Please Note on the above picture on Top, on Right Side: Left to Right: .350 Legend (Left), .400 Legend (Center) .401 W.S.L. (Right).
One Cartridge not a box, picture of the box is for reference only.
One Cartridge not a box: 400 Legend by Winchester, New for June, 2023, produced by Winchester with new brass cases with “WINCHESTER 400 LEGEND” Head Stamp and loaded with a 215 Grain JSP (Jacketed Soft Point) projectile.
History: a “Back to the Future Moment!” 400 Legend (2023) vs. *401 W.S.L. for Winchester Self-Loading (1910).
The .401 W.S.L. as introduce in 1910 to 1917 for the Winchester Model 1910 semi-auto Carbine and has a heavy 200 grain projectile traveling at a muzzle velocity of app. 2,135 feet per second with muzzle energy of app. 2,025 foot-pounds per square inch. Not bad, or I should say very good or great for 1910! *see more below “OK, Fast track to 113 years to 2023”:
This year, 2023, after the success of the well-received 350 Legend caliber by Winchester introduced in mid-2019, Winchester has just come out with the 400 Legend – a wider, slightly shorter cartridge than its little brother the 350 Legend, but longer than the older ancestor, the 401 W.S.L. (Winchester Self-Loading) of 1910.
The new 400 Legend is more powerful than the older 401 W.S.L.: the 400 Legend has a 215 grain projectile traveling at a muzzle velocity of app. 2,250 feet per second with muzzle energy of app. 2,416 foot pounds per square inch. That is about app. 365 feet more per second faster and 391 more foot pounds per square inch of energy then the .401 W.S.L. with it’s 200 grain projectile and app. 800 more foot pounds of energy than the small 350 Legend loaded with a 150 grain projectile.
The 400 Legend, should fill the bill for those states with “straight walled” cartridges with less range in populated areas when it is needed, and still receive the more stopping energy than the 350 Legend or grandpa’s old faithful, 401 W.S.L..
The 400 Legend should also be a great bush beater in heavy brush deer hunting, like in Maine, not so much for a 400 yard to ½ mile shot, so keep the 308 Winchester for those.
It will be chambered soon in AR platforms (I am not sure AR 15 or AR-10?) and bolt-action platforms.
It is odd the cartridges became available before the firearm.
* 401 W.S.L., most all serious collectors and cartridge history researchers are familiar with the Winchester W.S.L. (Winchester Self-Loading) cartridge line: .32, .35 calibers for the Winchester Model 1905 semi-auto carbine , with the .351 in 1910 and .401 (later between 1910 and 1917) for the Winchester Model 1910 semi-auto carbine. {Note, yes, there was a .30 Self-loading, an experimental made in 1939, produced by turning down .32 WSL cases making the predecessor to the famous 30 Carbine of WWII. We have very few of those available.}
