.400 Whelen
The.400 Whelen cartridge was developed by Colonel Townsend Whelen while he was commanding officer of Frankford Arsenal in the early 1920s. The cartridge resembles a.30-06 Springfield case necked up to.40 caliber to accept bullets manufactured for the.405 Winchester.
.400 Whelen
Robert C. Wolf · This file was derived from: 400 Whelen and 30-06 Cartridges.jpg · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Name
- .400 Whelen
- Field
- rifle cartridge · cartridge
- Region
- United States
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Documentary summary
The.400 Whelen cartridge was developed by Colonel Townsend Whelen while he was commanding officer of Frankford Arsenal in the early 1920s. The cartridge resembles a.30-06 Springfield case necked up to.40 caliber to accept bullets manufactured for the.405 Winchester.
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wikipedia · .400 Whelen
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name —.400 Whelen • Origin — United States • Type — Rifle • Designer — Townsend Whelen • Design Date — early 1920s • Parent —.30-06 Springfield • Bw1 — 300 • Btype1 — SP • Vel1 — 2300 • En1 — 3522 • Bw2 — 350 • Vel2 — 2100 • En2 — 3430 • Balsrc — 350gr - Barnes
Design
Design
Colonel Whelen asserted the very small remaining portion of the.30-06's 17° 30 angled shoulder was likely to cause potentially dangerous headspace difficulties. The headspace issue has been widely discussed. Frankford Arsenal machine shop foreman James Howe necked down cylindrical brass available in the arsenal manufacturing process to form cartridges with a.458 in shoulder to fit the chamber of his rifles. Experimenters had less success forming cartridges by enlarging the necks of.30-06 cartridges with.441 in (or smaller) shoulders, but could form brass from.35 Whelen cases. Quality Cartridge has manufactured unformed, cylindrical empty brass cases headstamped for this cartridge.
Performance
Performance
Griffin & Howe chambered custom-built rifles for this cartridge; and using neck resizing with cases carefully fire formed to the chamber in which the loaded cartridges were to be used, these rifles were reportedly very effective for killing elk, moose, and bear at ranges up to 400 yard.
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- United States
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.McPherson, M.L. Cartridges of the World. 0-87349-178-5.
- 2.The Handloader's Manual of Cartridge Conversions. 978-0-88317-269-8.
- 3.Sharpe, Philip B. Complete Guide To Handloading (1953) Funk & Wagnalls pp.206&398
- 4.Smashing the Headspace Myth.
- 5.Designing and Forming Custom Cartridges. 0-9643623-0-9.
- 6.Catalog.
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2- cartridgeTerminology
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- rifle cartridgeTerminology
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Militaria
6,095 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- .400 H&H MagnumTerminology
- .400 Jeffery Nitro ExpressTerminology
- .400 LegendTerminology
- .400 PurdeyTerminology
- .400/360 Nitro ExpressTerminology
- .401 Winchester Self-LoadingTerminology
- .402 EnfieldTerminology
- .404 JefferyTerminology
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