than the regular .45 ACP loads. The groups off hand, with the itty-bitty milspec sights were running between 2.5-3.5". Double taps were easier than with a .45. Closer to what you would be able to do with a 9mm +P, or a .40 S&W. I took the target out to 25 yards, and the groups didn't get any bigger, so I am assuming that the grouping is more me than any problem with the gun. That is usually the case, as just about every gun seems to be more accurate than I am. Finally, after going through most of the ammo, I put some old clay birds out on the berm at the end of the range about 75 yards away. I'd love to say that I was smashing them regularly, but, well, that would be dishonest. I was hitting them 1-2 times per 8 round magazine, but all of the shots were hitting within a foot of whichever bird I was shooting at. Again, not too shabby for those sights, or my ability (or lack thereof). Again, it was shooting at the point of aim. My guess is that that was just a happy accident, and trajectory at 15 yards and 75 yards just happen to fall on the same sight plane. Maybe I'll test that next time I head to the range. But before I can do that, I'll have to reload some more ammo. Hopefully it doesn't take me a whole year to get around to it again...

-Mb

[savasyn]

Years ago I bought a box of Corbon brand .400 Corbon rounds expecting to get a barrel for my Sig 220, but I never did. These days, it sounds like you'd have to be a reloader to take advantage as you are.

Seems like a cool caliber, even if it doesn't have a following.

[gun toting monkeyboy]

It seems to have a small following, but nothing like many of the other weird calibers. Nor do the people that shoot it seem anywhere near as fanatical as the 10mm crowd. Those people are scary. And you NEVER tell them that you shoot .400 Corbon. They start frothing at the mouth and speaking in tongues when you do that. Something about yet another round taking away from the glory of their One True Cartridge.

As for reloading, that is the only reason I went with the .400. I can get .45 ACP brass by the pound. One trip through the sizing die as I decap it to clean it, and POOF! Usable .400 corbon brass that I don't worry about losing. No more chasing after it and trying to sort out of the spent cases on the ground like I do with my .30 mauser or 9mm Largo. Add the cheap Rainier JHPs, and I have something that is way cheaper to play with than most of my other toys. And has enough ooomph to go after hogs in Texas, which is what I got it for in the first place.

-Mb

[Knight]

From the little research I've done on the .400, it actually seems to have a lot of advantages over the 10mm, including lower operating pressures and the necked cartridge case (someone confirm this for me). It really is too bad that it doesn't have a bigger following, otherwise I would give it more serious consideration.

[gun toting monkeyboy]

Yep. That is pretty much .400 corbon. The necked cartridge makes feeding problems a thing of the past. I have always been a big fan of necked pistol cartridges for that very reason. And you can use it in an unmodified 1911 frame without having to worry about the frame cracking after a couple of hundred rounds. You can hotrod the 10mm a bit more, especially with the heavier rounds. But for me, it cost less than $100 for the barrel, new spring, and reloading dies. So basically I have a nifty high performance 1911 platform set up for a fraction of the cost of a new 10mm, and can switch it back to a stock .45 ACP in about a minute and a half.

-Mb

[Mac Attack]

As for reloading, that is the only reason I went with the .400. I can get .45 ACP brass by the pound. One trip through the sizing die as I decap it to clean it, and POOF! Usable .400 corbon brass that I don't worry about losing.
-Mb

Is that true that you can use .45 brass to make .400 corbon? I purchased one of my 1911 from an guy I knew on another on another forum. He had a .400 corbon barrel fit to the gun and it was part of the deal. I never shot the .400 because I could never find rounds. I have buckets of .45 brass at home and would love to load some .400 rounds. Do I only need a set of .400 corbon dies to neck the brass or do I need a special tool?

