Author Topic: .400 corbon convertion  (Read 542 times)

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Offline benjaminw7528

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.400 corbon convertion
« on: May 08, 2007, 11:05:59 PM »
 I've been thinking about converting my springfield to 400 corbon what recoil spring should I use any info would be a help

Offline Savage

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Re: .400 corbon convertion
« Reply #1 on: May 09, 2007, 01:13:16 AM »
Get the Wolff Gunsprings Calibration set. Start with the heaviest spring in the set. (22-24#). Shoot the gun and try progressively lighter springs until you get clean/consistant ejection of the fired cases about 6-8' from the gun. That's the proper spring for your gun/load. Be sure and install the extra power firing pin spring that comes with the spring set. The .400 produces velocites at the low end of the 10mm range. Lots of fun to shoot, but the cost of ammo smarts a bit! I have a conversion barrel for a Sig 220, that I haven't shot a lot due to the cost of ammo. Haven't gotten around to reloading for it yet either. I have includud a picture, just for the hey of it.
Savage



Left to right: .40S&W, 10MM, .400 Corbon, .45ACP.
An appeaser is one who feeds the crocodile hoping it will eat him last,

Offline Mikey

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Re: .400 corbon convertion
« Reply #2 on: May 09, 2007, 02:08:33 AM »
A 22lb recoil spring should work well for the 400 corbon but as Savage sez, the cost of ammo is pricey, very pricey and I don't think it is worth it.  Just for the hay of it please take a look at the lineup of Starline brass - I think they have another necked down 40 caliber casing available (necked down from 45 acp) and barrels should be available from one of the barrel makers like Bar-Sto. 

The corbon round is an off-shoot of the old 38-45 that was developed for mid-range wadcutter loads for the Army target 45s used in centerfire matches.  One past gunwriter named Dean Grennel tried hotloading the 38-45 for better velocity and performance but it didn't go well as that necked down design with such a long neck and short fat case capacity kept blowing cases.  Bob Loveless, a knife maker from Ca. advocated for a shorter necked design but grennel felt it was too high pressure and recommended his own concept to Peter Pi of corbon.  The corbon load was a direct offshoot of the 38-45 endeavour but uses lighterweight bullets to get the higher velocites.  Some of the other necked down 45 designs do much better and do it with heavier bullets.  Maybe Starline can provide pictures or schematics of these other case designs. 

If you would like to shoot heavier slugs - up to 200 gn - from a 40 bore, you can look to some of the other necked down cases or go with the 10mm - it's a dang good cartridge.  JMHO.  Mikey.

Offline v-man

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Re: .400 corbon convertion
« Reply #3 on: May 15, 2007, 12:47:27 AM »
I'll put in my .02. I love my 1911 conversion. Yes the ammo is pricey but my real frustration is in reloading. No matter what I do I cannot get a crimp to hold the bullets tightly enough. even with the special crimping tool I bought from Lee, Inc. no luck. One time in and out of the chamber and the slug is recessed deeply. None of the powder charges I hav found fill the case enough to help.
As a result, I use reloads only at the range and factory loads for carry. It is a great round.

Offline Mikey

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Re: .400 corbon convertion
« Reply #4 on: May 15, 2007, 02:17:08 AM »
v-man:  If you have a quality machine shop nearby take your expanding ball and have them reduce it by 1/1000th which should allow you to seat your slugs without having them go too far into the case.  This will not add a crimp capability to your dies but just provide a tighter brass to bullet fit.  Hopefully, with the bottleneck design it should allow your loaded cartridge to cycle without driving the bullet deeper into the case. 

Also, if you load cast slugs you may find them a tight fit if you go 1/1000th overbore on your cast slugs.  HTH.  Mikey.