.400 Corbon - Performance

Performance

According to Guns & Ammo magazine,

Performance is on a par with the 10 mm, yet pressures are much milder. Factory ammo is loaded to +P .45 levels, but the lighter bullet weights make recoil comparable to .45 hardball loads. Felt recoil is a little sharper but still very controllable.

Because of its high velocity for a handgun round, the .400 Corbon offers a flat trajectory, which in turn allows for a greater effective range. Ed Sanow also felt recoil was equivalent to 230 gr (15 g) hardball in .45 ACP. In addition, the bottleneck case can function better than a straight case with a wider variety of bullet shapes and sizes and allows the use of fully supported barrels.

Ballistics fall somewhere between the .40 S&W and the 10 mm Auto. Unlike the 10 mm which operates at a SAAMI maximum of 37,500 psi, the .400 Corbon operates at 29,000 psi (although one source states that the pressure is 26,500 psi), much closer to the SAAMI maximum pressures for .45 ACP (21,000 psi), and .45 ACP +P (23,000 psi). Thus the .400 Corbon does not batter converted model 1911 handguns nearly as harshly as the 10 mm Auto, yet performs comparably with up to 180 gr (12 g). bullet weights in handloads.

The .400 Corbon is a versatile cartridge useful for target shooting, practical shooting competition, self-defense, and handgun hunting of small and medium game. The loads with the lighter bullets are appropriate for small game. Handloaders have worked up safe loads using 180 gr (12 g) bullets at 1,250 ft/s (380 m/s) making it an adequate round for hunting some medium game at close distances.

For practical shooting competitors, the .400 Corbon makes IPSC Major Power Factor of 175 and surpasses the IDPA Enhanced Service Pistol's Power Floor of 125,000 in most loads using a 5" barrel. The .400 Corbon also surpasses the Steel Challenge Shooting Association's stop plate's Power Factor floor of 120 and qualifies for metallic silhouette Big Bore Competition under IHMSA rules.

According to Ed Sanow, the 135 gr (8.7 g). JHP penetrated 9 inches (230 mm) of ordnance gelatin and "equals the predicted stopping power of the 10mm 135-grain (8.7 g) JHP loads," and that the 165 gr (10.7 g). JHP "penetrates an ideal 12.3 inches (310 mm) of gelatin" and "should be a 92-percent stopper, per the Fuller Index."