[sammy]

Is that true that you can use .45 brass to make .400 corbon? I purchased one of my 1911 from an guy I knew on another on another forum. He had a .400 corbon barrel fit to the gun and it was part of the deal. I never shot the .400 because I could never find rounds. I have buckets of .45 brass at home and would love to load some .400 rounds. Do I only need a set of .400 corbon dies to neck the brass or do I need a special tool?

http://www.dillonprecision.com/content/p/9/pid/25435/catid/4/400_CorBon_taper_crimp_die

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=785389&t=11082005

[gun toting monkeyboy]

All you need is the regular set of reloading dies. I trim all the .45 brass to the standard .45 ACP length before I size them. Then I run them through the sizing die, tumble them, and load them up. The newer .400 Corbon brass uses a small primer instead of a large one. But the regular large primer .45 ACP brass still works just fine. It is one of the easiest conversions ever. Trust me, I do some pretty weird ones. There is some good reloading data out there from reliable sources. It is hot, but well within the 1911 range. Don't try to go too much above that though, as the standard 1911 won't take it long term. And most 1911 barrels have an unsupported part of the chamber, and you can bulge your brass or blow it out if you try to hot rod it and don't know what you are doing.

-Mb

[Mac Attack]

I have never seen a .400 corbon round but I would suspect that there would be some bottle neck sizing required for a .45 case. When you stated I could use standard dies, do you mean .45 dies or .400 dies?

[gun toting monkeyboy]

You get a set of .400 corbon dies. Put the .400 sizing die in the press. Run a .45 ACP case through it, and it becomes a .400 corbon case. That is all there is to it. One step. No other forming dies, trim dies, swadging dies or other arcane tools needed. Yo load it up the same as any other bottle-necked round. Be sure that you put a good crimp on the bullet, or get a crimping die that does it. And don't forget to lube the cases like you would with any other bottle-necked round. Go check out the wikipedia entry on it to get information and links to articles and vendors.

-Mb

[railroader]

I use to shoot matches with a guy that shot 400 corbon out of his glock 21. He made his brass out of 45acp too. Doesn't actual 400 corbon brass have thicker walls at the base than 45acp so you have to watch that you don't go to hot on your loads? Mark

[CD MCKINNEY]

I am a fan [not fanatical] of the 10MM, and it is a great round that I use for concealed carry in my Dan Wesson [pre-CZ] PM10-S stainless, 5" 1911. I have given thought to converting one of my .45 1911's to .400 as you have the same slide specifications [as the .45], and [besides the barrel] all I would need to do is boost my recoil spring to 20#, mainspring to 28# and add a EGW flat firing pin stop plate so everything is tuned and smooth. I believe it would be wise to use .45 Super brass to modify to .400 though, as a standard [or even] .45 +P case is not thick enough to handle the pressure of [full power] .400, and certainly would not be good to reload.

[gun toting monkeyboy]

Again, that is going over the original specs for .400 corbon. In a 1911, with the unsupported area in the chamber, it isn't worth loading them hot enough to get the max loads. You are relying on a thin piece of brass to contain the additional pressure. That is never a good idea. In a Glock, or a gun with a fully enclosed chamber, I can see using the thicker brass and the small primer. But right now in my 1911, I am getting a calculated 1150-1200 fps with a 165 grain JHP. I can live with that. Especially with lower recoil than .45 hardball. And the added reliability feeding. Besides, if I went with .400 corbon brass of stuff made from .45 mag or cut down from .30-06 basic, I would be MUCH more obsessive about finding the empties. With the cheap stuff mad from .45 ACP, I can just pick up the obvious cases, and walk away from the rest without feeling guilty.

-Mb

[CD MCKINNEY]

I can see your point, but I get 1350/695 performance with Double Tap 180 gr Gold Dot JHP's with .45 +P recoil in my 5" Dan Wesson 10MM; so I would not waste my time or money converting a .45 to .400 unless I were going to get maximum power. I can buy 1150/580 10MM 180 gr JHP's in bulk cheap if I wanted low power.

[gun toting monkeyboy]

I wouldn't bother either if I had a 10mm. You can get more out of it than you can with the limitations of .400 Corbon on a 1911 platform. But for those of us who don't have 10mms already, and want nearly that level of performance in a 1911 or other .45 ACP that we already own, it is a good choice. Besides, it has that added "cool factor" of being an unusual cartridge with a really neat shape. Short, stubby bottle neck pistol cartridges just look cooler.

-Mb