Thanks to the loosening of hunting restrictions in certain states, straight-walled cartridges have experienced a resurgence in popularity during recent years. Old favorites like the .45-70 Gov’t have been dusted off, while the recently introduced 350 Legend has quickly become a favorite for the latest generations of hunters. Both of these chamberings were welcome replacements for the shotguns previously in use in most of these areas, but they each do still have their shortcomings and limitations. If we consider these two cartridges as bookends on the spectrum of straight-wall recoil levels, a rather wide gap becomes apparent. Whitetail hunters wielding cartridges better suited for buffalo are subjecting themselves to unnecessary recoil, while inexpert shot placement with a 350 Legend can result in a long tracking expedition. Winchester Ammunition decided to split the difference, caliber-wise, and the solution to doing so was as simple as scaling the 350 Legend’s bullet up to .40-cal.—thus creating the new 400 Legend.
The 400 Legend’s three introductory loads include (l. to r.): a 190-grain Deer Season XP load; a 215-grain Power Point load; and a subsonic 300-grain Super Suppressed load—to cover an array of hunting applications.
Unlike the 350 Legend, which borrows its design from the .223 Rem., the 400 Legend’s case had to be drawn completely from scratch. On the bright side, it gave Winchester the freedom to pull precisely what it wanted from this upsized straight-wall. Settling on something with a body diameter similar to the 6.5 mm Grendel, the new case features a rebated rim that coincides with the 6.8 mm SPC bolt face, making it MSR-friendly from the start. The finished design (which was standardized by SAAMI in 2023) features a case length of 1.650″, accepts 0.4005″-diameter bullets and carries a capacity of approximately 43 grains of water. When it is all added up, we wind up with a cartridge that is far more accurate and produces less than half the recoil of a 12-ga. slug while carrying twice its energy at 100 yards.
The base of the 400 Legend’s case measures 0.440″, but by rebating its rim to 0.422″, Winchester engineers were able to make the cartridge’s design compatible with the bolt face specifications for 6.8 mm SPC.
The first 400 Legend load joins Winchester’s venerable Power Point line and features a 215-grain jacketed-soft-point bullet. An advertised muzzle velocity of 2,250 feet per second (f.p.s.) and a G1 ballistic coefficient (BC) of 0.206 allows this projectile to retain enough energy for an ethical harvest out to 250 yards, but with a trajectory that limits the chance of your projectile straying beyond your target area. A 190-grain Deer Season XP and a subsonic 300-grain Super Suppressed load are also being offered as of launch.
The average overall length of our test Power Point cartridges was 2.225″, meaning they would fit well within the confines of an AR-15 magazine, so one can reap the benefits of the new cartridge without needing to revert to the older, larger AR-10 platform. There are also already more than a dozen bolt-action rifles ready to fire it, with Winchester, Browning and Savage taking the lead. For our testing, we were issued a Winchester XPR bearing a 22″, 1:16″-twist barrel. It arrived with a Vortex Viper HS 2.5-10X already mounted and bore-sighted, letting us hit the range without any additional prep work.
As we pressed off our first shots, we weren’t quite sure what to expect from the new cartridge. However, after firing a magazine or two, most of our testers described the recoil as a step below a rifle of the same weight chambered in .308 Win. While it certainly kicked harder than the 350 Legend, nobody considered it to be anywhere near as abusive as the .45-70 Gov’t, and all appreciated the stark reduction in recoil when compared to a 12- or even a 20-ga. slug. Through our rifle, we fell slightly short of the advertised muzzle velocity. However, the prescribed trajectory printed on the box put us close enough at most distances for deer-size game and perhaps even a touch smaller. Likewise, accuracy also met this standard.
Because the recoil isn’t excessive, lightweight rifles capable of being fired unsupported are on the table. To that end, we all took turns firing the 8-lb., 5-oz. rifle/scope combination offhand at a 10″ gong 100 yards downrange. Each shooter had overwhelming success and observed more of a push than a slap with each pull of the trigger; this is common when working with larger-diameter bullets loaded to only relatively modest velocities. Feeding was perfect, which serves as a testament to proper magazine design, as a lack of body taper can cause trouble in this department. The same holds true for extraction and ejection, which we tested rigorously through rapid fire, warming the barrel far beyond conventional field use.
As we finished our ammunition, we contemplated what might be in store for Winchester’s new .40-cal. straight-wall. We agreed that 400 Legend would be great in a semi-automatic, as that would knock the recoil down even further—and adding a suppressor would also assist in this way, particularly if coupled with Winchester’s subsonic load. The flatter-shooting Deer Season XP load should also help on those longer pokes that sometimes present themselves in the Midwest.
In all, this trio provides a hunter with everything needed to tackle big game in straight-wall country and perhaps land a trophy that can only be classified as legendary.
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