Reloading the 400 Cor Bon

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The Bushmaster

The Bushmaster

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A friend of mine just picked up a 1911 US Army .45 Colt Low serial number in excellent condition that has the barrel changed to 400 Cor Bon. Do we have any information on reloading this cartridge? Also the avalibility of components such as cases and where to purchase. By The Way...He "stole" it from a little ol' lady getting rid of her deceased husbands firearms for $350. Shows less wear then my Series 80...:cuss: Again. Where was I.:banghead:
 
Haven't checked lately, but I believe Cor-Bon has .400 Cor-Bon reloading data on their website. I use AA#7, exclusively, for .400 Cor-Bon reloading. You can either buy .400 Cor-Bon brass from Starline or form .400 Cor-Bon brass by running .45ACP +p brass through your .400 Cor-Bon sizing die.

Cor-Bon recommends roll-crimping into a cannelure for .400 Cor-Bon reloading, which involves canneluring the bullets. That's more trouble than a lot of people will go to, but is a hedge against bullet setback.. There isn't enough bearing surface on the neck to provide adequate neck tension, relative to a "standard" .45ACP or other straightwall case.

My favorite bullet weights for .400 Cor-Bon are around 150-165gr.
 
Forming .400 Cor-Bon is easy. Just remember to lube the cases before sizing and I've found that Winchester brass is the heaviest, with Federal next. The heavier brass makes better .400 Cor-Bon brass. I don't care for the newer brass from Starline with the small pistol primer pockets. I've had to use small rifle primers to keep them from flowing with warmer loads.

The Lyman manual, Accurate Manual and the Cor-Bon website have loading data.

I also like bullets in the 150 to 165 grain range.

Hope this helps.

Fred

PS: I'll give him $400 for the gun................
 
I've got a 400 cor-bon barrel that pretty much just gathers dust in my closet. If it were me, I'd buy a .45acp barrel and a 16# recoil spring and put that 1911 back the way it was made. Not much sense in battering a classic 1911 with the hot stuff. No problem finding reloading data for 45acp.....

Is it a 1911 or a 1911a1?

Oh yeah, to answer your question. I've read that you can use start loads for 10mm in reloading for 400 cor-bon. When I compared these to the data supplied by cor-bon they seemed conservative.
 
I have a coupla thousand pieces of .400 Cor-Bon brass, most of which I formed. I don't have any with small priimer pockets.
 
I've got both Cor-Bon headstamped brass and Starline brass in .400 Cor-Bon with small pistol primers. I don't care for it, especially with loads for the 135 grain JHP's, which seem to generate higher pressures with the recommended loads than the 165's. I have best luck with brass formed from new or once fired Winchester .45 brass.

Hope this helps.

Fred
 
Thanks people...My friend has decided, because of you, that he will load at the low end 400 Cor Bon and locate a .45 ACP barrel. Plus, at my urging, to install a buffer pad also...:) :) :)

By The Way...When I said above it had a low serial number. I was talkin' #330,XXX...Definitely manufactured before 1926...
 
Fred...You still haven't reached the amount that I offered and was turned down...But thanks anyway...I think:D . He's very much going to keep it...

By The Way...I grew up in Coos Bay...Brother is still there.
 
Mike,

Yep, that's just 60 miles south of us. I retired from Kern County and only go back to see the kids about once a year, usually when it's so hot even the birds don't fly.........

Fred
 
I have found no problems using either the Starlight brass with the small primers or necking down .45 brass. But one trick I was taught was when necking down .45 brass, use a carbide .45 sizer/deprimer to size it, then run it through the .400 Cor-Bon die to neck it down. By doing this you don't need to use case lube. Of course when reloading fired ones, case lube is a must.
 
Thanks Gandog56...A bit late, but appreciated anyway. My friend has reformed some .45 ACP cases and fired them and reloaded them,etc, etc. Pretty much the same way you have described with excellent results. Thanks.:)
 
400 Cor-Bon

I have loaded the 400 Cor-Bon and find no difference in formed ACP brass or the Starline w/small primer. The Starline will spit at the neck quicker. As for loading, bullets with a copper jacket are too hard to get a good roll crimp. Nobody I know makes a 10mm bullet w/cannelure. Cor-Bon does that step themselves. I don't think getting the equipment to cannelure and going thru the trouble of doing it is worthwhile. The other choice is to us plated bullets (Rainier, Berry's) and use loads about 10% lighter than jacketed bullets. They are soft enough to allow for a good crimp. No FTF with them.

Sierra also has loading data on the 400, almost idenical to the 10mm. Either way, it is fun to shoot. Other than the barrel, I made no change to my Kimber. It was a drop in and at $50, a bargin too. If you want it for hunting or personal defense, better keep some factory Cor-Bon around. :)
 
I just use a Lee .400 crimping die and don't worry about a cannelure. But I did find much better cycling by using round nose 155 grain bullets. They're hard to find. The only source I have found is Berry's Mfg., and they have a backlog on them now. Any body else know where I can find a 155-165 grain jacketed or plated 40 cal. round nose?
 
By The Way...He "stole" it from a little ol' lady getting rid of her deceased husbands firearms for $350.
Click to expand...
While "stole" might or might not be the appropriate term.
Deplorable conduct most certainly is.

And gloating about it definitely takes a lower path.
 
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