What is a good case to make .401 Winchester ammo from.

I have a buddy who has 2 351 Winchester self loaders and is considering buying a slick rifle in 401 Winchester autoloader and wanted to know what brass he can use to make the .401. He makes the .351 out of .223 and .350 legend. All help appreciated.

35Rem, 7.62x39, 414 Supermag if you can find it. Each requires some work....the supermag probably being the easiest. The 35Rem and 7.62x39 will form a brass 'belt' ahead of the rim that will need machining down after sizing. Best on a lathe, but could be done with a drill and a file, worst case scenario.

The brass has been available for both recently. But 401 can be made from 7.62x39, 35 Remington, and several more but is simpler using 445 super mag brass.

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I used 7.62x39 to form cases for my brother's 501 wsl. I sized the case to the web and used a file to remove the excess brass at the web, careful to not reduce the rim. You end up with a semi rimmed case. There may be a thread or two on here about this conversion. I have also heard of using a 414 supermag, you have to remove/reduce the rim and cut an extractor groove. Best done in a lathe.

Good luck.

I also honed out a .401 lee sizing die to size down cast boolits for his rifle. Bullet diameter needed to be 0.407 or a little larger, not quite .41 bullet diameter. i sized down the 41s for use in his 401.

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...-on-401-Win-SL

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Originally Posted by trails4u

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...-on-401-Win-SL

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^^this^^

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by BK7saum

I used 7.62x39 to form cases for my brother's 501 wsl. I sized the case to the web and used a file to remove the excess brass at the web, careful to not reduce the rim. You end up with a semi rimmed case. There may be a thread or two on here about this conversion. I have also heard of using a 414 supermag, you have to remove/reduce the rim and cut an extractor groove. Best done in a lathe.

Good luck.

I also honed out a .401 lee sizing die to size down cast boolits for his rifle. Bullet diameter needed to be 0.407 or a little larger, not quite .41 bullet diameter. i sized down the 41s for use in his 401.

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Standardizing the rim to a set diameter is simple to do in less than 20 seconds in a standard drill press with a file and emory cloth. The extractor groove is already there - but a small round file above the rim cleans it up nicely. It's approximately a 1 minute brass conversion.
I made hundreds out of 7 62x39mm brass - waaaaaayyy more work than the super mag brass.

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