.40-.308 Win??

[Piper106]

Is there such a thing as an 'established' wildcat that would be (more or less) a .308 Winchester necked up to take .40 S&W / 10 mm auto pistol bullets???

If there is, please give info on the gunshop or tool company that would have the chamber reamers / headspace gauges.

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I was thinking this would be kind of fun as a plinker or short range woods rifle cartridge. Jacketed and 0.401 diameter cast pistol bullets are common and reasonably inexpensive. 30-06/308 Win head size brass is everywhere. Should be enough of a shoulder on the case to headspace.

Piper106

 

[HorseSoldier]

Never heard of it if there is.

 

[natman]

Seems like it would be a lot easier and cheaper to get a 358 Winchester and use 357 mag bullets.

 

[Jubjub]

The .400 Whelen was developed in the '20s, a .30-06 case necked up to take .411 bullets as used in the .405 Winchester. It wasn't what you would call successful. There isn't enough shoulder left to headspace properly. .375 is the biggest bullet that works with the 30-06/.308 case family. You could probably go to .40 caliber with a WSM case.

 

[dirtyjim]

The .400 Whelen was developed in the '20s, a .30-06 case necked up to take .411 bullets as used in the .405 Winchester. It wasn't what you would call successful. There isn't enough shoulder left to headspace properly. .375 is the biggest bullet that works with the 30-06/.308 case family. You could probably go to .40 caliber with a WSM case

the original 400 whelen used 30-06 basic brass and had no problems headspacing.
the people who had problems didn't know the 400 whelen has no body taper and cut the chamber with a 30-06 reamer with a .400 pilot then used a .400 neck & throat reamer to finish it or they had the reamer ground with the same body taper & shoulder angle as a 30-06.

if you use -06 or 308 basic brass & have the reamer ground accordingly you will not have any problems.
call dave at ptg & he will grind the reamer for around $140

 

[CraigC]

No, the bullets wouldn't survive the pressure and velocity. The biggest .40 wildcat I know of using pistol bullets is the .40-454JDJ and .40-44Woodswalker, from necked-down .454 and .44Mag cases respectively. I'm running 10mm/.40S&W bullets out of a .38-40 rifle and having trouble with overexpansion. Even the heaviest jacketed bullets don't need to be run over 1500-1600fps.

There is also the .411Hawk and .416-06JDJ based on the .30-06 case but both use expensive .405WCF and .416 rifle bullets, which is not what you asked for.