In Taylor's book of African Rifles and Cartridges he gives short shrift indeed to the 400-360's. He has high praises for other cartridges in the same class. What's the diff? He claims the 400-360 did not suit. (I suspect it may have been due to poor bullets rather than the cartridge itself. It was an age when bullet performance was a bit spotty by today's standards.)

Today there is a dearth of information on the 400-360's. Yet I run across mention that they were Purdey's best selling caliber in the light to medium class for twenty or thirty years, even outselling the 303. Several makers chambered one variant or another.

I have seen a fair number of 400-360's on the market, including one single shot that had been refinished by the maker and had the deepest and most glorious case hardening colors by far that I have ever see. (I know the case coloring has nothing to do with the caliber, but this example was an order of magnitude above anything else I have ever seen, can't help mentiong it.)

So what leads to this situation?