Hi mainehunt,

A friend of mine, that lived a little distance outside of Wasilla, Alaska, built a .400 Whelen on a Mauser action. We had talked about his building a custom rifle....suitable for Moose, Bear, at reasonable ranges....on a standard action. I suggested a .400 Whelen and provided an article for him from the book "Big Bore Rifles".

He built the rifle....I believe if memory serves me right....and actually had it bored to accept .405 Winchester bullets...instead of .416. Bullets for the .405 Winchester are not as varied as .416, but especially with the recent reintroduction of the .405 Winchester......there is still a good selection. And he also used the .240 Weatherby case. The chamber was bored to headspace on the belt.....and eliminated any possibility of headspacing problems. He used the info provided in the above article...worked up several loads....picked the one he liked best....and used that rifle that year to take a nice "meat" moose. He still uses that rifle and it has become his favorite rifle for nearly everything.

I got to shoot it at the range. What a hoot! But never had the opportunity to carry it hunting.

Once again good luck with your "new" rifle.

Dave

P.S. You'd have to run a check. But last time I had checked companies like Barnes, Hawks, and a number of other semi-custom manufacturers make bullets suitable for the .405 Winchester.....should you decide to go that route.