.400 Purdey
Centerfire rifle cartridge
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The .400 Purdey, also known as the .400 3-inch Straight and .400 Purdey Light Express 3-inch, is an obsolete rifle cartridge developed by James Purdey & Sons.
| .400 Purdey | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Rifle | |||||||
| Place of origin | United Kingdom | |||||||
| Production history | ||||||||
| Designer | James Purdey & Sons | |||||||
| Designed | 1905 | |||||||
| Produced | 1905âpresent | |||||||
| Specifications | ||||||||
| Case type | Rimmed, straight | |||||||
| Bullet diameter | .405 in (10.3 mm) | |||||||
| Neck diameter | .427 in (10.8 mm) | |||||||
| Base diameter | .469 in (11.9 mm) | |||||||
| Rim diameter | .516 in (13.1 mm) | |||||||
| Case length | 3 in (76 mm) | |||||||
| Overall length | 3.6 in (91 mm) | |||||||
| Ballistic performance | ||||||||
| ||||||||
| Test barrel length: 26.5 Sources: Barnes[1] & Kynoch.[2] | ||||||||
Design
The .400 Purdey is a rimmed straight walled centerfire rifle cartridge intended for use in single shot and double rifles. It fires a bullet of .405 inches (10.3 mm) diameter weighing 230 grains (15 g), driven by 47 grains (3.0 g) of cordite, at a listed speed of 2,050 feet per second (620 m/s).[1][2]
History
In Britain, from the inception of breech-loading rifles there were a large number of straight black powder .40 in (10 mm) paper and coiled brass cartridges developed of varying case lengths from 2 to 31â4 inches. Around 1905, Purdey loaded the 3 inch brass cartridge with a light cordite load to create this cartridge. Unusually for a proprietary cartridge, the .400 Purdey was introduced as a "Nitro for Black" loading, typically a mild loading of smokeless powder for a Black Powder Express cartridge, carefully balanced through trial to replicate the ballistics of the black powder version.[1][3]
In 1899 John Rigby & Company shortened the black powder predecessor of the .400 Purdey to 2.75 inches (70 mm) and necked it down to .358 inches (9.1 mm) to create the .400/350 Nitro Express which in turn later became the .350 Rigby No 2.[1]
