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Unspellable:

It IS weird. I've wondered the same thing for years.

Hard to reconcile Taylor with the real world on this one. I think you're right, its primarily the bullets, but also false perception. Taylor was lavish in his praise for the .400/.350 and stated that it was the most popular medium bore in Africa prior to the .375 Magnum. He then dismissed the .400/.360s out of hand, yet the .400/.360s were, and are today, far more common than the .400/.350 ever was - at least with respect to double rifles.

The .400/.350 and the four flanged .400/.360s are, for any practical purpose, the same cartridge. The cartridge case of these five is identical, except for rim thickness which ranges from .045" to .065". Bullet diameter varies from .358" to .367", bullet weight from 289 to 314 grains, Cordite charge from 40 to 43 grains, and standard velocity from 1900 to 2000 fps. In other words, very slight proprietary variations, and nothing whatsoever to choose between. Wherefore Taylor?

The .400/.350 was a Rigby cartridge. Legend has it that Rigby demanded tougher bullets for the ammunition that they had Kynoch load for them. If this is true, and the others were loaded with the standard fare, it might explain the difference in the field that Taylor seems to have noticed. This perceived difference likely would have been magnified by Taylor's belief that the standard ballistics of the .400/.350 were much better than they actually were. He believed standard velocity was 2150 fps when it was actually 2000 fps.

I wonder if maybe most of the .400/.350s were single shots and slant box Mausers? Here in the states, .400/.350 doubles are extremely scarce. The .350 No. 2s are somewhat easier to find. Fifteen years ago .400/.360 doubles were downright common. I remember one dealer who had three Evans .400/.360 rifles at the same time and always seemed to have at least one in stock.

The supply is shrinking though. A couple of friends who recently shot my Evans .400/.360 are looking. We've found a few, but not like the old days. There's a lucrative market in Europe for pre-war British doubles in 9.3 X 74R (of which caliber the British made very, very few) for driven boar hunting. Seems some of the Europeans are not entirely content with 9.3s of Continental manufacture, especially so the Germans, I'm told. The Brits have capitalized on this by buying up .400/.360s and re-chambering them to 9.3 for the European market. Quite a few .400/.350 and .350 No. 2 rifles have also been re-bored and re-chambered. I have an inventory list that I picked up in London in 1992 from Paul Roberts at Rigby. He had six of these in stock at the time - 3 Rigbys (all formerly .350 No. 2s), 2 Evans and 1 Boswell (all previously .400/.360s).

One of my friends found an exceptionally nice Evans recently - in Paul Roberts' shop. Paul had bought it to convert and was surprised that someone wanted a .400/.360. Lovely rifle, serial number only 4 digits off mine. Paul wanted 10,000 pounds for it as is, and 12,000 after the conversion to 9.3. My friend wanted it badly, but the weak dollar made it impossible. It was re-chambered last week. What a pisser.
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"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

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