The 401 Winchester was introduced by Winchester in 1910 for its new Model 10 Autoloading rifle. The 401 found favor with many hunters as a quick, short-range number for hunting deer and black bear. Velocity is too low and the trajectory too high for this to be a useful cartridge beyond 150 yards. 

This text is based on information from “Cartridges of the World”, Hodgdon reloading manual, the cartridge designer and/or own resources.