Need .401 Wsl Load Data

[Jim Tarleton]

Wow! Nice work, Ray. Did you do the machining yourself? Reason I ask is I would like to know how you made the conical buttons. A tool post grinder?

Great work, my friend. I admire people who can sit down and get a job done and done right. Well thought out and darned well executed!

Semper Fi,

Jim

Information

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[RayP.]

Wow! Nice work, Ray. Did you do the machining yourself? Reason I ask is I would like to know how you made the conical buttons. A tool post grinder?

Great work, my friend. I admire people who can sit down and get a job done and done right. Well thought out and darned well executed!

Semper Fi,

Jim

I have an old Atlas 6x24 belt driven lathe(probably 30's vintage)ground some lathe bits for the diff. size shapes,finshed off with emery cloth and polished with crocus cloth.For a note on making cases that require cutting an extractor groove and reducing rim diam. such as 38spl to 35WSL,I took a piece of flat bearing race and ground it to shape that makes boths cuts at same time,I started doing things like this when I was a kid during WWll,9m/m ammo was hard to get,I made cases out of 38spl. cases.(wish my old pc would have had a spell checker,never knew I had so many typos).

RayP.

[wax push ya]

.401 Winchester SL

Ammunition for this elderly round is getting very difficult to find. It is one of those odd cartridges that you cannot reform from another cartridge until recently. Consequently you find old ammunition for $50.00 to $65.00 per box of 20 and are tickled to death when you find it.

Follow these instructions for ammunition.

Contact C&H tool and Die and tell them I sent you (Waxpushya) which means the legendary one LOL

Shell out about $170.00 for their kit which includes dies for the 401 and expander dies for the cases you will use and a bullet swaging die.

Go 2 Midway and get yourself 200 new cases for 7.62x39 (I prefer the Winchesters)

Order some .410 bullets Semi Jacketed 200 grain bullets with a canalurel (I prefer Speer)
I am assuming you have a RCBS Rockchucker or similar compound press (You either buy one first or buy one last)
Using the bullet swage die, swage all of your bullets down to .405 dia. Lubing them helps unless you have biceps like Popeye
Then use the three expander balls expand your case mouths. Lube the inside of the case necks. The last expander is the .406 the case with the die normally supplied in the 401 reloading set
Anneal the cases (Propane torch pan of water) there some good instructions elsewhere on annealing cases.
Length size them to 1.500 and if they come out a little short from the original resizing process don't sweat it . At least go over the necks with your L.E. Wilson deburing tool.
Then load some cases 10% below the table and go fire form them. Load tables are available elsewhere.
Then reload them as keepers.
This whole business costs about what 5 boxes of 20 cost on the open market currently so after you shoot 100 rounds you broke even.

Then have fun with it.

[BerdanIII]

Does anybody have the dimensions (diameter and length) of the original 200- and 250-grain factory bullets for this round? I'm trying to find out what weight bullets the French used in their M1910's in WWI.

[TrooperJim]

Starline Brass has Grendel basic brass available at $180/250 cases. It is a very easy conversion to .401WSL from that brass, lube them well and run through a .41 mag sizer die then trim them about 0.050". These cases are not annealed and have small rifle primer pockets, I have had no issues using this brass.