Thought I might as well post what info I have to offer on the 450/400NE 3" with cast bullets, seems to be a scattered and time consuming process for anyone considering one. It's a fun cartridge to play with, been a bit of a learning curve for me in a new direction.
The factory Hornady rds avg 2037fps in my gun. Recoil is a bit stiff with the Ruger pad, so I put on a Limbsaver. Big improvement. Can actually shoot comfortably off the bench with factory rds now.
Went thru 40 rds of cast stuff yesterday, no problem.
Acquired a 320WFNGC and a 400LFNGC from LBT, both set to use Gator 416 gaschecks.
Both cast at .4125 to.413 with the wheelweight blend I have, come out about 12bhn, water quenched right out of the mould. Lubed them wth LBT soft blue, sized the bands to .412, the nose to .410. Had to do the noses to get them to chamber using the crimp groove. Had some trouble with material springback. Will get a .409 sizer to try to cure that issue altogether with the noses.
This gun has a tight and short throat. Noses have to be .410 back to the crimpgroove to chamber.
Got data from Western Powder for AA5744, they supplied data for 300, 350 and 400gr cast.
I ran 45 to 48gr w/CI250 and the 320gr to start with, 1975 to 2060fps, no pressure problems. Had to semi breechseat a few of them. That was where I found out about the springback issue on the noses. Shot pretty nicely, was impressed.
Loaded up some more at 48-52gr AA5744 and the 320gr, forgot the chrono screens, no pressure signs or leading, ended up about 6" high left of 48gr loads though. Still shot passable groups.
All of that was done at 60-70degF.
Had 4 duds with the CCI, appeared to be the primers, so switched to the F215, loaded more 320's with 48gr load of AA5744, and some 400's with 42-46gr AA5744.
Seated them all to where a .411 nose had to be in order to chamber, which is the space of one lube groove above the crimp groove, just lightly crimped them.
Didn't have any semi breechseaters in the bunch, but, will get a .409 sizer to try to eliminate the springback issue and using the crimp groove, will try a .409/412 or 409/411 expander to see how they work uncrimped also.
320's got 2041avg over 10 rds with Sd15 and shot OK for the purpose of hunting at 100yds, was shooting in 30-40kph gusts at maybe 40degF.
400's went 1711 to 1885fps, 46gr load was 1864 to 1885fps. I made some bad shots when I went 100, could be because a guy with a braked Lapua set up beside me. That was nasty in the blast dept.
So, I now have a hunting load with the 320, and a possible load with the 400, although I'd like it up to the 2000 mark also. Do notice the recoil difference from the 320 to the 400 though.
